Book 14        2 Paralipomenon

THE SECOND BOOK OF PARALIPOMENON

2 Paralipomenon Chapter 1

Solomon offereth sacrifices at Gabaon. His choice of wisdom which God
giveth him.

1:1. And Solomon the son of David was strengthened in his kingdom, and
the Lord his God was with him, and magnified him to a high degree.

1:2. And Solomon gave orders to all Israel, to the captains of
thousands, and of hundreds, and to the rulers, and to the judges of all
Israel, and the heads of the families:

1:3. And he went with all the multitude to the high place of Gabaon,
where was the tabernacle of the covenant of the Lord, which Moses the
servant of God made, in the wilderness.

1:4. For David had brought the ark of God from Cariathiarim to the
place, which he had prepared for it, and where he had pitched a
tabernacle for it, that is, in Jerusalem.

1:5. And the altar of brass, which Beseleel the son of Uri the son of
Hur had made, was there before the tabernacle of the Lord: and Solomon
and all the assembly sought it:

1:6. And Solomon went up thither to the brazen altar, before the
tabernacle of the covenant of the Lord, and offered up on it a thousand
victims.

1:7. And behold that night God appeared to him, saying: Ask what thou
wilt that I should give thee.

1:8. And Solomon said to God: Thou hast shewn great kindness to my
father David: and hast made me king in his stead.

1:9. Now therefore, O Lord God, let thy word be fulfilled, which thou
hast promised to David my father: for thou hast made me king over thy
great people, which is as innumerable as the dust of the earth.

1:10. Give me wisdom and knowledge that I may come in and go out before
thy people: for who can worthily judge this thy people, which is so
great?

1:11. And God said to Solomon: Because this choice hath pleased thy
heart, and thou hast not asked riches, and wealth, and glory, nor the
lives of them that hate thee, nor many days of life: but hast asked
wisdom and knowledge, to be able to judge my people, over which I have
made thee king,

1:12. Wisdom and knowledge are granted to thee: and I will give thee
riches, and wealth, and glory, so that none of the kings before thee,
nor after thee, shall be like thee.

1:13. Then Solomon came from the high place of Gabaon to Jerusalem
before the tabernacle of the covenant, and reigned over Israel.

1:14. And he gathered to himself chariots and horsemen, and he had a
thousand four hundred chariots, and twelve thousand horsemen: and he
placed them in the cities of the chariots, and with the king in
Jerusalem.

1:15. And the king made silver and gold to be in Jerusalem as stones,
and cedar trees as sycamores, which grow in the plains in great
multitude.

1:16. And there were horses brought him from Egypt, and from Coa by the
king's merchants, who went, and bought at a price,

1:17. A chariot of four horses for six hundred pieces of silver, and a
horse for a hundred and fifty: in like manner market was made in all the
kingdoms of the Hethites, and of the kings of Syria.

2 Paralipomenon Chapter 2

Solomon's embassy to Hiram, who sends him a skilful workman and timber.

2:1. And Solomon determined to build a house to the name of the Lord,
and a palace for himself.

2:2. And he numbered out seventy thousand men to bear burdens, and
eighty thousand to hew stones in the mountains, and three thousand six
hundred to oversee them.

2:3. He sent also to Hiram king of Tyre, saying: As thou didst with
David my father, and didst send him cedars, to build him a house, in
which he dwelt:

2:4. So do with me that I may build a house to the name of the Lord my
God, to dedicate it to burn incense before him, and to perfume with
aromatical spices, and for the continual setting forth of bread, and for
the holocausts, morning and evening, and on the sabbaths, and on the new
moons, and the solemnities of the Lord our God for ever, which are
commanded for Israel.

2:5. For the house which I desire to build, is great: for our God is
great above all gods.

2:6. Who then can be able to build him a worthy house? if heaven, and
the heavens of heavens cannot contain him: who am I that I should be
able to build him a house? but to this end only, that incense may be
burnt before him.

2:7. Send me therefore a skilful man, that knoweth how to work in gold,
and in silver, in brass, and in iron, in purple, in scarlet and in blue,
and that hath skill in engraving, with the artificers, which I have with
me in Judea and Jerusalem, whom David my father provided.

2:8. Send me also cedars, and fir trees, and pine trees from Libanus:
for I know that thy servants are skilful in cutting timber in Libanus,
and my servants shall be with thy servants,

2:9. To provide me timber in abundance. For the house which I desire to
build, is to be exceeding great, and glorious.

2:10. And I will give thy servants the workmen that are to cut down the
trees, for their food twenty thousand cores of wheat, and as many cores
of barley, and twenty thousand measures of wine, and twenty thousand
measures of oil.

2:11. And Hiram king of Tyre sent a letter to Solomon, saying: Because
the Lord hath loved his people, therefore he hath made thee king over
them.

2:12. And he added, saying: Blessed be the Lord the God of Israel, who
made heaven and earth, who hath given to king David a wise and knowing
son, endued with understanding and prudence, to build a house to the
Lord, and a palace for himself.

2:13. I therefore have sent thee my father Hiram, a wise and most
skilful man,

2:14. The son of a woman of the daughters of Dan, whose father was a
Tyrian, who knoweth how to work in gold, and in silver, in brass, and in
iron, and in marble, and in timber, in purple also, and violet, and silk
and scarlet: and who knoweth to grave all sort of graving, and to devise
ingeniously all that there may be need of in the work with thy
artificers, and with the artificers of my lord David thy father.

2:15. The wheat therefore, and the barley and the oil, and the wine,
which thou, my lord, hast promised, send to thy servants.

2:16. And we will cut down as many trees out of Libanus, as thou shalt
want, and will convey them in floats by sea to Joppe: and it will be thy
part to bring them thence to Jerusalem.

2:17. And Solomon numbered all the proselytes in the land of Israel,
after the numbering which David his father had made, and they were found
a hundred and fifty-three thousand and six hundred.

2:18. And he set seventy thousand of them to carry burdens on their
shoulders, and eighty thousand to hew stones in the mountains: and three
thousand and six hundred to be overseers of the work of the people.

2 Paralipomenon Chapter 3

The plan and ornaments of the temple: the cherubims, the veil, and the
pillars.

3:1. And Solomon began to build the house of the Lord in Jerusalem, in
mount Moria, which had been shewn to David his father, in the place
which David had prepared in the thrashingfloor of Ornan the Jebusite.

3:2. And he began to build in the second month, in the fourth year of
his reign.

3:3. Now these are the foundations, which Solomon laid, to build the
house of God, the length by the first measure sixty cubits, the breadth
twenty cubits.

3:4. And the porch in the front, which was extended in length according
to the measure of the breadth of the house, twenty cubits: and the
height was a hundred and twenty cubits: and he overlaid it within with
pure gold.

3:5. And the greater house he ceiled with deal boards, and overlaid them
with plates of fine gold throughout: and he graved in them palm trees,
and like little chains interlaced with one another.

3:6. He paved also the floor of the temple with most precious marble, of
great beauty.

3:7. And the gold of the plates with which he overlaid the house, and
the beams thereof, and the posts, and the walls, and the doors was of
the finest: and he graved cherubims on the walls.

3:8. He made also the house of the holy of holies: the length of it
according to the breadth of the temple, twenty cubits, and the breadth
of it in like manner twenty cubits: and he overlaid it with plates of
gold, amounting to about six hundred talents.

3:9. He made also nails of gold, and the weight of every nail was fifty
sicles: the upper chambers also he overlaid with gold.

3:10. He made also in the house of the holy of holies two cherubims of
image work: and he overlaid them with gold.

3:11. The wings of the cherubims were extended twenty cubits, so that
one wing was five cubits long, and reached to the wall of the house: and
the other was also five cubits long, and reached to the wing of the
other cherub.

3:12. In like manner the wing of the other cherub, was five cubits long,
and reached to the wall: and his other wing was five cubits long, and
touched the wing of the other cherub.

3:13. So the wings of the two cherubims were spread forth, and were
extended twenty cubits: and they stood upright on their feet, and their
faces were turned toward the house without.

3:14. He made also a veil of violet, purple, scarlet, and silk: and
wrought in it cherubims.

3:15. He made also before the doors of the temple two pillars, which
were five and thirty cubits high: and their chapiters were five cubits.

3:16. He made also as it were little chains in the oracle, and he put
them on the heads of the pillars: and a hundred pomegranates, which he
put between the little chains.

3:17. These pillars he put at the entrance of the temple, one on the
right hand, and the other on the left: that which was on the right hand,
he called Jachin: and that on the left hand, Booz.

2 Paralipomenon Chapter 4

The altar of brass, the molten sea upon twelve oxen, the ten loaves, the
candlesticks and other vessels and ornaments of the temple.

4:1. He made also an altar of brass twenty cubits long, and twenty
cubits broad, and ten cubits high.

4:2. Also a molten sea of ten cubits from brim to brim, round in
compass: it was five cubits high, and a line of thirty cubits compassed
it round about.

4:3. And under it there was the likeness of oxen, and certain engravings
on the outside of ten cubits compassed the belly of the sea, as it were
with two rows.

4:4. And the oxen were cast: and the sea itself was set upon the twelve
oxen, three of which looked toward the north, and other three toward the
west: and other three toward the south, and the other three that
remained toward the east, and the sea stood upon them: and the hinder
parts of the oxen were inward under the sea.

4:5. Now the thickness of it was a handbreadth, and the brim of it was
like the brim of a cup, or of a crisped lily: and it held three thousand
measures.

4:6. He made also ten lavers: and he set five on the right hand, and
five on the left, to wash in them all such things as they were to offer
for holocausts: but the sea was for the priests to wash in.

4:7. And he made ten golden candlesticks, according to the form which
they were commanded to be made by: and he set them in the temple, five
on the right hand, and five on the left.

4:8. Moreover also ten tables: and he set them in the temple, five on
the right side, and five on the left. Also a hundred bowls of gold.

4:9. He made also the court of the priests, and a great hall, and doors
in the hall, which he covered with brass.

4:10. And he set the sea on the right side over against the east toward
the south.

4:11. And Hiram made caldrons, and fleshhooks, and bowls: and finished
all the king's work the house of God:

4:12. That is to say, the two pillars, and the pommels, and the
chapiters, and the network, to cover the chapiters over the pommels.

4:13. And four hundred pomegranates, and two wreaths of network, so that
two rows of pomegranates were joined to each wreath, to cover the
pommels, and the chapiters of the pillars.

4:14. He made also bases, and lavers, which he set upon the bases:

4:15. One sea, and twelve oxen under the sea;

4:16. And the caldrons, and fleshhooks, and bowls. All the vessels did
Hiram his father make for Solomon in the house of the Lord of the finest
brass.

4:17. In the country near the Jordan did the king cast them, in a clay
ground between Sochot and Saredatha.

4:18. And the multitude of vessels was innumerable, so that the weight
of the brass was not known.

4:19. And Solomon made all the vessels for the house of God, and the
golden altar, and the tables, upon which were the loaves of proposition,

4:20. The candlesticks also of most pure gold with their lamps to give
light before the oracle, according to the manner.

4:21. And certain flowers, and lamps, and golden tongs: all were made of
the finest gold.

4:22. The vessels also for the perfumes, and the censers, and the bowls,
and the mortars, of pure gold. And he graved the doors of the inner
temple, that is, for the holy of holies: and the doors of the temple
without were of gold. And thus all the work was finished which Solomon
made in the house of the Lord.

2 Paralipomenon Chapter 5

The ark is brought with great solemnity into the temple: the temple is
filled with the glory of God.

5:1. Then Solomon brought in all those things that David his father had
vowed, the silver, and the gold, and all the vessels he put among the
treasures of the house of God.

5:2. And after this he gathered together the ancients of Israel and all
the princes of the tribes, and the heads of the families, of the
children of Israel to Jerusalem, to bring the ark of the covenant of the
Lord out of the city of David, which is Sion.

5:3. And all the men of Israel came to the king in the solemn day of the
seventh month.

5:4. And when all the ancients of Israel were come, the Levites took up
the ark,

5:5. And brought it in, together with all the furniture of the
tabernacle. And the priests with the Levites carried the vessels of the
sanctuary, which were in the tabernacle.

5:6. And king Solomon and all the assembly of Israel and all that were
gathered together before the ark, sacrificed rams, and oxen without
number: so great was the multitude of the victims.

5:7. And the priests brought in the ark of the covenant of the Lord into
its place, that is, to the oracle of the temple, into the holy of holies
under the wings of the cherubims:

5:8. So that the cherubims spread their wings over the place, in which
the ark was set, and covered the ark itself and its staves.

5:9. Now the ends of the staves wherewith the ark was carried, because
they were some thing longer, were seen before the oracle: but if a man
were a little outward, he could not see them.  So the ark has been there
unto this day.

5:10. And there was nothing else in the ark but the two tables which
Moses put there at Horeb when the Lord gave the law to the children of
Israel, at their coming out of Egypt.

5:11. Now when the priests were come out of the sanctuary, for all the
priests that could be found there, were sanctified: and as yet at that
time the courses and orders of the ministries were not divided among
them,

5:12. Both the Levites and the singing men, that is, both they that were
under Asaph, and they that were under Heman, and they that were under
Idithun, with their sons, and their brethren, clothed with fine linen,
sounded with cymbals, and psalteries, and harps, standing on the east
side of the altar, and with them a hundred and twenty priests, sounding
with trumpets.

5:13. So when they all sounded together, both with trumpets, and voice,
and cymbals, and organs, and with divers kind of musical instruments,
and lifted up their voice on high: the sound was heard afar off, so that
when they began to praise the Lord, and to say: Give glory to the Lord
for he is good, for his mercy endureth for ever: the house of God was
filled with a cloud.

5:14. Nor could the priests stand and minister by reason of the cloud.
For the glory of the Lord had filled the house of God.

2 Paralipomenon Chapter 6

Solomon's blessings and prayer.

6:1. Then Solomon said: The Lord promised that he would dwell in a
cloud.

6:2. But I have built a house to his name, that he might dwell there for
ever.

6:3. And the king turned his face, and blessed all the multitude of
Israel for all the multitude stood attentive and he said:

6:4. Blessed be the Lord the God of Israel, who hath accomplished in
deed that which he spoke to David my father, saying:

6:5. From the day that I brought my people out of the land of Egypt, I
chose no city among all the tribes of Israel, for a house to be built in
it to my name: neither chose I any other man, to be the ruler of my
people Israel.

6:6. But I chose Jerusalem, that my name might be there: and I chose
David to set him over my people Israel.

6:7. And whereas David my father had a mind to build a house to the name
of the Lord the God of Israel,

6:8. The Lord said to him: Forasmuch as it was thy will to build a house
to my name, thou hast done well indeed in having such a will:

6:9. But thou shalt not build the house, but thy son, who shall come out
of thy loins, he shall build a house to my name.

6:10. The Lord therefore hath accomplished his word which he spoke: and
I am risen up in the place of David my father, and sit upon the throne
of Israel, as the Lord promised: and have built a house to the name of
the Lord God of Israel.

6:11. And I have put in it the ark, wherein is the covenant of the Lord,
which he made with the children of Israel.

6:12. And he stood before the altar of the Lord, in presence of all the
multitude of Israel, and stretched forth his hands.

6:13. For Solomon had made a brazen scaffold, and had set it in the
midst of the temple, which was five cubits long, and five cubits broad,
and three cubits high: and he stood upon it: then kneeling down in the
presence of all the multitude of Israel, and lifting up his hands
towards heaven,

6:14. He said: O Lord God of Israel, there is no God like thee in heaven
nor in earth: who keepest covenant and mercy with thy servants, that
walk before thee with all their hearts:

6:15. Who hast performed to thy servant David my father all that thou
hast promised him: and hast accomplished in fact, what thou hast spoken
with thy mouth, as also the present time proveth.

6:16. Now then, O Lord God of Israel, fulfil to thy servant David my
father, whatsoever thou hast promised him, saying: There shall not fail
thee a man in my sight, to sit upon the throne of Israel: yet so that
thy children take heed to their ways, and walk in my law, as thou hast
walked before me.

6:17. And now, Lord God of Israel, let thy word be established which
thou hast spoken to thy servant David.

6:18. Is it credible then that God should dwell with men on the earth?
If heaven and the heavens of heavens do not contain thee, how much less
this house, which I have built?

6:19. But to this end only it is made, that thou mayest regard the
prayer of thy servant and his supplication, O Lord my God: and mayest
hear the prayers which thy servant poureth out before thee.

6:20. That thou mayest open thy eyes upon this house day and night, upon
the place wherein thou hast promised that thy name should be called
upon,

6:21. And that thou wouldst hear the prayer which thy servant prayeth in
it: hearken then to the prayers of thy servant, and of thy people
Israel. Whosoever shall pray in its place, hear thou from thy dwelling
place, that is, from heaven, and shew mercy.

6:22. If any man sin against his neighbour, and come to swear against
him, and bind himself with a curse before the altar in this house:

6:23. Then hear thou from heaven, and do justice to thy servants, so to
requite the wicked by making his wickedness fall upon his own head, and
to revenge the just, rewarding him according to his justice.

6:24. If thy people Israel be overcome by their enemies, (for they will
sin against thee,) and being converted shall do penance, and call upon
thy name, and pray to thee in this place,

6:25. Then hear thou from heaven, and forgive the sin of thy people
Israel and bring them back into the land which thou gavest to them, and
their fathers.

6:26. If the heavens be shut up, and there fall no rain by reason of the
sin of the people, and they shall pray to thee in this place, and
confess to thy name, and be converted from their sins, where thou dost
afflict them,

6:27. Then hear thou from heaven, O Lord, and forgive the sins of thy
servants and of thy people Israel and teach them the good way in which
they may walk: and give rain to thy land which thou hast given to thy
people to possess.

6:28. If a famine arise in the land, or a pestilence or blasting, or
mildew, or locusts, or caterpillars: or if their enemies waste the
country, and besiege the cities, whatsoever scourge or infirmity shall
be upon them:

6:29. Then if any of thy people Israel, knowing his own scourge and
infirmity shall pray, and shall spread forth his hands in this house,

6:30. Hear thou from heaven, from thy high dwelling place, and forgive,
and render to every one according to his ways, which thou knowest him to
have in his heart: for thou only knowest the hearts of the children of
men:

6:31. That they may fear thee, and walk in thy ways all the days that
they live upon the face of the land, which thou hast given to our
fathers.

6:32. If the stranger also, who is not of thy people Israel, come from a
far country, for the sake of thy great name, and thy strong hand, and
thy stretched out arm, and adore in this place:

6:33. Hear thou from heaven thy firm dwelling place, and do all that
which that stranger shall call upon thee for: that all the people of the
earth may know thy name, and may fear thee, as thy people Israel, and
may know, that thy name is invoked upon this house, which I have built.

6:34. If thy people go out to war against their enemies, by the way that
thou shalt send them, and adore thee towards the way of this city, which
thou hast chosen, and the house which I have built to thy name:

6:35. Then hear thou from heaven their prayers, and their supplications,
and revenge them.

6:36. And if they sin against thee (for there is no man that sinneth
not) and thou be angry with them, and deliver them up to their enemies,
and they lead them away captive to a land either afar off, or near at
hand,

6:37. And if they be converted in their heart in the land to which they
were led captive, and do penance, and pray to thee in the land of their
captivity saying: We have sinned, we have done wickedly, we have dealt
unjustly:

6:38. And return to thee with all their heart, and with all their soul,
in the land of their captivity, to which they were led away, and adore
thee towards the way of their own land which thou gavest their fathers,
and of the city, which thou hast chosen, and the house which I have
built to thy name:

6:39. Then hear thou from heaven, that is, from thy firm dwelling place,
their prayers, and do judgment, and forgive thy people, although they
have sinned:

6:40. For thou art my God: let thy eyes, I beseech thee, be open, and
let thy ears be attentive to the prayer, that is made in this place.

6:41. Now therefore arise, O Lord God, into thy resting place, thou and
the ark of thy strength: let thy priests, O Lord God, put on salvation,
and thy saints rejoice in good things.

6:42. O Lord God, turn not away the face of thy anointed: remember the
mercies of David thy servant.

2 Paralipomenon Chapter 7

Fire from heaven consumeth the sacrifices. The solemnity of the
dedication of the temple. God signifieth his having heard Solomon's
prayer: yet so if he continue to serve him.

7:1. And when Solomon had made an end of his prayer, fire came down from
heaven, and consumed the holocausts and the victims: and the majesty of
the Lord filled the house.

7:2. Neither could the priests enter into the temple of the Lord,
because the majesty of the Lord had filled the temple of the Lord.

7:3. Moreover all the children of Israel saw the fire coming down, and
the glory of the Lord upon the house: and falling down with their faces
to the ground, upon the stone pavement, they adored and praised the
Lord: because he is good, because his mercy endureth for ever.

7:4. And the king and all the people sacrificed victims before the Lord.

7:5. And king Solomon offered a sacrifice of twenty-two thousand oxen,
and one hundred and twenty thousand rams: and the king and all the
people dedicated the house of God.

7:6. And the priests stood in their offices: and the Levites with the
instruments of music of the Lord, which king David made to praise the
Lord: because his mercy endureth for ever, singing the hymns of David by
their ministry: and the priests sounded with trumpets before them, and
all Israel stood.

7:7. Solomon also sanctified the middle of the court before the temple
of the Lord: for he offered there the holocausts, and the fat of the
peace offerings: because the brazen altar, which he had made, could not
hold the holocausts and the sacrifices and the fat:

7:8. And Solomon kept the solemnity at that time seven days, and all
Israel with him, a very great congregation, from the entrance of Emath
to the torrent of Egypt.

7:9. And he made on the eighth day a solemn assembly, because he had
kept the dedication of the altar seven days, and had celebrated the
solemnity seven days.

7:10. So on the three and twentieth day of the seventh month he sent
away the people to their dwellings, joyful and glad for the good that
the Lord had done to David, and to Solomon, and to all Israel his
people.

7:11. And Solomon finished the house of the Lord, and the king's house,
and all that he had designed in his heart to do, in the house of the
Lord, and in his own house, and he prospered.

7:12. And the Lord appeared to him by night, and said: I have heard thy
prayer, and I have chosen this place to myself for a house of sacrifice.

7:13. If I shut up heaven, and there fall no rain, or if I give orders,
and command the locust to devour the land, or if I send pestilence among
my people:

7:14. And my people, upon whom my name is called, being converted, shall
make supplication to me, and seek out my face, and do penance for their
most wicked ways: then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their
sins and will heal their land.

7:15. My eyes also shall be open, and my ears attentive to the prayer of
him that shall pray in this place.

7:16. For I have chosen, and have sanctified this place, that my name
may be there for ever, and my eyes and my heart may remain there
perpetually.

7:17. And as for thee, if thou walk before me, as David thy father
walked, and do according to all that I have commanded thee, and keep my
justices and my judgments:

7:18. I will raise up the throne of thy kingdom, as I promised to David
thy father, saying: There shall not fail thee a man of thy stock to be
ruler in Israel.

7:19. But if you turn away, and forsake my justices, and my commandments
which I have set before you, and shall go and serve strange gods, and
adore them,

7:20. I will pluck you up by the root out of my land which I have given
you: and this house which I have sanctified to my name, I will cast away
from before my face, and will make it a byword, and an example among all
nations.

7:21. And this house shall be for a proverb to all that pass by, and
they shall be astonished and say: Why hath the Lord done thus to this
land, and to this house?

7:22. And they shall answer: Because they forsook the Lord the God of
their fathers, who brought them out of the land of Egypt, and laid hold
on strange gods, and adored them, and worshipped them: therefore all
these evils are come upon them.

2 Paralipomenon Chapter 8

Solomon's buildings and other acts.

8:1. And at the end of twenty years after Solomon had built the house of
the Lord and his own house:

8:2. He built the cities which Hiram had given to Solomon, and caused
the children of Israel to dwell there.

8:3. He went also into Emath Suba, and possessed it.

8:4. And he built Palmira in the desert, and he built other strong
cities in Emath.

8:5. And he built Beth-horon the upper, and Beth-horon the nether,
walled cities with gates and bars and locks.

8:6. Balaath also and all the strong cities that were Solomon's, and all
the cities of the chariots, and the cities of the horsemen.  All that
Solomon had a mind, and designed, he built in Jerusalem and in Libanus,
and in all the land of his dominion.

8:7. All the people that were left of the Hethites, and the Amorrhites,
and the Pherezites, and the Hevites, and the Jebusites, that were not of
the stock of Israel:

8:8. Of their children, and of the posterity, whom the children of
Israel had not slain, Solomon made to be the tributaries, unto this day.

8:9. But of the children of Israel he set none to serve in the king's
works: for they were men of war, and chief captains, and rulers of his
chariots and horsemen.

8:10. And all the chief captains of king Solomon's army were two hundred
and fifty, who taught the people.

8:11. And he removed the daughter of Pharao from the city of David, to
the house which he had built for her. For the king said: My wife shall
not dwell in the house of David king of Israel, for it is sanctified:
because the ark of the Lord came into it.

8:12. Then Solomon offered holocausts to the Lord upon the altar of the
Lord which he had built before the porch,

8:13. That every day an offering might be made on it according to the
ordinance of Moses, in the sabbaths, and on the new moons, and on the
festival days three times a year, that is to say, in the feast of
unleavened bread, and in the feast of weeks, and in the feast of
tabernacles.

8:14. And he appointed according to the order of David his father the
offices of the priests in their ministries: and the Levites in their
order to give praise, and minister before the priests according to the
duty of every day: and the porters in their divisions by gate and gate:
for so David the man of God had commanded.

8:15. And the priests and Levites departed not from the king's
commandments, as to any thing that he had commanded, and as to the
keeping of the treasures.

8:16. Solomon had all charges prepared, from the day that he founded the
house of the Lord, until the day wherein he finished it.

8:17. Then Solomon went to Asiongaber, and to Ailath, on the coast of
the Red Sea, which is in the land of Edom.

8:18. And Hiram sent him ships by the hands of his servants, and skilful
mariners, and they went with Solomon's servants to Ophir, and they took
thence four hundred and fifty talents of gold, and brought it to king
Solomon.

2 Paralipomenon Chapter 9

The queen of Saba admireth the wisdom of Solomon. His riches and glory.
His death.

9:1. And when the queen of Saba heard of the fame of Solomon, she came
to try him with hard questions at Jerusalem, with great riches, and
camels, which carried spices, and abundance of gold, and precious
stones. And when she was come to Solomon, she proposed to him all that
was in her heart.

9:2. And Solomon explained to her all that she proposed: and there was
not any thing that he did not make clear unto her.

9:3. And when she had seen these things, to wit, the wisdom of Solomon,
and the house which he had built,

9:4. And the meats of his table, and the dwelling places of his
servants, and the attendance of his officers, and their apparel, his
cupbearers also, and their garments, and the victims which he offered in
the house of the Lord: there was no more spirit in her, she was so
astonished.

9:5. And she said to the king: The word is true which I heard in my
country of thy virtues and wisdom.

9:6. I did not believe them that told it, until I came, and my eyes had
seen, and I had proved that scarce one half of thy wisdom had been told
me: thou hast exceeded the same with thy virtues.

9:7. Happy are thy men, and happy are thy servants, who stand always
before thee, and hear thy wisdom.

9:8. Blessed be the Lord thy God, who hath been pleased to set thee on
his throne, king of the Lord thy God. Because God loveth Israel, and
will preserve them forever: therefore hath he made thee king over them,
to do judgment and justice.

9:9. And she gave to the king a hundred and twenty talents of gold, and
spices in great abundance, and most precious stones: there were no such
spices as these which the queen of Saba gave to king Solomon.

9:10. And the servants also of Hiram, with the servants of Solomon,
brought gold from Ophir, and thyine trees, and most precious stones:

9:11. And the king made of the thyine trees stairs in the house of the
Lord, and in the king's house, and harps and psalteries for the singing
men: never were there seen such trees in the land of Juda.

9:12. And king Solomon gave to the queen of Saba all that she desired,
and that she asked, and many more things than she brought to him: so she
returned, and went to her own country with her servants.

9:13. And the weight of the gold, that was brought to Solomon every
year, was six hundred and sixty-six talents of gold:

9:14. Beside the sum which the deputies of divers nations, and the
merchants were accustomed to bring, and all the kings of Arabia, and the
lords of the lands, who brought gold and silver to Solomon.

9:15. And king Solomon made two hundred golden spears, of the sum of six
hundred pieces of gold, which went to every spear:

9:16. And three hundred golden shields of three hundred pieces of gold,
which went to the covering of every shield: and the king put them in the
armoury, which was compassed with a wood.

9:17. The king also made a great throne of ivory, and overlaid it with
pure gold.

9:18. And six steps to go up to the throne, and a footstool of gold, and
two arms one on either side, and two lions standing by the arms:

9:19. Moreover twelve other little lions standing upon the steps on both
sides: there was not such a throne in any kingdom.

9:20. And all the vessels of the king's table were of gold, and the
vessels of the house of the forest of Libanus were of the purest gold.
For no account was made of silver in those days.

9:21. For the king's ships went to Tharsis with the servants of Hiram,
once in three years: and they brought thence gold and silver, and ivory,
and apes, and peacocks.

9:22. And Solomon was magnified above all the kings of the earth for
riches and glory.

9:23. And all the kings of the earth desired to see the face of Solomon,
that they might hear the wisdom which God had given in his heart.

9:24. And every year they brought him presents, vessels of silver and of
gold, and garments, and armour, and spices, and horses, and mules.

9:25. And Solomon had forty thousand horses in the stables, and twelve
thousand chariots, and horsemen, and he placed them in the cities of the
chariots and where the king was in Jerusalem.

9:26. And he exercised authority over all the kings from the river
Euphrates to the land of the Philistines, and to the borders of Egypt.

9:27. And he made silver as plentiful in Jerusalem as stones: and cedars
as common as the sycamores, which grow in the plains.

9:28. And horses were brought to him out of Egypt, and out of all
countries.

9:29. Now the rest of the acts of Solomon first and last are written in
the words of Nathan the prophet, and in the books of Ahias the Silonite,
and in the vision of Addo the seer, against Jeroboam the son of Nabat.

9:30. And Solomon reigned in Jerusalem over all Israel forty years.

9:31. And he slept with his fathers: and they buried him in the city of
David: and Roboam his son reigned in his stead.

2 Paralipomenon Chapter 10

Roboam answereth the people roughly: upon which ten tribes revolt.

10:1. And Roboam went to Sichem: for thither all Israel were assembled,
to make him king.

10:2. And when Jeroboam the son of Nabat, who was in Egypt, (for he was
fled thither from Solomon,) heard it, forthwith he returned.

10:3. And they sent for him, and he came with all Israel, and they spoke
to Roboam, saying:

10:4. Thy father oppressed with a most grievous yoke, do thou govern us
with a lighter hand than thy father, who laid upon us a heavy servitude,
and ease some thing of the burden, that we may serve thee.

10:5. And he said to them: Come to me again after three days.  And when
the people were gone,

10:6. He took counsel with the ancients, who had stood before his father
Solomon, while he yet lived, saying: What counsel give you to me, that I
may answer the people?

10:7. And they said to him: If thou please this people, and soothe them
with kind words, they will be thy servants for ever.

10:8. But he forsook the counsel of the ancients, and began to treat
with the young men, that had been brought up with him, and were in his
train.

10:9. And he said to them: What seemeth good to you? or what shall I
answer this people, who have said to me: Ease the yoke which thy father
laid upon us?

10:10. But they answered as young men, and brought up with him in
pleasures, and said: Thus shalt thou speak to the people, that said to
thee: Thy father made our yoke heavy, do thou ease it: thus shalt thou
answer them: My little finger is thicker than the loins of my father.

10:11. My father laid upon you a heavy yoke, and I will add more weight
to it: my father beat you with scourges, but I will beat you with
scorpions.

10:12. So Jeroboam, and all the people came to Roboam the third day, as
he commanded them.

10:13. And the king answered roughly, leaving the counsel of the
ancients.

10:14. And he spoke according to the advice of the young men: My father
laid upon you a heavy yoke, which I will make heavier: my father beat
you with scourges, but I will beat you with scorpions.

10:15. And he condescended not to the people's requests: for it was the
will of God, that his word might be fulfilled which he had spoken by the
hand of Ahias the Silonite to Jeroboam the son of Nabat.

10:16. And all the people upon the king's speaking roughly, said thus
unto him: We have no part in David, nor inheritance in the son of Isai.
Return to thy dwellings, O Israel, and do thou, O David feed thy own
house. And Israel went away to their dwellings.

10:17. But Roboam reigned over the children of Israel that dwelt in the
cities of Juda.

10:18. And king Roboam sent Aduram, who was over the tributes, and the
children of Israel stoned him, and he died: and king Roboam made haste
to get up into his chariot, and fled into Jerusalem.

10:19. And Israel revolted from the house of David unto this day.

2 Paralipomenon Chapter 11

Roboam's reign. His kingdom is strengthened.

11:1. And Roboam came to Jerusalem, and called together all the house of
Juda and of Benjamin, a hundred and fourscore thousand chosen men and
warriors, to fight against Israel, and to bring back his kingdom to him.

11:2. And the word of the Lord came to Semeias the man of God, saying:

11:3. Speak to Roboam the son of Solomon the king of Juda, and to all
Israel, in Juda and Benjamin:

11:4. Thus saith the Lord: You shall not go up, nor fight against your
brethren: let every man return to his own house, for by my will this
thing has been done. And when they heard the word of the Lord, they
returned, and did not go against Jeroboam,

11:5. And Roboam dwelt in Jerusalem, and built walled cities in Juda.

11:6. And he built Bethlehem, and Etam, and Thecue,

11:7. And Bethsur, and Socho, and Odollam,

11:8. And Geth, and Maresa, and Ziph,

11:9. And Aduram, and Lachis, and Azecha,

11:10. Saraa also, and Aialon, and Hebron, which are in Juda and
Benjamin, well fenced cities.

11:11. And when he had enclosed them with walls, he put in them
governors and storehouses of provisions, that is, of oil and of wine.

11:12. Moreover in every city he made an armoury of shields and spears,
and he fortified them with great diligence, and he reigned over Juda,
and Benjamin,

11:13. And the priests and Levites, that were in all Israel, came to him
out of all their seats,

11:14. Leaving their suburbs, and their possessions, and passing over to
Juda, and Jerusalem, because Jeroboam and his sons had cast them off,
from executing the priestly office to the Lord.

11:15. And he made to himself priests for the high places, and for the
devils, and for the calves which he had made.

11:16. Moreover out of all the tribes of Israel, whosoever gave their
heart to seek the Lord the God of Israel, came into Jerusalem to
sacrifice their victims before the Lord the God of their fathers.

11:17. And they strengthened the kingdom of Juda, and established Roboam
the son of Solomon for three years: for they walked in the ways of David
and of Solomon, only three years.

11:18. And Roboam took to wife Mahalath, the daughter of Jerimoth the
son of David: and Abihail the daughter of Eliab the son of Isai.

11:19. And they bore him sons Jehus, and Somorias, and Zoom.

11:20. And after her he married Maacha the daughter of Absalom, who bore
him Abia, and Ethai, and Ziza, and Salomith.

11:21. And Roboam loved Maacha the daughter of Absalom above all his
wives and concubines: for he had married eighteen wives, and threescore
concubines: and he begot eight and twenty sons, and threescore
daughters.

11:22. But he put at the head of them Abia the son of Maacha to be the
chief ruler over all his brethren: for he meant to make him king,

11:23. Because he was wiser and mightier than all his sons, and in all
the countries of Juda, and of Benjamin, and in all the walled cities:
and he gave them provisions in abundance, and he sought many wives.

2 Paralipomenon Chapter 12

Roboam for his sins is delivered up into the hands of the king of Egypt:
who carrieth away all the treasures of the temple.

12:1. And when the kingdom of Roboam was strengthened and fortified, he
forsook the law of the Lord, and all Israel with him.

12:2. And in the fifth year of the reign of Roboam, Sesac king of Egypt
came up against Jerusalem (because they had sinned against the Lord)

12:3. With twelve hundred chariots and threescore thousand horsemen: and
the people were without number that came with him out of Egypt, to wit,
Libyans, and Troglodites, and Ethiopians.

12:4. And he took the strongest cities in Juda, and came to Jerusalem.

12:5. And Semeias the prophet came to Roboam, and to the princes of
Juda, that were gathered together in Jerusalem, fleeing from Sesac, and
he said to them: Thus saith the Lord: You have left me, and I have left
you in the hand of Sesac.

12:6. And the princes of Israel, and the king, being in a consternation,
said: The Lord is just.

12:7. And when the Lord saw that they were humbled, the word of the Lord
came to Semeias, saying: Because they are humbled, I will not destroy
them, and I will give them a little help, and my wrath shall not fall
upon Jerusalem by the hand of Sesac.

12:8. But yet they shall serve him, that they may know the difference
between my service, and the service of a kingdom of the earth.

12:9. So Sesac king of Egypt departed from Jerusalem, taking away the
treasures of the king's house, and he took all with him, and the golden
shields that Solomon had made,

12:10. Instead of which the king made brazen ones, and delivered them to
the captains of the shieldbearers, who guarded the entrance of the
palace.

12:11. And when the king entered into the house of the Lord, the
shieldbearers came and took them, and brought them back again to their
armoury.

12:12. But yet because they were humbled, the wrath of the Lord turned
away from them, and they were not utterly destroyed: for even in Juda
there were found good works.

12:13. King Roboam therefore was strengthened in Jerusalem, and reigned:
he was one and forty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned
seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city which the Lord chose out of all
the tribes of Israel, to establish his name there: and the name of his
mother was Naama an Ammonitess.

12:14. But he did evil, and did not prepare his heart to seek the Lord.

12:15. Now the acts of Roboam first and last are written in the books of
Semeias the prophet, and of Addo the seer, and diligently recorded: and
there was war between Roboam and Jeroboam all their days.

12:16. And Roboam slept with his fathers, and was buried in the city of
David. And Abia his son reigned in his stead.

2 Paralipomenon Chapter 13

Abia's reign: his victory over Jeroboam.

13:1. In the eighteenth year of king Jeroboam, Abia reigned over Juda.

13:2. Three years he reigned in Jerusalem, and his mother's name was
Michaia, the daughter of Uriel of Gabaa: and there was war between Abia
and Jeroboam.

Michaia... Alias Maacha. Her father had also two names, viz., Absalom,
or Abessalom, and Uriel.

13:3. And when Abia had begun battle, and had with him four hundred
thousand most valiant and chosen men, Jeroboam put his army in array
against him, eight hundred thousand men, who were also chosen and most
valiant for war.

13:4. And Abia stood upon mount Semeron, which was in Ephraim, and said:
Hear me, O Jeroboam, and all Israel:

13:5. Do you not know that the Lord God of Israel gave to David the
kingdom over Israel for ever, to him and to his sons by a covenant of
salt?

A covenant of salt... That is, a firm and perpetual covenant. See Num.
18.19.

13:6. And Jeroboam the son of Nabat, the servant of Solomon the son of
David, rose up: and rebelled against his lord.

13:7. And there were gathered to him vain men, and children of Belial:
and they prevailed against Roboam the son of Solomon: for Roboam was
unexperienced, and of a fearful heart, and could not resist them.

13:8. And now you say that you are able to withstand the kingdom of the
Lord, which he possesseth by the sons of David, and you have a great
multitude of people, and golden calves, which Jeroboam hath made you for
gods.

13:9. And you have cast out the priests of the Lord, the sons of Aaron,
and the Levites: and you have made you priests, like all the nations of
the earth: whosoever cometh and consecrateth his hand with a bullock of
the herd, and with seven rams, is made a priest of those who are no
gods.

13:10. But the Lord is our God, whom we forsake not, and the priests who
minister to the Lord are the sons of Aaron, and the Levites are in their
order.

13:11. And they offer holocausts to the Lord, every day, morning and
evening, and incense made according to the ordinance of the law, and the
loaves are set forth on a most clean table, and there is with us the
golden candlestick, and the lamps thereof, to be lighted always in the
evening: for we keep the precepts of the Lord our God, whom you have
forsaken.

13:12. Therefore God is the leader in our army, and his priests who
sound with trumpets, and resound against you: O children of Israel,
fight not against the Lord the God of your fathers, for it is not good
for you.

13:13. While he spoke these things, Jeroboam caused an ambushment to
come about behind him. And while he stood facing the enemies, he
encompassed Juda, who perceived it not, with his army.

13:14. And when Juda looked back, they saw the battle coming upon them
both before and behind, and they cried to the Lord: and the priests
began to sound with the trumpets.

13:15. And all the men of Juda shouted: and behold when they shouted,
God terrified Jeroboam, and all Israel that stood against Abia and Juda.

13:16. And the children of Israel fled before Juda, and the Lord
delivered them into their hand.

13:17. And Abia and his people slew them with a great slaughter, and
there fell wounded of Israel five hundred thousand valiant men.

13:18. And the children of Israel were brought down, at that time, and
the children of Juda were exceedingly strengthened, because they had
trusted in the Lord the God of their fathers.

13:19. And Abia pursued after Jeroboam, and took cities from him, Bethel
and her daughters, and Jesana with her daughters, Ephron also and her
daughters.

13:20. And Jeroboam was not able to resist any more, in the days of
Abia: and the Lord struck him, and he died.

13:21. But Abia, being strengthened in his kingdom, took fourteen wives:
and begot two and twenty sons, and sixteen daughters.

13:22. And the rest of the acts of Abia, and of his ways and works, are
written diligently in the book of Addo the prophet.

2 Paralipomenon Chapter 14

The reign of Asa: his victory over the Ethiopians.

14:1. And Abia slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the city
of David: an Asa his son reigned in his stead: in his days the land was
quiet ten years.

14:2. And Asa did that which was good and pleasing in the sight of his
God, and he destroyed the altars of foreign worship, and the high
places.

14:3. And broke the statues, and cut down the groves.

14:4. And he commanded Juda to seek the Lord the God of their fathers,
and to do the law, and all the commandments.

14:5. And he took away out of all the cities of Juda the altars, and
temples, and reigned in peace.

14:6. He built also strong cities in Juda, for he was quiet, and there
had no wars risen in his time, the Lord giving peace.

14:7. And he said to Juda: Let us build these cities, and compass them
with walls, and fortify them with towers, and gates, and bars, while all
is quiet from wars, because we have sought the Lord the God of our
fathers, and he hath given us peace round about. So they built, and
there was no hinderance in building.

14:8. And Asa had in his army of men that bore shields and spears of
Juda three hundred thousand, and of Benjamin that bore shields and drew
bows, two hundred and eighty thousand, all these were most valiant men.

14:9. And Zara the Ethiopian came out against them with his army of ten
hundred thousand men, and with three hundred chariots: and he came as
far as Maresa.

14:10. And Asa went out to meet him, and set his army in array for
battle in the vale of Sephata, which is near Maresa:

14:11. And he called upon the Lord God, and said: Lord, there is no
difference with thee, whether thou help with few, or with many: help us,
O Lord our God: for with confidence in thee, and in thy name we are come
against this multitude. O Lord thou art our God, let not man prevail
against thee.

14:12. And the Lord terrified the Ethiopians before Asa and Juda: and
the Ethiopians fled.

14:13. And Asa and the people that were with him pursued them to Gerara:
and the Ethiopians fell even to utter destruction, for the Lord slew
them, and his army fought against them, and they were destroyed. And
they took abundance of spoils,

14:14. And they took all the cities round about Gerara: for a great fear
was come upon all men: and they pillaged the cities, and carried off
much booty.

14:15. And they destroyed the sheepcotes, and took an infinite number of
cattle, and of camels: and returned to Jerusalem.

2 Paralipomenon Chapter 15

The prophecy of Azarias. Asa's covenant with God. He deposeth his
mother.

15:1. And the spirit of God came upon Azarias the son of Oded,

15:2. And he went out to meet Asa, and said to him: Hear ye me, Asa, and
all Juda and Benjamin: The Lord is with you, because you have been with
him. If you seek him, you shall find: but if you forsake him, he will
forsake you.

15:3. And many days shall pass in Israel, without the true God, and
without a priest a teacher, and without the law.

15:4. And when in their distress they shall return to the Lord the God
of Israel, and shall seek him, they shall find him.

15:5. At that time there shall be no peace to him that goeth out and
cometh in, but terrors on every side among all the inhabitants of the
earth.

15:6. For nation shall fight against nation, and city against city, for
the Lord will trouble them with all distress.

15:7. Do you therefore take courage, and let not your hands be weakened:
for there shall be a reward for your work.

15:8. And when Asa had heard the words, and the prophecy of Azarias the
son of Oded the prophet, he took courage, and took away the idols out of
all the land of Juda, and out of Benjamin, and out of the cities of
mount Ephraim, which he had taken, and he dedicated the altar of the
Lord, which was before the porch of the Lord.

15:9. And he gathered together all Juda and Benjamin, and the strangers
with them of Ephraim, and Manasses, and Simeon: for many were come over
to him out of Israel, seeing that the Lord his God was with him.

15:10. And when they were come to Jerusalem in the third month, in the
fifteenth year of the reign of Asa,

15:11. They sacrificed to the Lord in that day of the spoils, and of the
prey, that they had brought, seven hundred oxen, and seven thousand
rams.

15:12. And he went in to confirm as usual the covenant, that they should
seek the Lord the God of their fathers with all their heart, and with
all their soul.

15:13. And if any one, said he, seek not the Lord the God of Israel, let
him die, whether little or great, man or woman.

15:14. And they swore to the Lord with a loud voice with joyful
shouting, and with sound of trumpet, and sound of cornets,

15:15. All that were in Juda with a curse: for with all their heart they
swore, and with all their will they sought him, and they found him, and
the Lord gave them rest round about.

15:16. Moreover Maacha the mother of king Asa he deposed from the royal
authority, because she had made in a grove an idol of Priapus: and he
entirely destroyed it, and breaking it into pieces, burnt it at the
torrent Cedron.

15:17. But high places were left in Israel: nevertheless the heart of
Asa was perfect all his days.

15:18. And the things which his father had vowed, and he himself had
vowed, he brought into the house of the Lord, gold and silver, and
vessels of divers uses.

15:19. And there was no war unto the five and thirtieth year of the
kingdom of Asa.

2 Paralipomenon Chapter 16

Asa is reproved for seeking help from the Syrians: his last acts and
death.

16:1. And in the six and thirtieth year of his kingdom, Baasa the king
of Israel came up against Juda, and built a wall about Rama, that no one
might safely go out or come in of the kingdom of Asa.

Six and thirtieth year of his kingdom... That is, of the kingdom of
Juda, taking the date of it from the beginning of the reign of Reboam.

16:2. Then Asa brought out silver and gold out of the treasures of the
house of the Lord, and of the king's treasures, and sent to Benadad king
of Syria, who dwelt in Damascus, saying:

16:3. There is a league between me and thee, as there was between my
father and thy father, wherefore I have sent thee silver and gold, that
thou mayst break thy league with Baasa king of Israel, and make him
depart from me.

16:4. And when Benadad heard this, he sent the captains of his armies
against the cities of Israel: and they took Ahion, and Dan, and
Abelmaim, and all the walled cities of Nephtali.

16:5. And when Baasa heard of it, he left off the building of Rama, and
interrupted his work.

16:6. Then king Asa took all Juda, and they carried away from Rama the
stones, and the timber that Baasa had prepared for the building: and he
built with them Gabaa, and Maspha.

16:7. At that time Hanani the prophet came to Asa king of Juda, and said
to him: Because thou hast had confidence in the king of Syria, and not
in the Lord thy God, therefore hath the army of the king of Syria
escaped out of thy hand.

16:8. Were not the Ethiopians, and the Libyans much more numerous in
chariots, and horsemen, and an exceeding great multitude: yet because
thou trustedst in the Lord, he delivered them into thy hand?

16:9. For the eyes of the Lord behold all the earth, and give strength
to those who with a perfect heart trust in him.  Wherefore thou hast
done foolishly, and for this cause from this time wars shall arise
against thee.

16:10. And Asa was angry with the seer, and commanded him to be put in
prison: for he was greatly enraged because of this thing: and he put to
death many of the people at that time.

16:11. But the works of Asa the first and last are written in the book
of the kings of Juda and Israel.

16:12. And Asa fell sick in the nine and thirtieth year of his reign, of
a most violent pain in his feet, and yet in his illness he did not seek
the Lord, but rather trusted in the skill of physicians.

16:13. And he slept with his fathers: and he died in the one and
fortieth year of his reign.

16:14. And they buried him in his own sepulchre, which he had made for
himself in the city of David: and they laid him on his bed full of
spices and odoriferous ointments, which were made by the art of the
perfumers, and they burnt them over him with very great pomp.

2 Paralipomenon Chapter 17

Josaphat's reign: his care for the instruction of his people: his
numerous forces.

17:1. And Josaphat his son reigned in his stead, and grew strong against
Israel.

17:2. And he placed numbers of soldiers in all the fortified cities of
Juda. And he put garrisons in the land of Juda, and in the cities of
Ephraim, which Asa his father had taken.

17:3. And the Lord was with Josaphat, because he walked in the first
ways of David his father: and trusted not in Baalim,

17:4. But in the God of his father, and walked in his commandments, and
not according to the sins of Israel.

17:5. And the Lord established the kingdom in his hand, and all Juda
brought presents to Josaphat: and he acquired immense riches, and much
glory.

17:6. And when his heart had taken courage for the ways of the Lord, he
took away also the high places and the groves out of Juda.

17:7. And in the third year of his reign, he sent of his princes
Benhail, and Abdias, and Zacharias, and Nathanael, and Micheas, to teach
in the cites of Juda:

17:8. And with them the Levites, Semeias, and Nathanias, and Zabadias,
and Asael, and Semiramoth, and Jonathan, and Adonias, and Tobias, and
Thobadonias Levites, and with them Elisama, and Joram priests.

17:9. And they taught the people in Juda, having with them the book of
the law of the Lord: and they went about all the cities of Juda, and
instructed the people.

17:10. And the fear of the Lord came upon all the kingdoms of the lands
that were round about Juda, and they durst not make war against
Josaphat.

17:11. The Philistines also brought presents to Josaphat, and tribute in
silver, and the Arabians brought him cattle, seven thousand seven
hundred rams, and as many he goats.

17:12. And Josaphat grew, and became exceeding great: and he built in
Juda houses like towers, and walled cities.

17:13. And he prepared many works in the cities of Juda: and he had
warriors, and valiant men in Jerusalem.

17:14. Of whom this is the number of the houses and families of every
one: in Juda captains of the army, Ednas the chief, and with him three
hundred thousand most valiant men.

17:15. After him Johanan the captain, and with him two hundred and
eighty thousand.

17:16. And after him was Amasias the son of Zechri, consecrated to the
Lord, and with him were two hundred thousand valiant men.

17:17. After him was Eliada valiant in battle, and with him two hundred
thousand armed with bow and shield.

17:18. After him also was Jozabad, and with him a hundred and eighty
thousand ready for war.

17:19. All these were at the hand of the king, beside others, whom he
had put in the walled cities, in all Juda.

2 Paralipomenon Chapter 18

Josaphat accompanies Achab in his expedition against Ramoth; where Achab
is slain, as Micheas had foretold.

18:1. Now Josaphat was rich and very glorious, and was joined by
affinity to Achab.

18:2. And he went down to him after some years to Samaria: and Achab at
his coming killed sheep and oxen in abundance for him and the people
that came with him: and he persuaded him to go up to Ramoth Galaad.

18:3. And Achab king of Israel said to Josaphat king of Juda: Come with
me to Ramoth Galaad. And he answered him: Thou art as I am, and my
people as thy people, and we will be with thee in the war.

18:4. And Josaphat said to the king of Israel: Inquire, I beseech thee,
at present the word of the Lord.

18:5. So the king of Israel gathered together of the prophets four
hundred men, and he said to them: Shall we go to Ramoth Galaad to fight,
or shall we forbear? But they said: Go up, and God will deliver into the
king's hand.

18:6. And Josaphat said: Is there not here a prophet of the Lord, that
we may inquire also of him?

18:7. And the king of Israel said to Josaphat: There is one man, of whom
we may ask the will of the Lord: but I hate him, for he never
prophesieth good to me, but always evil: and it is Micheas the son of
Jemla. And Josaphat said: Speak not thus, O king.

18:8. And the king of Israel called one of the eunuchs, and said to him:
Call quickly Micheas the son of Jemla.

18:9. Now the king of Israel, and Josaphat king of Juda, both sat on
their thrones, clothed in royal robes, and they sat in the open court by
the gate of Samaria, and all the prophets prophesied before them.

18:10. And Sedecias the son of Chanaana made him horns of iron, and
said: Thus saith the Lord: With these shalt thou push Syria, till thou
destroy it.

18:11. And all the prophets prophesied in like manner, and said: Go up
to Ramoth Galaad, and thou shalt prosper, and the Lord will deliver them
into the king's hand.

18:12. And the messenger that went to call Micheas, said to him: Behold
the words of all the prophets with one mouth declare good to the king: I
beseech thee therefore let not thy word disagree with them, and speak
thou also good success.

18:13. And Micheas answered him: As the Lord liveth, whatsoever my God
shall say to me, that will I speak.

18:14. So he came to the king: and the king said to him: Micheas, shall
we go to Ramoth Galaad to fight, or forbear? And he answered him: Go up,
for all shall succeed prosperously, and the enemies shall be delivered
into your hands.

18:15. And the king said: I adjure thee again and again to say nothing
but the truth to me, in the name of the Lord.

18:16. Then he said: I saw all Israel scattered in the mountains, like
sheep without a shepherd: and the Lord said: These have no masters: let
every man return to his own house in peace.

18:17. And the king of Israel said to Josaphat: Did I not tell thee that
this man would not prophesy me any good, but evil?

18:18. Then he said: Hear ye therefore the word of the Lord: I saw the
Lord sitting on his throne, and all the army of heaven standing by him
on the right hand and on the left,

18:19. And the Lord said: Who shall deceive Achab king of Israel, that
he may go up and fall in Ramoth Galaad? And when one spoke in this
manner, and another otherwise:

Who shall deceive, etc... See the annotations, 3 Kings 22.

18:20. There came forth a spirit, and stood before the Lord, and said: I
will deceive him. And the Lord said to him: By what means wilt thou
deceive him?

18:21. And he answered: I will go out, and be a lying spirit in the
mouth of all his prophets. And the Lord said: Thou shalt deceive, and
shalt prevail: go out, and do so.

18:22. Now therefore behold the Lord hath put a spirit of lying in the
mouth of all thy prophets, and the Lord hath spoken evil against thee.

18:23. And Sedecias the son of Chanaana came, and struck Micheas on the
cheek and said: Which way went the spirit of the Lord from me, to speak
to thee?

18:24. And Micheas said: Thou thyself shalt see in that day, when thou
shalt go in from chamber to chamber, to hide thyself.

18:25. And the king of Israel commanded, saying: Take Micheas, and carry
him to Amon the governor of the city, and to Joas the son of Amelech,

18:26. And say: Thus saith the king: Put this fellow in prison, and give
him bread and water in a small quantity till I return in peace.

18:27. And Micheas said: If thou return in peace, the Lord hath not
spoken by me. And he said: Hear, all ye people.

18:28. So the king of Israel and Josaphat king of Juda went up to Ramoth
Galaad.

18:29. And the king of Israel said to Josaphat: I will change my dress,
and so I will go to the battle, but put thou on thy own garments. And
the king of Israel having changed his dress, went to the battle.

18:30. Now the king of Syria had commanded the captains of his cavalry,
saying: Fight ye not with small, or great, but with the king of Israel
only.

18:31. So when the captains of the cavalry saw Josaphat, they said: This
is the king of Israel. And they surrounded him to attack him: but he
cried to the Lord, and he helped him, and turned them away from him.

18:32. For when the captains of the cavalry saw, that he was not the
king of Israel, they left him.

18:33. And it happened that one of the people shot an arrow at a
venture, and struck the king of Israel between the neck and the
shoulders, and he said to his chariot man: Turn thy hand, and carry me
out of the battle, for I am wounded.

18:34. And the fight was ended that day: but the king of Israel stood in
his chariot against the Syrians until the evening, and died at the
sunset.

2 Paralipomenon Chapter 19

Josaphat's charge to the judges and to the Levites.

19:1. And Josaphat king of Juda returned to his house in peace to
Jerusalem.

19:2. And Jehu the son of Hanani the seer met him, and said to him: Thou
helpest the ungodly, and thou art joined in friendship with them that
hate the Lord, and therefore thou didst deserve indeed the wrath of the
Lord:

19:3. But good works are found in thee, because thou hast taken away the
groves out of the land of Juda, and hast prepared thy heart to seek the
Lord the God of thy fathers.

19:4. And Josaphat dwelt at Jerusalem: and he went out again to the
people from Bersabee to mount Ephraim, and brought them back to the Lord
the God of their fathers.

19:5. And he set judges of the land in all the fenced cities of Juda, in
every place.

19:6. And charging the judges, he said: Take heed what you do: for you
exercise not the judgment of man, but of the Lord: and whatsoever you
judge, it shall redound to you.

19:7. Let the fear of the Lord be with you, and do all things with
diligence: for there is no iniquity with the Lord our God, nor respect
of persons, nor desire of gifts.

19:8. In Jerusalem also Josaphat appointed Levites, and priests and
chiefs of the families of Israel, to judge the judgment and the cause of
the Lord for the inhabitants thereof.

19:9. And he charged them, saying, Thus shall you do in the fear of the
Lord faithfully, and with a perfect heart.

19:10. Every cause that shall come to you of your brethren, that dwell
in their cities, between kindred and kindred, wheresoever there is
question concerning the law, the commandment, the ceremonies, the
justifications: shew it them, that they may not sin against the Lord,
and that wrath may not come upon you and your brethren: and so doing you
shall not sin.

19:11. And Amarias the priest your high priest shall be chief in the
things which regard God: and Zabadias the son of Ismahel, who is ruler
in the house of Juda, shall be over those matters which belong to the
king's office: and you have before you the Levites for masters, take
courage and do diligently, and the Lord will be with you in good things.

2 Paralipomenon Chapter 20

The Ammonites, Moabites, and Syrians combine against Josaphat: he
seeketh God's help by public prayer and fasting. A prophet foretelleth
that God will fight for his people: the enemies destroy one another.
Josaphat with his men gathereth the spoils. He reigneth in peace, but
his navy perisheth, for his society with wicked Ochozias.

20:1. After this the children of Moab, and the children of Ammon, and
with them of the Ammonites, were gathered together to fight against
Josaphat.

20:2. And there came messengers, and told Josaphat, saying: There cometh
a great multitude against thee from beyond the sea, and out of Syria,
and behold they are in Asasonthamar, which is Engaddi.

20:3. And Josaphat being seized with fear betook himself wholly to pray
to the Lord, and he proclaimed a fast for all Juda.

20:4. And Juda gathered themselves together to pray to the Lord: and all
came out of their cities to make supplication to him.

20:5. And Josaphat stood in the midst of the assembly of Juda, and
Jerusalem, in the house of the Lord before the new court,

20:6. And said: O Lord God of our fathers, thou art God in heaven, and
rulest over all the kingdoms and nations, in thy hand is strength and
power, and no one can resist thee.

20:7. Didst not thou our God kill all the inhabitants of this land
before thy people Israel, and gavest it to the seed of Abraham thy
friend for ever?

20:8. And they dwelt in it, and built in it a sanctuary to thy name,
saying:

20:9. If evils fall upon us, the sword of judgment, or pestilence, or
famine, we will stand in thy presence before this house, in which thy
name is called upon: and we will cry to thee in our afflictions, and
thou wilt hear, and save us.

20:10. Now therefore behold the children of Ammon, and of Moab, and
mount Seir, through whose lands thou didst not allow Israel to pass,
when they came out of Egypt, but they turned aside from them, and slew
them not,

20:11. Do the contrary, and endeavour to cast us out of the possession
which thou hast delivered to us.

20:12. O our God, wilt thou not then judge them? as for us we have not
strength enough, to be able to resist this multitude, which cometh
violently upon us. But as we know not what to do, we can only turn our
eyes to thee.

20:13. And all Juda stood before the Lord with their little ones, and
their wives, and their children.

20:14. And Jahaziel the son of Zacharias, the son of Banaias, the son of
Jehiel, the son of Mathanias, a Levite of the sons of Asaph, was there,
upon whom the spirit of the Lord came in the midst of the multitude,

20:15. And he said: Attend ye, all Juda, and you that dwell in
Jerusalem, and thou king Josaphat: Thus saith the Lord to you: Fear ye
not, and be not dismayed at this multitude: for the battle is not yours,
but God's.

20:16. To morrow you shall go down against them: for they will come up
by the ascent named Sis, and you shall find them at the head of the
torrent, which is over against the wilderness of Jeruel.

20:17. It shall not be you that shall fight, but only stand with
confidence, and you shall see the help of the Lord over you, O Juda, and
Jerusalem: fear ye not, nor be you dismayed: to morrow you shall go out
against them, and the Lord will be with you.

20:18. Then Josaphat, and Juda, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem
fell flat on the ground before the Lord, and adored him.

20:19. And the Levites of the sons of Caath, and of the sons of Core
praised the Lord the God of Israel with a loud voice, on high.

20:20. And they rose early in the morning, and went out through the
desert of Thecua: and as they were marching, Josaphat standing in the
midst of them, said: Hear me, ye men of Juda, and all the inhabitants of
Jerusalem: believe in the Lord your God, and you shall be secure:
believe his prophets, and all things shall succeed well.

20:21. And he gave counsel to the people, and appointed the singing men
of the Lord, to praise him by their companies, and to go before the
army, and with one voice to say: Give glory to the Lord, for his mercy
endureth for ever.

20:22. And when they began to sing praises, the Lord turned their
ambushments upon themselves, that is to say, of the children of Ammon,
and of Moab, and of mount Seir, who were come out to fight against Juda,
and they were slain.

20:23. For the children of Ammon, and of Moab, rose up against the
inhabitants of mount Seir, to kill and destroy them: and when they had
made an end of them, they turned also against one another, and destroyed
one another.

20:24. And when Juda came to the watch tower, that looketh toward the
desert, they saw afar off all the country, for a great space, full of
dead bodies, and that no one was left that could escape death.

20:25. Then Josaphat came, and all the people with him to take away the
spoils of the dead, and they found among the dead bodies, stuff of
various kinds, and garments, and most precious vessels: and they took
them for themselves, insomuch that they could not carry all, nor in
three days take away the spoils, the booty was so great.

20:26. And on the fourth day they were assembled in the valley of
Blessing: for there they blessed the Lord, and therefore they called
that place the valley of Blessing until this day.

20:27. And every man of Juda, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem returned,
and Josaphat at their head, into Jerusalem with great joy, because the
Lord had made them rejoice over their enemies.

20:28. And they came into Jerusalem with psalteries, and harps, and
trumpets into the house of the Lord.

20:29. And the fear of the Lord fell upon all the kingdoms of the lands
when they heard that the Lord had fought against the enemies of Israel.

20:30. And the kingdom of Josaphat was quiet, and God gave him peace
round about.

20:31. And Josaphat reigned over Juda, and he was five and thirty years
old, when he began to reign: and he reigned five and twenty years in
Jerusalem: and the name of his mother was Azuba the daughter of Selahi.

20:32. And he walked in the way of his father Asa and departed not from
it, doing the things that were pleasing before the Lord.

20:33. But yet he took not away the high places, and the people had not
yet turned their heart to the Lord the God of their fathers.

20:34. But the rest of the acts of Josaphat, first and last, are written
in the words of Jehu the son of Hanani, which he digested into the books
of the kings of Israel.

20:35. After these things Josaphat king of Juda made friendship with
Ochozias king of Israel, whose works were very wicked.

20:36. And he was partner with him in making ships, to go to Tharsis:
and they made the ships in Asiongaber.

20:37. And Eliezer the son of Dodau of Maresa prophesied to Josaphat,
saying: Because thou hast made a league with Ochozias, the Lord hath
destroyed thy works, and the ships are broken, and they could not go to
Tharsis.

2 Paralipomenon Chapter 21

Joram's wicked reign: his punishment and death.

21:1. And Josaphat slept with his fathers, and was buried with them in
the city of David: and Joram his son reigned in his stead.

21:2. And he had brethren the sons of Josaphat, Azarias, and Jahiel, and
Zacharias, and Azaria, and Michael, and Saphatias, all these were the
sons of Josaphat king of Juda.

21:3. And their father gave them great gifts of silver, and of gold, and
pensions, with strong cities in Juda: but the kingdom he gave to Joram,
because he was the eldest.

21:4. So Joram rose up over the kingdom of his father: and when he had
established himself, he slew all his brethren with the sword, and some
of the princes of Israel.

21:5. Joram was two and thirty years old when he began to reign: and he
reigned eight years in Jerusalem.

21:6. And he walked in the ways of the kings of Israel, as the house of
Achab had done: for his wife was a daughter of Achab, and he did evil in
the sight of the Lord.

21:7. But the Lord would not destroy the house of David: because of the
covenant which he had made with him: and because he had promised to give
a lamp to him, and to his sons for ever.

21:8. In those days Edom revolted, from being subject to Juda, and made
themselves a king.

21:9. And Joram went over with his princes, and all his cavalry with
him, and rose in the night, and defeated the Edomites who had surrounded
him, and all the captains of his cavalry.

21:10. However Edom revolted, from being under the dominion of Juda unto
this day: at that time Lobna also revolted, from being under his hand.
For he had forsaken the Lord the God of his fathers.

21:11. Moreover he built also high places in the cities of Juda, and he
made the inhabitants of Jerusalem to commit fornication, and Juda to
transgress.

21:12. And there was a letter brought him from Eliseus the prophet, in
which it was written: Thus saith the Lord the God of David thy father:
Because thou hast not walked in the ways of Josaphat thy father nor in
the ways of Asa king of Juda,

21:13. But hast walked in the ways of the kings of Israel, and hast made
Juda and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to commit fornication, imitating
the fornication of the house of Achab, moreover also thou hast killed
thy brethren, the house of thy father, better men than thyself,

21:14. Behold the Lord will strike thee with a great plague, with all
thy people, and thy children, and thy wives, and all thy substance.

21:15. And thou shalt be sick of a very grievous disease of thy bowels,
till thy vital parts come out by little and little every day.

21:16. And the Lord stirred up against Joram the spirit of the
Philistines, and of the Arabians, who border on the Ethiopians.

21:17. And they came up into the land of Juda, and wasted it, and they
carried away all the substance that was found in the king's house, his
sons also, and his wives: so that there was no son left him but Joachaz,
who was the youngest.

Joachaz... Alias Ochozias.

21:18. And besides all this the Lord struck him with an incurable
disease in his bowels.

21:19. And as day came after day, and time rolled on, two whole years
passed: then after being wasted with a long consumption, so as to void
his very bowels, his disease ended with his life.  And he died of a most
wretched illness, and the people did not make a funeral for him
according to the manner of burning, as they had done for his ancestors.

21:20. He was two and thirty years old when he began his reign, and he
reigned eight years in Jerusalem. And he walked not rightly, and they
buried him in the city of David: but not in the sepulchres of the kings.

2 Paralipomenon Chapter 22

The reign and death of Ochozias. The tyranny of Athalia.

22:1. And the inhabitants of Jerusalem made Ochozias his youngest son
king in his place: for the rovers of the Arabians, who had broke in upon
the camp, had killed all that were his elder brothers. So Ochozias the
son of Joram king of Juda reigned.

22:2. Ochozias was forty-two years old when he began to reign, and he
reigned one year in Jerusalem, and the name of his mother was Athalia
the daughter of Amri.

Forty-two, etc... Divers Greek Bibles read thirty-two, agreeably to 4
Kings 8.17.

22:3. He also walked in the ways of the house of Achab: for his mother
pushed him on to do wickedly.

22:4. So he did evil in the sight of the Lord, as the house of Achab
did: for they were his counsellors after the death of his father, to his
destruction.

22:5. And he walked after their counsels. And he went with Joram the son
of Achab king of Israel, to fight against Hazael king of Syria, at
Ramoth Galaad: and the Syrians wounded Joram.

22:6. And he returned to be healed in Jezrahel: for he received many
wounds in the foresaid battle. And Ochozias the son of Joram king of
Juda, went down to visit Joram the son of Achab in Jezrahel where he lay
sick.

22:7. For it was the will of God against Ochozias that he should come to
Joram: and when he was come should go out also against Jehu the son of
Namsi, whom the Lord had anointed to destroy the house of Achab.

22:8. So when Jehu was rooting out the house of Achab, he found the
princes of Juda, and the sons of the brethren of Ochozias, who served
him, and he slew them.

22:9. And he sought for Ochozias himself, and took him lying hid in
Samaria: and when he was brought to him, he killed him, and they buried
him: because he was the son of Josaphat, who had sought the Lord with
all his heart. And there was no more hope that any one should reign of
the race of Ochozias.

22:10. For Athalia his mother, seeing that her son was dead, rose up,
and killed all the royal family of the house of Joram.

22:11. But Josabeth the king's daughter took Joas the son of Ochozias,
and stole him from among the king's sons that were slain. And she hid
him with his nurse in a bedchamber: now Josabeth that hid him, was
daughter of king Joram, wife of Joiada the high priest, and sister of
Ochozias, and therefore Athalia did not kill him.

22:12. And he was with them hid in the house of God six years, during
which Athalia reigned over the land.

2 Paralipomenon Chapter 23

Joiada the high priest causeth Joas to be made king: Athalia to be
slain, and idolatry to be destroyed.

23:1. And in the seventh year Joiada being encouraged, took the captains
of hundreds, to wit, Azarias the son of Jeroham, and Ismahel the son of
Johanan, and Azarias the son of Obed, and Maasias the son of Adaias, and
Elisaphat the son of Zechri: and made a covenant with them.

23:2. And they went about Juda, and gathered together the Levites out of
all the cities of Juda, and the chiefs of the families of Israel, and
they came to Jerusalem.

23:3. And all the multitude made a covenant with the king in the house
of God: and Joiada said to them: Behold the king's son shall reign, as
the Lord hath said of the sons of David.

23:4. And this is the thing that you shall do:

23:5. A third part of you that come to the sabbath, of the priests, and
of the Levites, and of the porters shall be at the gates: and a third
part at the king's house: and a third at the gate that is called the
Foundation: but let all the rest of the people be in the courts of the
house of the Lord.

To the sabbath... That is, to perform in your weeks the functions of
your office, or the weekly watches.

23:6. And let no one come into the house of the Lord, but the priests,
and they that minister of the Levites: let them only come in, because
they are sanctified: and let all the rest of the people keep the watches
of the Lord.

23:7. And let the Levites be round about the king, every man with his
arms; and if any other come into the temple, let him be slain; and let
them be with the king, both coming in, and going out.

23:8. So the Levites, and all Juda did according to all that Joiada the
high priest had commanded: and they took every one his men that were
under him, and that came in by the course of the sabbath, with those who
had fulfilled the sabbath, and were to go out. For Joiada the high
priest permitted not the companies to depart, which were accustomed to
succeed one another every week.

23:9. And Joiada the priest gave to the captains the spears, and the
shields, and targets of king David, which he had dedicated in the house
of the Lord.

23:10. And he set all the people with swords in their hands from the
right side of the temple, to the left side of the temple, before the
altar, and the temple, round about the king.

23:11. And they brought out the king's son, and put the crown upon him,
and the testimony, and gave him the law to hold in his hand, and they
made him king: and Joiada the high priest and his sons anointed him: and
they prayed for him, and said: God save the king.

23:12. Now when Athalia heard the noise of the people running and
praising the king, she came in to the people, into the temple of the
Lord.

23:13. And when she saw the king standing upon the step in the entrance,
and the princes, and the companies about him, and all the people of the
land rejoicing, and sounding with trumpets, and playing on instruments
of divers kinds, and the voice of those that praised, she rent her
garments, and said: Treason, treason.

23:14. And Joiada the high priest going out to the captains, and the
chiefs of the army, said to them: Take her forth without the precinct of
the temple, and when she is without let her be killed with the sword.
For the priest commanded that she should not be killed in the house of
the Lord.

23:15. And they laid hold on her by the neck: and when she was come
within the horse gate of the palace, they killed her there.

23:16. And Joiada made a covenant between himself and all the people,
and the king, that they should be the people of the lord.

23:17. And all the people went into the house of Baal, and destroyed it:
and they broke down his altars and his idols: and they slew Mathan the
priest of Baal before the altars.

23:18. And Joiada appointed overseers in the house of the Lord, under
the hands of the priests, and the Levites, whom David had distributed in
the house of the Lord: to offer holocausts to the Lord, as it is written
in the law of Moses, with joy and singing, according to the disposition
of David.

23:19. He appointed also porters in the gates of the house of the Lord,
that none who was unclean in any thing should enter in.

23:20. And he took the captains of hundreds, and the most valiant men,
and the chiefs of the people, and all the people of the land, and they
brought down the king from the house of the Lord, and brought him
through the upper gate into the king's house, and set him on the royal
throne.

23:21. And all the people of the land rejoiced, and the city was quiet:
but Athalia was slain with the sword.

2 Paralipomenon Chapter 24

Joas reigneth well all the days of Joiada: afterwards falleth into
idolatry and causeth Zacharias to be slain. He is slain himself by his
servants.

24:1. Joas was seven years old when he began to reign: and he reigned
forty years in Jerusalem: the name of his mother was Sebia of Bersabee.

24:2. And he did that which is good before the Lord all the days of
Joiada the priest.

24:3. And Joiada took for him two wives, by whom he had sons and
daughters.

24:4. After this Joas had a mind to repair the house of the Lord.

24:5. And he assembled the priests, and the Levites, and said to them:
Go out to the cities of Juda, and gather of all Israel money to repair
the temple of your God, from year to year: and do this with speed: but
the Levites were negligent.

24:6. And the king called Joiada the chief, and said to him: Why hast
thou not taken care to oblige the Levites to bring in out of Juda and
Jerusalem the money that was appointed by Moses the servant of the Lord
for all the multitude of Israel to bring into the tabernacle of the
testimony?

24:7. For that wicked woman Athalia, and her children have destroyed the
house of God, and adorned the temple of Baal with all the things that
had been dedicated in the temple of the Lord.

24:8. And the king commanded, and they made a chest: and set it by the
gate of the house of the Lord on the outside.

24:9. And they made a proclamation in Juda and Jerusalem, that every man
should bring to the Lord the money which Moses the servant of God
appointed for all Israel, in the desert.

24:10. And all the princes, and all the people rejoiced: and going in
they contributed and cast so much into the chest of the Lord, that it
was filled.

24:11. And when it was time to bring the chest before the king by the
hands of the Levites, (for they saw there was much money,) the king's
scribe, and he whom the high priest had appointed went in: and they
poured out the money that was in the chest: and they carried back the
chest to its place: and thus they did from day to day, and there was
gathered an immense sum of money.

24:12. And the king and Joiada gave it to those who were over the works
of the house of the Lord: but they hired with it stonecutters, and
artificers of every kind of work to repair the house of the Lord: and
such as wrought in iron and brass, to uphold what began to be falling.

24:13. And the workmen were diligent, and the breach of the walls was
closed up by their hands, and they set up the house of the Lord in its
former state, and made it stand firm.

24:14. And when they had finished all the works, they brought the rest
of the money before the king and Joiada: and with it were made vessels
for the temple for the ministry, and for holocausts and bowls, and other
vessels of gold and silver: and holocausts were offered in the house of
the Lord continually all the days of Joiada.

24:15. But Joiada grew old and was full of days, and died when he was a
hundred and thirty years old.

24:16. And they buried him in the city of David among the kings, because
he had done good to Israel, and to his house.

24:17. And after the death of Joiada, the princes of Juda went in, and
worshipped the king: and he was soothed by their services and hearkened
to them.

24:18. And they forsook the temple of the Lord the God of their fathers,
and served groves and idols, and wrath came upon Juda and Jerusalem for
this sin.

24:19. And he sent prophets to them to bring them back to the Lord, and
they would not give ear when they testified against them.

24:20. The spirit of God then came upon Zacharias the son of Joiada the
priest, and he stood in the sight of the people, and said to them: Thus
saith the Lord God: Why transgress you the commandment of the Lord which
will not be for your good, and have forsaken the Lord, to make him
forsake you?

24:21. And they gathered themselves together against him, and stoned him
at the king's commandment in the court of the house of the Lord.

24:22. And king Joas did not remember the kindness that Joiada his
father had done to him, but killed his son. And when he died, he said:
The Lord see, and require it.

24:23. And when a year was come about, the army of Syria came up against
him: and they came to Juda and Jerusalem, and killed all the princes of
the people, and they sent all the spoils to the king of Damascus.

24:24. And whereas there came a very small number of the Syrians, the
Lord delivered into their hands an infinite multitude, because they had
forsaken the Lord the God of their fathers: and on Joas they executed
shameful judgments.

24:25. And departing they left him in great diseases: and his servants
rose up against him, for revenge of the blood of the son of Joiada the
priest, and they slew him in his bed, and he died: and they buried him
in the city of David, but not in the sepulchres of the kings.

24:26. Now the men that conspired against him were Zabad the son of
Semmaath an Ammonitess, and Jozabad the son of Semarith a Moabitess.

24:27. And concerning his sons, and the sum of money which was gathered
under him, and the repairing the house of God, they are written more
diligently in the book of kings: and Amasias his son reigned in his
stead.

2 Paralipomenon Chapter 25

Amasias' reign: he beginneth well, but endeth ill: he is overthrown by
Joas, and slain by his people.

25:1. Amasias was five and twenty years old when he began to reign, and
he reigned nine and twenty years in Jerusalem, the name of his mother
was Joadan of Jerusalem.

25:2. And he did what was good in the sight of the Lord: but yet not
with a perfect heart.

25:3. And when he saw himself strengthened in his kingdom, he put to
death the servants that had slain the king his father.

25:4. But he slew not their children, as it is written in the book of
the law of Moses, where the Lord commanded, saying: The fathers shall
not be slain for the children, nor the children for their fathers, but
every man shall die for his own sin.

25:5. Amasias therefore gathered Juda together, and appointed them by
families, and captains of thousands and of hundreds in all Juda, and
Benjamin: and he numbered them from twenty years old and upwards, and
found three hundred thousand young men that could go out to battle, and
could hold the spear and shield.

25:6. He hired also of Israel a hundred thousand valiant men, for a
hundred talents of silver.

25:7. But a man of God came to him, and said: O king, let not the army
of Israel go out with thee, for the Lord is not with Israel, and all the
children of Ephraim:

25:8. And if thou think that battles consist in the strength of the
army, God will make thee to be overcome by the enemies: for it belongeth
to God both to help, and to put to flight.

25:9. And Amasias said to the man of God: What will then become of the
hundred talents which I have given to the soldiers of Israel? and the
man of God answered him: The Lord is rich enough to be able to give thee
much more than this.

25:10. Then Amasias separated the army, that came to him out of Ephraim,
to go home again: but they being much enraged against Juda, returned to
their own country.

25:11. And Amasias taking courage led forth his people, and went to the
vale of saltpits, and slew of the children of Seir ten thousand.

25:12. And other ten thousand men the sons of Juda took, and brought to
the steep of a certain rock, and cast them down headlong from the top,
and they all were broken to pieces.

25:13. But that army which Amasias had sent back, that they should not
go with him to battle, spread themselves among the cities of Juda, from
Samaria to Beth-horon, and having killed three thousand took away much
spoil.

25:14. But Amasias after he had slain the Edomites, set up the gods of
the children of Seir, which he had brought thence, to be his gods, and
adored them, and burnt incense to them.

25:15. Wherefore the Lord being angry against Amasias, sent a prophet to
him, to say to him: Why hast thou adored gods that have not delivered
their own people out of thy hand?

25:16. And when he spoke these things, he answered him: Art thou the
king's counsellor? be quiet, lest I kill thee. And the prophet
departing, said: I know that God is minded to kill thee, because thou
hast done this evil, and moreover hast not hearkened to my counsel.

25:17. Then Amasias king of Juda taking very bad counsel, sent to Joas
the son of Joachaz the son of Jehu, king of Israel, saying: Come, let us
see one another.

25:18. But he sent back the messengers, saying: The thistle that is in
Libanus, sent to the cedar in Libanus, saying: Give thy daughter to my
son to wife: and behold the beasts that were in the wood of Libanus
passed by and trod down the thistle.

25:19. Thou hast said: I have overthrown Edom, and therefore thy heart
is lifted up with pride: stay at home, why dost thou provoke evil
against thee, that both thou shouldst fall and Juda with thee.

25:20. Amasias would not hearken to him, because it was the Lord's will
that he should be delivered into the hands of enemies, because of the
gods of Edom.

25:21. So Joas king of Israel went up, and they presented themselves to
be seen by one another: and Amasias king of Juda was in Bethsames of
Juda:

25:22. And Juda fell before Israel, and they fled to their dwellings.

25:23. And Joas king of Israel took Amasias king of Juda, the son of
Joas, the son of Joachaz, in Bethsames, and brought him to Jerusalem:
and broke down the walls thereof from the gate of Ephraim, to the gate
of the corner, four hundred cubits.

25:24. And he took all the gold, and silver, and all the vessels, that
he found in the house of God, and with Obededom, and in the treasures of
the king's house, moreover also the sons of the hostages, he brought
back to Samaria.

25:25. And Amasias the son of Joas king of Juda lived, after the death
of Joas the son of Joachaz king of Israel, fifteen years.

25:26. Now the rest of the acts of Amasias, the first and last, are
written in the book of the kings of Juda and Israel.

25:27. And after he revolted from the Lord, they made a conspiracy
against him in Jerusalem. And he fled into Lachis, and they sent, and
killed him there.

25:28. And they brought him back upon horses, and buried him with his
fathers in the city of David.

2 Paralipomenon Chapter 26

Ozias reigneth prosperously, till he invadeth the priests' office, upon
which he is struck with a leprosy.

26:1. And all the people of Juda took his son Ozias, who was sixteen
years old, and made him king in the room of Amasias his father.

26:2. He built Ailath, and restored it to the dominion of Juda, after
that the king slept with his fathers.

26:3. Ozias 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.

26:4. And he did that which was right in the eyes of the Lord, according
to all that Amasias his father had done.

26:5. And he sought the Lord in the days of Zacharias that understood
and saw God: and as long as he sought the Lord, he directed him in all
things.

26:6. Moreover he went forth and fought against the Philistines, and
broke down the wall of Geth, and the wall of Jabnia, and the wall of
Azotus: and he built towns in Azotus, and among the Philistines.

26:7. And God helped him against the Philistines, and against the
Arabians, that dwelt in Gurbaal, and against the Ammonites.

26:8. And the Ammonites gave gifts to Ozias: and his name was spread
abroad even to the entrance of Egypt for his frequent victories.

26:9. And Ozias built towers in Jerusalem over the gate of the corner,
and over the gate of the valley, and the rest, in the same side of the
wall, and fortified them.

26:10. And he built towers in the wilderness, and dug many cisterns, for
he had much cattle both in the plains, and in the waste of the desert:
he had also vineyards and dressers of vines in the mountains, and in
Carmel: for he was a man that loved husbandry.

26:11. And the army of his fighting men, that went out to war, was under
the hand of Jehiel the scribe, and Maasias the doctor, and under the
hand of Henanias, who was one of the king's captains.

26:12. And the whole number of the chiefs by the families of valiant men
were two thousand six hundred.

26:13. And the whole army under them three hundred and seven thousand
five hundred: who were fit for war, and fought for the king against the
enemy.

26:14. And Ozias prepared for them, that is, for the whole army,
shields, and spears, and helmets, and coats of mail, and bows, and
slings to cast stones.

26:15. And he made in Jerusalem engines of diverse kinds, which he
placed in the towers, and in the corners of the walls, to shoot arrows,
and great stones: and his name went forth far abroad, for the Lord
helped him, and had strengthened him.

26:16. But when he was made strong, his heart was lifted up to his
destruction, and he neglected the Lord his God: and going into the
temple of the Lord, he had a mind to burn incense upon the altar of
incense.

26:17. And immediately Azarias the priest going in after him, and with
him fourscore priests of the Lord, most valiant men,

26:18. Withstood the king and said: It doth not belong to thee, Ozias,
to burn incense to the Lord, but to the priests, that is, to the sons of
Aaron, who are consecrated for this ministry: go out of the sanctuary,
do not despise: for this thing shall not be accounted to thy glory by
the Lord God.

26:19. And Ozias was angry, and holding in his hand the censer to burn
incense, threatened the priests. And presently there rose a leprosy in
his forehead before the priests, in the house of the Lord at the altar
of incense.

26:20. And Azarias the high priest, and all the rest of the priests
looked upon him, and saw the leprosy in his forehead, and they made
haste to thrust him out. Yea himself also being frightened, hasted to go
out, because he had quickly felt the stroke of the Lord.

26:21. And Ozias the king was a leper unto the day of his death, and he
dwelt in a house apart being full of the leprosy, for which he had been
cast out of the house of the Lord. And Joatham his son governed the
king's house, and judged the people of the land.

26:22. But the rest of the acts of Ozias first and last were written by
Isaias the son of Amos, the prophet.

26:23. And Ozias slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the
field of the royal sepulchres, because he was a leper: and Joatham his
son reigned in his stead.

2 Paralipomenon Chapter 27

Joatham's good reign.

27:1. Joatham 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.

27:2. And he did that which was right before the Lord, according to all
that Ozias his father had done, only that he entered not into the temple
of the Lord, and the people still transgressed.

27:3. He built the high gate of the house of the Lord, and on the wall
of Ophel he built much.

27:4. Moreover he built cities in the mountains of Juda, and castles and
towers in the forests.

27:5. He fought against the king of the children of Ammon, and overcame
them, and the children of Ammon gave him at that time a hundred talents
of silver, and ten thousand measures of wheat, and as many measures of
barley: so much did the children of Ammon give him in the second and
third year.

27:6. And Joatham was strengthened, because he had his way directed
before the Lord his God.

27:7. Now the rest of the acts of Joatham, and all his wars, and his
works, are written in the book of the kings of Israel and Juda.

27:8. He was five and twenty years old when he began to reign, and he
reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem.

27:9. And Joatham slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the
city of David: and Achaz his son reigned in his stead.

2 Paralipomenon Chapter 28

The wicked and unhappy reign of Achaz.

28:1. Achaz was twenty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned
sixteen years in Jerusalem: he did not that which was right in the sight
of the Lord as David his father had done,

28:2. But walked in the ways of the kings of Israel; moreover also he
cast statues for Baalim.

28:3. It was he that burnt incense in the valley of Benennom, and
consecrated his sons in the fire according to the manner of the nations,
which the Lord slew at the coming of the children of Israel.

28:4. He sacrificed also, and burnt incense in the high places, and on
the hills, and under every green tree.

28:5. And the Lord his God delivered him into the hands of the king of
Syria, who defeated him, and took a great booty out of his kingdom, and
carried it to Damascus: he was also delivered into the hands of the king
of Israel, who overthrew him with a great slaughter.

28:6. For Phacee the son of Romelia slew of Juda a hundred and twenty
thousand in one day, all valiant men, because they had forsaken the Lord
the God of their fathers.

28:7. At the same time Zechri a powerful man of Ephraim, slew Maasias
the king's son, and Ezricam the governor of his house, and Elcana who
was next to the king.

28:8. And the children of Israel carried away of their brethren two
hundred thousand women, boys, and girls, and an immense booty: and they
brought it to Samaria.

28:9. At that time there was a prophet of the Lord there, whose name was
Oded: and he went out to meet the army that came to Samaria, and said to
them: Behold the Lord the God of your fathers being angry with Juda,
hath delivered them into your hands, and you have butchered them
cruelly, so that your cruelty hath reached up to heaven.

28:10. Moreover you have a mind to keep under the children of Juda and
Jerusalem for your bondmen and bondwomen, which ought not to be done:
for you have sinned in this against the Lord your God.

28:11. But hear ye my counsel, and release the captives that you have
brought of your brethren, because a great indignation of the Lord
hangeth over you.

28:12. Then some of the chief men of the sons of Ephraim, Azarias the
son of Johanan, Barachias the son of Mosollamoth, Ezechias the son of
Sellum, and Amasa the son of Adali, stood up against them that came from
the war.

28:13. And they said to them: You shall not bring in the captives
hither, lest we sin against the Lord. Why will you add to our sins, and
heap up upon our former offences? for the sin is great, and the fierce
anger of the Lord hangeth over Israel.

28:14. So the soldiers left the spoils, and all that they had taken,
before the princes and all the multitude.

28:15. And the men, whom we mentioned above, rose up and took the
captives, and with the spoils clothed all them that were naked: and when
they had clothed and shod them, and refreshed them with meat and drink,
and anointed them because of their labour, and had taken care of them,
they set such of them as could not walk, and were feeble, upon beasts,
and brought them to Jericho the city of palm trees to their brethren,
and they returned to Samaria.

28:16. At that time king Achaz sent to the king of the Assyrians asking
help.

28:17. And the Edomites came and slew many of Juda, and took a great
booty.

28:18. The Philistines also spread themselves among the cities of the
plains, and to the south of Juda: and they took Bethsames, and Aialon,
and Gaderoth, and Socho, and Thamnan, and Gamzo, with their villages,
and they dwelt in them.

28:19. For the Lord had humbled Juda because of Achaz the king of Juda,
for he had stripped it of help, and had contemned the Lord.

For he had stripped it of help... That is, Achaz stripped the kingdom of
Juda of the divine assistance by his wickedness, and by his introducing
idolatry.

28:20. And he brought against him Thelgathphalnasar king of the
Assyrians, who also afflicted him, and plundered him without any
resistance.

28:21. And Achaz stripped the house of the Lord, and the house of the
kings, and of the princes, and gave gifts to the king of the Assyrians,
and yet it availed him nothing.

28:22. Moreover also in the time of his distress he increased contempt
against the Lord: king Achaz himself by himself,

28:23. Sacrificed victims to the gods of Damascus that struck him, and
he said: The gods of the kings of Syria help them, and I will appease
them with victims, and they will help me; whereas on the contrary they
were the ruin of him, and of all Israel.

28:24. Then Achaz having taken away all the vessels of the house of God,
and broken them, shut up the doors of the temple of God, and made
himself altars in all the corners of Jerusalem.

28:25. And in all the cities of Juda he built altars to burn
frankincense, and he provoked the Lord the God of his fathers to wrath.

28:26. But the rest of his acts, and all his works first and last are
written in the book of the kings of Juda and Israel.

28:27. And Achaz slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the city
of Jerusalem: for they received him not into the sepulchres of the kings
of Israel. And Ezechias his son reigned in his stead.

2 Paralipomenon Chapter 29

Ezechias purifieth the temple, and restoreth religion.

29:1. Now Ezechias began to reign, when he was five and twenty years
old, and he reigned nine and twenty years in Jerusalem: the name of his
mother was Abia, the daughter of Zacharias.

29:2. And he did that which was pleasing in the sight of the Lord,
according to all that David his father had done.

29:3. In the first year and month of his reign he opened the doors of
the house of the Lord, and repaired them.

29:4. And he brought the priests and the Levites, and assembled them in
the east street.

29:5. And he said to them: Hear me, ye Levites, and be sanctified,
purify the house of the Lord the God of your fathers, and take away all
filth out of the sanctuary.

29:6. Our fathers have sinned and done evil in the sight of the Lord
God, forsaking him: they have turned away their faces from the
tabernacle of the Lord, and turned their backs.

29:7. They have shut up the doors that were in the porch, and put out
the lamps, and have not burnt incense, nor offered holocausts in the
sanctuary of the God of Israel.

29:8. Therefore the wrath of the Lord hath been stirred up against Juda
and Jerusalem, and he hath delivered them to trouble, and to
destruction, and to be hissed at, as you see with your eyes.

29:9. Behold, our fathers are fallen by the sword, our sons, and our
daughters, and wives are led away captives for this wickedness.

29:10. Now therefore I have a mind that we make a covenant with the Lord
the God of Israel, and he will turn away the wrath of his indignation
from us.

29:11. My sons, be not negligent: the Lord hath chosen you to stand
before him, and to minister to him, and to worship him, and to burn
incense to him.

29:12. Then the Levites arose, Mahath the son of Amasai, and Joel the
son of Azarias, of the sons of Caath: and of the sons of Merari, Cis the
son of Abdi, and Azarias the son of Jalaleel. And of the sons of Gerson,
Joah the son of Zemma, and Eden the son of Joah.

29:13. And of the sons of Elisaphan, Samri, and Jahiel. Also of the sons
of Asaph, Zacharias, and Mathanias.

29:14. And of the sons of Heman, Jahiel, and Semei: and of the sons of
Idithun, Semeias, and Oziel.

29:15. And they gathered together their brethren, and sanctified
themselves, and went in according to the commandment of the king, and
the precept of the Lord, to purify the house of God.

29:16. And the priests went into the temple of the Lord to sanctify it,
and brought out all the uncleanness that they found within to the
entrance of the house of the Lord, and the Levites took it away, and
carried it out abroad to the torrent Cedron.

29:17. And they began to cleanse on the first day of the first month,
and on the eighth day of the same month they came into the porch of the
temple of the Lord, and they purified the temple in eight days, and on
the sixteenth day of the same month they finished what they had begun.

29:18. And they went in to king Ezechias, and said to him: We have
sanctified all the house of the Lord, and the altar of holocaust, and
the vessels thereof, and the table of proposition with all its vessels,

29:19. And all the furniture of the temple, which king Achaz in his
reign had defiled, after his transgression; and behold they are all set
forth before the altar of the Lord.

29:20. And king Ezechias rising early, assembled all the rulers of the
city, and went up into the house of the Lord:

29:21. And they offered together seven bullocks, and seven rams, and
seven lambs, and seven he goats for sin, for the kingdom, for the
sanctuary, for Juda: and he spoke to the priests the sons of Aaron, to
offer them upon the altar of the Lord.

29:22. Therefore they killed the bullocks, and the priests took the
blood, and poured it upon the altar; they killed also the rams, and
their blood they poured also upon the altar, and they killed the lambs,
and poured the blood upon the altar.

29:23. And they brought the he goats for sin before the king, and the
whole multitude, and they laid their hand upon them:

29:24. And the priests immolated them, and sprinkled their blood before
the altar for an expiation of all Israel: for the king had commanded
that the holocaust and the sin offering should be made for all Israel.

29:25. And he set the Levites in the house of the Lord with cymbals, and
psalteries, and harps according to the regulation of David the king, and
of Gad the seer, and of Nathan the prophet: for it was the commandment
of the Lord by the hand of his prophets.

29:26. And the Levites stood, with the instruments of David, and the
priests with trumpets.

29:27. And Ezechias commanded that they should offer holocausts upon the
altar: and when the holocausts were offered, they began to sing praises
to the Lord, and to sound with trumpets, and divers instruments which
David the king of Israel had prepared.

29:28. And all the multitude adored, and the singers, and the
trumpeters, were in their office till the holocaust was finished.

29:29. And when the oblation was ended, the king, and all that were with
him bowed down and adored.

29:30. And Ezechias and the princes commanded the Levites to praise the
Lord with the words of David, and Asaph the seer: and they praised him
with great joy, and bowing the knee adored.

29:31. And Ezechias added, and said: You have filled your hands to the
Lord, come and offer victims, and praises in the house of the Lord. And
all the multitude offered victims, and praises, and holocausts with a
devout mind.

29:32. And the number of the holocausts which the multitude offered, was
seventy bullocks, a hundred rams, and two hundred lambs.

29:33. And they consecrated to the Lord six hundred oxen, and three
thousand sheep.

29:34. But the priests were few, and were not enough to flay the
holocausts: wherefore the Levites their brethren helped them, till the
work was ended, and priests were sanctified, for the Levites are
sanctified with an easier rite than the priests.

29:35. So there were many holocausts, and the fat of peace offerings,
and the libations of holocausts: and the service of the house of the
Lord was completed.

29:36. And Ezechias, and all the people rejoiced because the ministry of
the Lord was accomplished. For the resolution of doing this thing was
taken suddenly.

2 Paralipomenon Chapter 30

Ezechias inviteth all Israel to celebrate the pasch; the solemnity is
kept fourteen days.

30:1. And Ezechias sent to all Israel and Juda: and he wrote letters to
Ephraim and Manasses, that they should come to the house of the Lord in
Jerusalem, and keep the phase to the Lord the God of Israel,

30:2. For the king, taking counsel, and the princes, and all the
assembly of Jerusalem, decreed to keep the phase the second month.

30:3. For they could not keep it in its time; because there were not
priests enough sanctified, and the people was not as yet gathered
together to Jerusalem.

The host of heaven... The sun, moon, and stars.

30:4. And the thing pleased the king, and all the people.

30:5. And they decreed to send messengers to all Israel from Bersabee
even to Dan, that they should come, and keep the phase to the Lord the
God of Israel in Jerusalem: for many had not kept it as it is prescribed
by the law.

30:6. And the posts went with letters by commandment of the king, and
his princes, to all Israel and Juda, proclaiming according to the king's
orders: Ye children of Israel, turn again to the Lord the God of
Abraham, and of Isaac, and of Israel: and he will return to the remnant
of you that have escaped the hand of the king of the Assyrians.

30:7. Be not like your fathers, and brethren, who departed from the Lord
the God of their fathers, and he hath given them up to destruction, as
you see.

30:8. Harden not your necks, as your fathers did: yield yourselves to
the Lord, and come to his sanctuary, which he hath sanctified forever:
serve the Lord the God of your fathers, and the wrath of his indignation
shall be turned away from you.

30:9. For if you turn again to the Lord, your brethren, and children
shall find mercy before their masters, that have led them away captive,
and they shall return into this land: for the Lord your God is merciful,
and will not turn away his face from you, if you return to him.

30:10. So the posts went speedily from city to city, through the land of
Ephraim, and of Manasses, even to Zabulon, whilst they laughed at them
and mocked them.

30:11. Nevertheless some men of Aser, and of Manasses, and of Zabulon,
yielding to the counsel, came to Jerusalem.

30:12. But the hand of God was in Juda, to give them one heart to do the
word of the Lord, according to the commandment of the king, and of the
princes.

30:13. And much people were assembled to Jerusalem to celebrate the
solemnity of the unleavened bread in the second month:

30:14. And they arose and destroyed the altars that were in Jerusalem,
and took away all things in which incense was burnt to idols and cast
them into the torrent Cedron.

30:15. And they immolated the phase on the fourteenth day of the second
month. And the priests and the Levites being at length sanctified
offered holocausts in the house of the Lord.

30:16. And they stood in their order according to the disposition and
law of Moses the man of God: but the priests received the blood which
was to be poured out, from the hands of the Levites,

30:17. Because a great number was not sanctified: and therefore the
Levites immolated the phase for them that came not in time to be
sanctified to the Lord.

30:18. For a great part of the people from Ephraim, and Manasses, and
Issachar, and Zabulon, that had not been sanctified, ate the phase
otherwise than it is written: and Ezechias prayed for them, saying: The
Lord who is good will shew mercy,

30:19. To all them, who with their whole heart, seek the Lord the God of
their fathers: and will not impute it to them that they are not
sanctified.

30:20. And the Lord heard him, and was merciful to the people.

30:21. And the children of Israel, that were found at Jerusalem, kept
the feast of unleavened bread seven days with great joy, praising the
Lord every day, the Levites also, and the priests, with instruments that
agreed to their office.

30:22. And Ezechias spoke to the heart of all the Levites, that had good
understanding concerning the Lord: and they ate during the seven days of
the solemnity, immolating victims of peace offerings, and praising the
Lord the God of their fathers.

30:23. And it pleased the whole multitude to keep other seven days:
which they did with great joy.

30:24. For Ezechias the king of Juda had given to the multitude a
thousand bullocks, and seven thousand sheep: and the princes had given
the people a thousand bullocks, and ten thousand sheep: and a great
number of priests was sanctified.

30:25. And all the multitude of Juda with the priests and Levites, and
all the assembly, that came out of Israel; and the proselytes of the
land of Israel, and that dwelt in Juda were full of joy.

30:26. And there was a great solemnity in Jerusalem, such as had not
been in that city since the time of Solomon the son of David king of
Israel.

30:27. And the priests and the Levites rose up and blessed the people:
and their voice was heard: and their prayer came to the holy dwelling
place of heaven.

2 Paralipomenon Chapter 31

Idolatry is abolished; and provisions made for the ministers.

31:1. And when these things had been duly celebrated, all Israel that
were found in the cities of Juda, went out, and they broke the idols,
and cut down the groves, demolished the high places, and destroyed the
altars, not only out of all Juda and Benjamin, but out of Ephraim also
and Manasses, till they had utterly destroyed them: then all the
children of Israel returned to their possessions and cities.

31:2. And Ezechias appointed companies of the priests, and the Levites,
by their courses, every man in his own office, to wit, both of the
priests, and of the Levites, for holocausts, and for peace offerings, to
minister, and to praise, and to sing in the gates of the camp of the
Lord.

31:3. And the king's part was, that of his proper substance the
holocaust should be offered always morning and evening, and on the
sabbaths, and the new moons and the other solemnities, as it is written
in the law of Moses.

31:4. He commanded also the people that dwelt in Jerusalem, to give to
the priests, and the Levites their portion, that they might attend to
the law of the Lord.

31:5. Which when it was noised abroad in the ears of the people, the
children of Israel offered in abundance the firstfruits of corn, wine,
and oil, and honey: and brought the tithe of all things which the ground
bringeth forth.

31:6. Moreover the children of Israel and Juda, that dwelt in the cities
of Juda, brought in the tithes of oxen, and sheep, and the tithes of
holy things, which they had vowed to the Lord their God: and carrying
them all, made many heaps.

31:7. In the third month they began to lay the foundations of the heaps,
and in the seventh month, they finished them.

31:8. And when Ezechias and his princes came in, they saw the heaps, and
they blessed the Lord and the people of Israel.

31:9. And Ezechias asked the priests and the Levites, why the heaps lay
so.

31:10. Azarias the chief priest of the race of Sadoc answered him,
saying: Since the firstfruits began to be offered in the house of the
Lord, we have eaten, and have been filled, and abundance is left,
because the Lord hath blessed his people: and of that which is left is
this great store which thou seest.

31:11. Then Ezechias commanded to prepare storehouses in the house of
the Lord. And when they had done so,

31:12. They brought in faithfully both the firstfruits, and the tithes,
and all they had vowed. And the overseer of them was Chonenias the
Levite, and Semei his brother was the second,

31:13. And after him Jehiel, and Azarias, and Nahath, and Asael, and
Jerimoth, and Jozabad, and Eliel, and Jesmachias, and Mahath, and
Banaias, overseers under the hand of Chonenias, and Semei his brother,
by the commandment of Ezechias the king, and Azarias the high priest of
the house of God, to whom all things appertained.

31:14. But Core the son of Jemna the Levite, the porter of the east
gate, was overseer of the things which were freely offered to the Lord,
and of the firstfruits and the things dedicated for the holy of holies.

31:15. And under his charge were Eden, and Benjamin, Jesue, and Semeias,
and Amarias, and Sechenias, in the cities of the priests, to distribute
faithfully portions to their brethren, both little and great:

31:16. Besides the males from three years old and upward, to all that
went into the temple of the Lord, and whatsoever there was need of in
the ministry, and their offices according to their courses, day by day.

31:17. To the priests by their families, and to the Levites from the
twentieth year and upward, by their classes and companies.

31:18. And to all the multitude, both to their wives, and to their
children of both sexes, victuals were given faithfully out of the things
that had been sanctified.

31:19. Also of the sons of Aaron who were in the fields and in the
suburbs of each city, there were men appointed, to distribute portions
to all the males, among the priests and the Levites.

31:20. So Ezechias did all things which we have said in all Juda, and
wrought that which was good, and right, and truth, before the Lord his
God,

31:21. In all the service of the house of the Lord according to the law
and the ceremonies, desiring to seek his God with all his heart, and he
did it and prospered.

2 Paralipomenon Chapter 32

Idolatry is abolished; and provisions made for the ministers.

32:1. And when these things had been duly celebrated, all Israel that
were found in the cities of Juda, went out, and they broke the idols,
and cut down the groves, demolished the high places, and destroyed the
altars, not only out of all Juda and Benjamin, but out of Ephraim also
and Manasses, till they had utterly destroyed them: then all the
children of Israel returned to their possessions and cities.

32:2. And Ezechias appointed companies of the priests, and the Levites,
by their courses, every man in his own office, to wit, both of the
priests, and of the Levites, for holocausts, and for peace offerings, to
minister, and to praise, and to sing in the gates of the camp of the
Lord.

32:3. And the king's part was, that of his proper substance the
holocaust should be offered always morning and evening, and on the
sabbaths, and the new moons and the other solemnities, as it is written
in the law of Moses.

32:4. He commanded also the people that dwelt in Jerusalem, to give to
the priests, and the Levites their portion, that they might attend to
the law of the Lord.

32:5. Which when it was noised abroad in the ears of the people, the
children of Israel offered in abundance the firstfruits of corn, wine,
and oil, and honey: and brought the tithe of all things which the ground
bringeth forth.

32:6. Moreover the children of Israel and Juda, that dwelt in the cities
of Juda, brought in the tithes of oxen, and sheep, and the tithes of
holy things, which they had vowed to the Lord their God: and carrying
them all, made many heaps.

32:7. In the third month they began to lay the foundations of the heaps,
and in the seventh month, they finished them.

32:8. And when Ezechias and his princes came in, they saw the heaps, and
they blessed the Lord and the people of Israel.

32:9. And Ezechias asked the priests and the Levites, why the heaps lay
so.

32:10. Azarias the chief priest of the race of Sadoc answered him,
saying: Since the firstfruits began to be offered in the house of the
Lord, we have eaten, and have been filled, and abundance is left,
because the Lord hath blessed his people: and of that which is left is
this great store which thou seest.

32:11. Then Ezechias commanded to prepare storehouses in the house of
the Lord. And when they had done so,

32:12. They brought in faithfully both the firstfruits, and the tithes,
and all they had vowed. And the overseer of them was Chonenias the
Levite, and Semei his brother was the second,

32:13. And after him Jehiel, and Azarias, and Nahath, and Asael, and
Jerimoth, and Jozabad, and Eliel, and Jesmachias, and Mahath, and
Banaias, overseers under the hand of Chonenias, and Semei his brother,
by the commandment of Ezechias the king, and Azarias the high priest of
the house of God, to whom all things appertained.

32:14. But Core the son of Jemna the Levite, the porter of the east
gate, was overseer of the things which were freely offered to the Lord,
and of the firstfruits and the things dedicated for the holy of holies.

32:15. And under his charge were Eden, and Benjamin, Jesue, and Semeias,
and Amarias, and Sechenias, in the cities of the priests, to distribute
faithfully portions to their brethren, both little and great:

32:16. Besides the males from three years old and upward, to all that
went into the temple of the Lord, and whatsoever there was need of in
the ministry, and their offices according to their courses, day by day.

32:17. To the priests by their families, and to the Levites from the
twentieth year and upward, by their classes and companies.

32:18. And to all the multitude, both to their wives, and to their
children of both sexes, victuals were given faithfully out of the things
that had been sanctified.

32:19. Also of the sons of Aaron who were in the fields and in the
suburbs of each city, there were men appointed, to distribute portions
to all the males, among the priests and the Levites.

32:20. So Ezechias did all things which we have said in all Juda, and
wrought that which was good, and right, and truth, before the Lord his
God,

32:21. In all the service of the house of the Lord according to the law
and the ceremonies, desiring to seek his God with all his heart, and he
did it and prospered.

2 Paralipomenon Chapter 33

Manasses for his manifold wickedness is led captive to Babylon: he
repenteth, and is restored to his kingdom, and destroyeth idolatry: his
successor Amon is slain by his servants.

33:1. Manasses was twelve years old when he began to reign, and he
reigned fifty-five years in Jerusalem.

33:2. And he did evil before the Lord, according to all the abominations
of the nations, which the Lord cast out before the children of Israel:

33:3. And he turned, and built again the high places which Ezechias his
father had destroyed: and he built altars to Baalim, and made groves,
and he adored all the host of heaven, and worshipped them.

The host of heaven... The sun, moon, and stars.

33:4. He built also altars in the house of the Lord, whereof the Lord
had said: In Jerusalem shall my name be for ever.

33:5. And he built them for all the host of heaven in the two courts of
the house of the Lord.

33:6. And he made his sons to pass through the fire in the valley of
Benennom: he observed dreams, followed divinations, gave himself up to
magic arts, had with him magicians, and enchanters: and he wrought many
evils before the Lord, to provoke him to anger.

33:7. He set also a graven, and a molten statue in the house of God, of
which God had said to David, and to Solomon his son: In this house, and
in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, will
I put my name for ever.

33:8. And I will not make the foot of Israel to be removed out of the
land which I have delivered to their fathers: yet so if they will take
heed to do what I have commanded them, and all the law, and the
ceremonies, and judgments by the hand of Moses.

33:9. So Manasses seduced Juda, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, to do
evil beyond all the nations, which the Lord had destroyed before the
face of the children of Israel.

33:10. And the Lord spoke to his people, and they would not hearken.

33:11. Therefore he brought upon them the captains of he army of the
king of the Assyrians: and they took Manasses, and carried him bound
with chains and fetters to Babylon.

33:12. And after that he was in distress he prayed to the Lord his God:
and did penance exceedingly before the God of his fathers.

33:13. And he entreated him, and besought him earnestly: and he heard
his prayer, and brought him again to Jerusalem into his kingdom, and
Manasses knew that the Lord was God.

33:14. After this he built a wall without the city of David, on the west
side of Gihon in the valley, from the entering in of the gate round
about to Ophel, and raised it up to a great height: and he appointed
captains of the army in all the fenced cities of Juda:

33:15. And he took away the strange gods, and the idol out of the house
of the Lord: the altars also which he had made in the mount of the house
of the Lord, and in Jerusalem, and he cast them all out of the city.

33:16. And he repaired the altar of the Lord, and sacrificed upon it
victims, and peace offerings, and praise: and he commanded Juda to serve
the Lord the God of Israel.

33:17. Nevertheless the people still sacrificed in the high places to
the Lord their God.

33:18. But the rest of the acts of Manasses, and his prayer to his God,
and the words of the seers that spoke to him in the name of the Lord the
God of Israel, are contained in the words of the kings of Israel.

33:19.  His prayer also, and his being heard and all his sins, and
contempt, and places wherein he built high places, and set up groves,
and statues before he did penance, are written in the words of Hozai.

33:20. And Manasses slept with his fathers, and they buried him in his
house: and his son Amon reigned in his stead.

33:21. Amon was two and twenty years old when he began to reign, and he
reigned two years in Jerusalem.

33:22. And he did evil in the sight of the Lord, as Manasses his father
had done: he sacrificed to all the idols which Manasses his father had
made, and served them.

33:23. And he did not humble himself before the lord, as Manasses his
father had humbled himself, but committed far greater sin.

33:24. And his servants conspired against him, and slew him in his own
house.

33:25. But the rest of the multitude of the people slew them that had
killed Amon, and made Josias his son king in his stead.

2 Paralipomenon Chapter 34

Josias destroyeth idolatry, repaireth the temple, and reneweth the
covenant between God and the people.

34:1. Josias was eight years old when he began to reign, and he reigned
one and thirty years in Jerusalem.

34:2. And he did that which was right in the sight of the Lord, and
walked in the ways of David his father: he declined not, neither to the
right hand, nor to the left.

34:3. And in the eighth year of his reign, when he was yet a boy, he
began to seek the God of his father David: and in the twelfth year after
he began to reign, he cleansed Juda and Jerusalem from the high places,
and the groves, and the idols, and the graven things.

34:4. And they broke down before him the altars of Baalim, and
demolished the idols that had been set upon them: and he cut down the
groves and the graven things, and broke them in pieces: and strewed the
fragments upon the graves of them that had sacrificed to them.

34:5. And he burnt the bones of the priests on the altars of the idols,
and he cleansed Juda and Jerusalem.

34:6. And in the cities of Manasses, and of Ephraim, and of Simeon, even
to Nephtali he demolished all.

34:7. And when he had destroyed the altars, and the groves, and had
broken the idols in pieces, and had demolished all profane temples
throughout all the land of Israel, he returned to Jerusalem.

34:8. Now in the eighteenth year of his reign, when he had cleansed the
land, and the temple of the Lord, he sent Saphan the son of Elselias,
and Maasias the governor of the city, Joha the son of Joachaz the
recorder, to repair the house of the Lord his God.

34:9. And they came to Helcias the high priest: and received of him the
money which had been brought into the house of the Lord, and which the
Levites and porters had gathered together from Manasses, and Ephraim,
and all the remnant of Israel, and from all Juda, and Benjamin, and the
inhabitants of Jerusalem,

34:10. Which they delivered into the hands of them that were over the
workmen in the house of the Lord, to repair the temple, and mend all
that was weak.

34:11. But they gave it to the artificers, and to the masons, to buy
stones out of the quarries, and timber for the couplings of the
building, and to rafter the houses, which the kings of Juda had
destroyed.

34:12. And they did all faithfully. Now the overseers of the workmen
were Jahath and Abdias of the sons of Merari, Zacharias and Mosollam of
the sons of Caath, who hastened the work: all Levites skilful to play on
instruments.

34:13. But over them that carried burdens for divers uses, were scribes,
and masters of the number of the Levites, and porters.

34:14. Now when they carried out the money that had been brought into
the temple of the Lord, Helcias the priest found the book of the law of
the Lord, by the hand of Moses.

34:15. And he said to Saphan the scribe: I have found the book of the
law in the house of the Lord: and he delivered it to him.

34:16. But he carried the book to the king, and told him, saying: Lo,
all that thou hast committed to thy servants, is accomplished.

34:17. They have gathered together the silver that was found in the
house of the Lord: and it is given to the overseers of the artificers,
and of the workmen, for divers works.

34:18. Moreover Helcias the priest gave me this book. And he read it
before the king.

34:19. And when he had heard the words of the law, he rent his garments:

34:20. And he commanded Helcias, and Ahicam the son of Saphan, and Abdon
the son of Micha, and Saphan the scribe, and Asaa the king's servant,
saying:

34:21. Go, and pray to the Lord for me, and for the remnant of Israel,
and Juda, concerning all the words of this book, which is found: for the
great wrath of the Lord hath fallen upon us, because our fathers have
not kept the words of the Lord, to do all things that are written in
this book.

34:22. And Helcias and they that were sent with him by the king, went to
Olda the prophetess, the wife of Sellum the son of Thecuath, the son of
Hasra keeper of the wardrobe: who dwelt in Jerusalem in the Second part:
and they spoke to her the words above mentioned.

34:23. And she answered them: Thus saith the Lord the God of Israel:
Tell the man that sent you to me:

34:24. Thus saith the Lord: Behold I will bring evils upon this place,
and upon the inhabitants thereof, and all the curses that are written in
this book which they read before the king of Juda.

34:25. Because they have forsaken me, and have sacrificed to strange
gods, to provoke me to wrath with all the works of their hands,
therefore my wrath shall fail upon this place, and shall not be
quenched.

34:26. But as to the king of Juda that sent you to beseech the Lord,
thus shall you say to him: Thus saith the Lord the God of Israel:
Because thou hast heard the words of this book,

34:27. And thy heart was softened, and thou hast humbled thyself in the
sight of God for the things that are spoken against this place, and the
inhabitants of Jerusalem, and reverencing my face, hast rent thy
garments, and wept before me: I also have heard thee, saith the Lord.

34:28. For now I will gather thee to thy fathers, and thou shalt be
brought to thy tomb in peace: and thy eyes shall not see all the evil
that I will bring upon this place, and the inhabitants thereof.  They
therefore reported to the king all that she had said.

34:29. And he called together all the ancients of Juda and Jerusalem.

34:30. And went up to the house of the Lord, and all the men of Juda,
and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the priests and the Levites, and all
the people from the least to the greatest. And the king read in their
hearing, in the house of the Lord, all the words of the book.

34:31. And standing up in his tribunal, he made a covenant before the
Lord to walk after him, and keep his commandments, and testimonies, and
justifications with all his heart, and with all his soul, and to do the
things that were written in that book which he had read.

34:32. And he adjured all that were found in Jerusalem and Benjamin to
do the same: and the inhabitants of Jerusalem did according to the
covenant of the Lord the God of their fathers.

34:33. And Josias took away all the abominations out of all the
countries of the children of Israel and made all that were left in
Israel, to serve the Lord their God. As long as he lived they departed
not from the Lord the God of their fathers.

2 Paralipomenon Chapter 35

Josias celebrateth a most solemn pasch. He is slain by the king of
Egypt.

35:1. And Josias kept a phase to the Lord in Jerusalem, and it was
sacrificed on the fourteenth day of the first month.

35:2. And he set the priests in their offices, and exhorted them to
minister in the house of the Lord.

35:3. And he spoke to the Levites, by whose instruction all Israel was
sanctified to the Lord, saying: Put the ark in the sanctuary of the
temple, which Solomon the son of David king of Israel built: for you
shall carry it no more: but minister now to the Lord your God, and to
his people Israel.

35:4. And prepare yourselves by your houses, and families according to
your courses, as David king of Israel commanded, and Solomon his son
hath written.

35:5. And serve ye in the sanctuary by the families and companies of
Levi.

35:6. And being sanctified kill the phase, and prepare your brethren,
that they may do according to the words which the Lord spoke by the hand
of Moses.

35:7. And Josias gave to all the people that were found there in the
solemnity of the phase, of lambs and of kids of the flocks, and of other
small cattle thirty thousand, and of oxen three thousand, all these were
of the king's substance.

35:8. And his princes willingly offered what they had vowed, both to the
people and to the priests and the Levites. Moreover Helcias, and
Zacharias, and Jahiel rulers of the house of the Lord, gave to the
priests to keep the phase two thousand six hundred small cattle, and
three hundred oxen.

35:9. And Chonenias, and Semeias and Nathanael, his brethren, and
Hasabias, and Jehiel, and Jozabad princes of the Levites, gave to the
rest of the Levites to celebrate the phase five thousand small cattle,
and five hundred oxen.

35:10. And the ministry was prepared, and the priests stood in their
office: the Levites also in their companies, according to the king's
commandment.

35:11. And the phase was immolated: and the priests sprinkled the blood
with their hand, and the Levites flayed the holocausts:

35:12. And they separated them, to give them by the houses and families
of every one, and to be offered to the Lord, as it is written in the
book of Moses, and with the oxen they did in like manner.

35:13. And they roasted the phase with fire, according to that which is
written in the law: but the victims of peace offerings they boiled in
caldrons, and kettles, and pots, and they distributed them speedily
among all the people.

35:14. And afterwards they made ready for themselves, and for the
priests: for the priests were busied in offering of holocausts and the
fat until night, wherefore the Levites prepared for themselves, and for
the priests the sons of Aaron last.

35:15. And the singers the sons of Asaph stood in their order, according
to the commandment of David, and Asaph, and Heman, and Idithun, the
prophets of the king: and the porters kept guard at every gate, so as
not to depart one moment from their service, and therefore their
brethren the Levites prepared meats for them.

35:16. So all the service of the Lord was duly accomplished that day,
both in keeping the phase and offering holocausts upon the altar of the
Lord, according to the commandment of king Josias.

35:17. And the children of Israel that were found there, kept the phase
at that time, and the feast of unleavened seven days.

35:18. There was no phase like to this in Israel, from the days of
Samuel the prophet: neither did any of all the kings of Israel keep such
a phase as Josias kept, with the priests, and the Levites, and all Juda,
and Israel that were found, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem.

35:19.  In the eighteenth year of the reign of Josias was this phase
celebrated.

35:20. After that Josias had repaired the temple, Nechao king of Egypt
came up to fight in Charcamis by the Euphrates: and Josias went out to
meet him.

35:21. But he sent messengers to him, saying: What have I to do with
thee, O king of Juda? I come not against thee this day, but I fight
against another house, to which God hath commanded me to go in haste:
forbear to do against God, who is with me, lest he kill thee.

35:22. Josias would not return, but prepared to fight against him, and
hearkened not to the words of Nechao from the mouth of God, but went to
fight in the field of Mageddo.

35:23. And there he was wounded by the archers, and he said to his
servants: Carry me out of the battle, for I am grievously wounded.

35:24. And they removed him from the chariot into another, that followed
him after the manner of kings, and they carried him away to Jerusalem,
and he died, and was buried in the monument of his fathers, and all Juda
and Jerusalem mourned for him,

35:25. Particularly Jeremias: whose lamentations for Josias all the
singing men and singing women repeat unto this day, and it became like a
law in Israel: Behold it is found written in the Lamentations.

35:26. Now the rest of the acts of Josias and of his mercies, according
to what was commanded by the law of the Lord:

35:27. And his works first and last, are written in the book of the
kings of Juda and Israel.

2 Paralipomenon Chapter 36

The reigns of Joachaz, Joakim, Joachin, and Sedecias: the captivity of
Babylon released at length by Cyrus.

36:1. Then the people of the land took Joachaz the son of Josias, and
made him king instead of his father in Jerusalem.

36:2. Joachaz was three and twenty years old when he began to reign, and
he reigned three months in Jerusalem.

36:3. And the king of Egypt came to Jerusalem, and deposed him, and
condemned the land in a hundred talents of silver, and a talent of gold.

36:4. And he made Eliakim his brother king in his stead, over Juda and
Jerusalem: and he turned his name to Joakim: but he took Joachaz with
him and carried him away into Egypt.

36:5. Joakim was five and twenty years old when he began to reign, and
he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem: and he did evil before the Lord
his God.

36:6. Against him came up Nabuchodonosor king of the Chaldeans, and led
him bound in chains into Babylon.

36:7. And he carried also thither the vessels of the Lord, and put them
in his temple.

36:8. But the rest of the acts of Joakim, and his abominations, which he
wrought, and the things that were found in him, are contained in the
book of the kings of Juda and Israel. And Joachin his son reigned in his
stead.

36:9. Joachin was eight years old when he began to reign, and he reigned
three months and ten days in Jerusalem, and he did evil in the sight of
the Lord.

Eight years old... He was associated by his father to the kingdom, when
he was but eight years old; but after his father's death, when he
reigned alone, he was eighteen years old. 4 Kings 24.8.

36:10. And at the return of the year, king Nabuchodonosor sent, and
brought him to Babylon, carrying away at the same time the most precious
vessels of the house of the Lord: and he made Sedecias his uncle king
over Juda and Jerusalem.

36:11. Sedecias was one and twenty years old when he began to reign: and
he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem.

36:12. And he did evil in the eyes of the Lord his God, and did not
reverence the face of Jeremias the prophet speaking to him from the
mouth of the Lord.

36:13. He also revolted from king Nabuchodonosor, who had made him swear
by God: and he hardened his neck and his heart, from returning to the
Lord the God of Israel.

36:14. Moreover all the chief of the priests, and the people wickedly
transgressed according to all the abominations of the Gentiles: and they
defiled the house of the Lord, which he had sanctified to himself in
Jerusalem.

36:15. And the Lord the God of their fathers sent to them, by the hand
of his messengers, rising early, and daily admonishing them: because he
spared his people and his dwelling place.

36:16. But they mocked the messengers of God, and despised his words,
and misused the prophets, until the wrath of the Lord arose against his
people, and there was no remedy.

36:17. For he brought upon them the king of the Chaldeans, and he slew
their young men with the sword in the house of his sanctuary, he had no
compassion on young man, or maiden, old man or even him that stooped for
age, but he delivered them all into his hands.

36:18. And all the vessels of the house of Lord, great and small, and
the treasures of the temple and of the king, and of the princes he
carried away to Babylon.

36:19. And the enemies set fire to the house of God, and broke down the
wall of Jerusalem, burnt all the towers, and what soever was precious
they destroyed.

36:20. Whosoever escaped the sword, was led into Babylon, and there
served the king and his sons, till the reign of the king of Persia,

36:21. That the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremias might be
fulfilled, and the land might keep her sabbaths: for all the days of the
desolation she kept a sabbath, till the seventy years were expired.

36:22. But in the first year of Cyrus king of the Persians, to fulfil
the word of the Lord, which he had spoken by the mouth of Jeremias, the
Lord stirred up the heart of Cyrus, king of the Persians: who commanded
it to be proclaimed through all his kingdom, and by writing also,
saying:

36:23. Thus saith Cyrus king of the Persians: All the kingdoms of the
earth hath the Lord the God of heaven given to me, and he hath charged
me to build him a house in Jerusalem, which is in Judea: who is there
among you of all his people? The Lord his God be with him, and let him
go up.