# BIBLE

BIBLETEXT:
These are the names of the children born to him in Jerusalem: Shammua, Shobab, Nathan, Solomon,


BIBLETEXT:
When the Philistines heard that David had been anointed king over all Israel, all the Philistines went up to search for David. But David heard of it and went out against them.


BIBLETEXT:
Now the Philistines had come and made a raid in the Valley of Rephaim.


BIBLETEXT:
And David inquired of God, "Shall I go up against the Philistines? Will you give them into my hand?" And the LORD said to him, "Go up, and I will give them into your hand."


BIBLETEXT:
And he went up to Baal-perazim, and David struck them down there. And David said, "God has broken through my enemies by my hand, like a bursting flood." Therefore the name of that place is called Baal-perazim.


BIBLETEXT:
And they left their gods there, and David gave command, and they were burned.


BIBLETEXT:
And the Philistines yet again made a raid in the valley.


BIBLETEXT:
And when David again inquired of God, God said to him, "You shall not go up after them; go around and come against them opposite the balsam trees.


BIBLETEXT:
And when you hear the sound of marching in the tops of the balsam trees, then go out to battle, for God has gone out before you to strike down the army of the Philistines."


BIBLETEXT:
And David did as God commanded him, and they struck down the Philistine army from Gibeon to Gezer.


BIBLETEXT:
And the fame of David went out into all lands, and the LORD brought the fear of him upon all nations.


BIBLETEXT:
David built houses for himself in the city of David. And he prepared a place for the ark of God and pitched a tent for it.


BIBLETEXT:
Then David said that no one but the Levites may carry the ark of God, for the LORD had chosen them to carry the ark of the LORD and to minister to him forever.


BIBLETEXT:
And David assembled all Israel at Jerusalem to bring up the ark of the LORD to its place, which he had prepared for it.


BIBLETEXT:
And David gathered together the sons of Aaron and the Levites:


BIBLETEXT:
of the sons of Kohath, Uriel the chief, with 120 of his brothers;


BIBLETEXT:
of the sons of Merari, Asaiah the chief, with 220 of his brothers;


BIBLETEXT:
of the sons of Gershom, Joel the chief, with 130 of his brothers;


BIBLETEXT:
of the sons of Elizaphan, Shemaiah the chief, with 200 of his brothers;


BIBLETEXT:
of the sons of Hebron, Eliel the chief, with 80 of his brothers;


BIBLETEXT:
of the sons of Uzziel, Amminadab the chief, with 112 of his brothers.


BIBLETEXT:
Then David summoned the priests Zadok and Abiathar, and the Levites Uriel, Asaiah, Joel, Shemaiah, Eliel, and Amminadab,


BIBLETEXT:
and said to them, "You are the heads of the fathers' houses of the Levites. Consecrate yourselves, you and your brothers, so that you may bring up the ark of the LORD, the God of Israel, to the place that I have prepared for it.


BIBLETEXT:
Because you did not carry it the first time, the LORD our God broke out against us, because we did not seek him according to the rule."


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


BIBLETEXT:
And the Levites carried the ark of God on their shoulders with the poles, as Moses had commanded according to the word of the LORD.


BIBLETEXT:
David also commanded the chiefs of the Levites to appoint their brothers as the singers who should play loudly on musical instruments, on harps and lyres and cymbals, to raise sounds of joy.


BIBLETEXT:
So the Levites appointed Heman the son of Joel; and of his brothers Asaph the son of Berechiah; and of the sons of Merari, their brothers, Ethan the son of Kushaiah;


BIBLETEXT:
and with them their brothers of the second order, Zechariah, Jaaziel, Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Unni, Eliab, Benaiah, Maaseiah, Mattithiah, Eliphelehu, and Mikneiah, and the gatekeepers Obed-edom and Jeiel.


BIBLETEXT:
The singers, Heman, Asaph, and Ethan, were to sound bronze cymbals;


BIBLETEXT:
Zechariah, Aziel, Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Unni, Eliab, Maaseiah, and Benaiah were to play harps according to Alamoth;


BIBLETEXT:
but Mattithiah, Eliphelehu, Mikneiah, Obed-edom, Jeiel, and Azaziah were to lead with lyres according to the Sheminith.


BIBLETEXT:
Chenaniah, leader of the Levites in music, should direct the music, for he understood it.


BIBLETEXT:
Berechiah and Elkanah were to be gatekeepers for the ark.


BIBLETEXT:
Shebaniah, Joshaphat, Nethanel, Amasai, Zechariah, Benaiah, and Eliezer, the priests, should blow the trumpets before the ark of God. Obed-edom and Jehiah were to be gatekeepers for the ark.


BIBLETEXT:
So David and the elders of Israel and the commanders of thousands went to bring up the ark of the covenant of the LORD from the house of Obed-edom with rejoicing.


BIBLETEXT:
And because God helped the Levites who were carrying the ark of the covenant of the LORD, they sacrificed seven bulls and seven rams.


BIBLETEXT:
David was clothed with a robe of fine linen, as also were all the Levites who were carrying the ark, and the singers and Chenaniah the leader of the music of the singers. And David wore a linen ephod.


BIBLETEXT:
So all Israel brought up the ark of the covenant of the LORD with shouting, to the sound of the horn, trumpets, and cymbals, and made loud music on harps and lyres.


BIBLETEXT:
And as the ark of the covenant of the LORD came to the city of David, Michal the daughter of Saul looked out of the window and saw King David dancing and rejoicing, and she despised him in her heart.


BIBLETEXT:
And they brought in the ark of God and set it inside the tent that David had pitched for it, and they offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before God.


BIBLETEXT:
And when David had finished offering the burnt offerings and the peace offerings, he blessed the people in the name of the LORD


BIBLETEXT:
and distributed to all Israel, both men and women, to each a loaf of bread, a portion of meat, and a cake of raisins.


BIBLETEXT:
Then he appointed some of the Levites as ministers before the ark of the LORD, to invoke, to thank, and to praise the LORD, the God of Israel.


BIBLETEXT:
Asaph was the chief, and second to him were Zechariah, Jeiel, Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Mattithiah, Eliab, Benaiah, Obed-edom, and Jeiel, who were to play harps and lyres; Asaph was to sound the cymbals,


BIBLETEXT:
and Benaiah and Jahaziel the priests were to blow trumpets regularly before the ark of the covenant of God.


BIBLETEXT:
Then on that day David first appointed that thanksgiving be sung to the LORD by Asaph and his brothers.


BIBLETEXT:
Oh give thanks to the LORD; call upon his name; make known his deeds among the peoples!


BIBLETEXT:
Sing to him; sing praises to him; tell of all his wondrous works!


BIBLETEXT:
Glory in his holy name; let the hearts of those who seek the LORD rejoice!


BIBLETEXT:
Seek the LORD and his strength; seek his presence continually!


BIBLETEXT:
Remember the wondrous works that he has done, his miracles and the judgments he uttered,


BIBLETEXT:
O offspring of Israel his servant, sons of Jacob, his chosen ones!


BIBLETEXT:
He is the LORD our God; his judgments are in all the earth.


BIBLETEXT:
Remember his covenant forever, the word that he commanded, for a thousand generations,


BIBLETEXT:
the covenant that he made with Abraham, his sworn promise to Isaac,


BIBLETEXT:
which he confirmed as a statute to Jacob, as an everlasting covenant to Israel,


BIBLETEXT:
saying, "To you I will give the land of Canaan, as your portion for an inheritance."


BIBLETEXT:
When you were few in number, and of little account, and sojourners in it,


BIBLETEXT:
wandering from nation to nation, from one kingdom to another people,


BIBLETEXT:
he allowed no one to oppress them; he rebuked kings on their account,


BIBLETEXT:
saying, "Touch not my anointed ones, do my prophets no harm!"


BIBLETEXT:
Sing to the LORD, all the earth! Tell of his salvation from day to day.


BIBLETEXT:
Declare his glory among the nations, his marvelous works among all the peoples!


BIBLETEXT:
For great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised, and he is to be held in awe above all gods.


BIBLETEXT:
For all the gods of the peoples are idols, but the LORD made the heavens.


BIBLETEXT:
Splendor and majesty are before him; strength and joy are in his place.


BIBLETEXT:
Ascribe to the LORD, O clans of the peoples, ascribe to the LORD glory and strength!


BIBLETEXT:
Ascribe to the LORD the glory due his name; bring an offering and come before him! Worship the LORD in the splendor of holiness;


BIBLETEXT:
tremble before him, all the earth; yes, the world is established; it shall never be moved.


BIBLETEXT:
Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice, and let them say among the nations, "The LORD reigns!"


BIBLETEXT:
Let the sea roar, and all that fills it; let the field exult, and everything in it!


BIBLETEXT:
Then shall the trees of the forest sing for joy before the LORD, for he comes to judge the earth.


BIBLETEXT:
Oh give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; for his steadfast love endures forever!


BIBLETEXT:
Say also: "Save us, O God of our salvation, and gather and deliver us from among the nations, that we may give thanks to your holy name, and glory in your praise.


BIBLETEXT:
Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel, from everlasting to everlasting!" Then all the people said, "Amen!" and praised the LORD.


BIBLETEXT:
So David left Asaph and his brothers there before the ark of the covenant of the LORD to minister regularly before the ark as each day required,


BIBLETEXT:
and also Obed-edom and his sixty-eight brothers, while Obed-edom, the son of Jeduthun, and Hosah were to be gatekeepers.


BIBLETEXT:
And he left Zadok the priest and his brothers the priests before the tabernacle of the LORD in the high place that was at Gibeon


BIBLETEXT:
to offer burnt offerings to the LORD on the altar of burnt offering regularly morning and evening, to do all that is written in the Law of the LORD that he commanded Israel.


BIBLETEXT:
With them were Heman and Jeduthun and the rest of those chosen and expressly named to give thanks to the LORD, for his steadfast love endures forever.


BIBLETEXT:
Heman and Jeduthun had trumpets and cymbals for the music and instruments for sacred song. The sons of Jeduthun were appointed to the gate.


BIBLETEXT:
Then all the people departed each to his house, and David went home to bless his household.


BIBLETEXT:
Now when David lived in his house, David said to Nathan the prophet, "Behold, I dwell in a house of cedar, but the ark of the covenant of the LORD is under a tent."


BIBLETEXT:
And Nathan said to David, "Do all that is in your heart, for God is with you."


BIBLETEXT:
"Go and tell my servant David, 'Thus says the LORD: It is not you who will build me a house to dwell in.


BIBLETEXT:
For I have not lived in a house since the day I brought up Israel to this day, but I have gone from tent to tent and from dwelling to dwelling.


BIBLETEXT:
In all places where I have moved with all Israel, did I speak a word with any of the judges of Israel, whom I commanded to shepherd my people, saying, "Why have you not built me a house of cedar?"'


BIBLETEXT:
Now, therefore, thus shall you say to my servant David, 'Thus says the LORD of hosts, I took you from the pasture, from following the sheep, to be prince over my people Israel,


BIBLETEXT:
and I have been with you wherever you have gone and have cut off all your enemies from before you. And I will make for you a name, like the name of the great ones of the earth.


BIBLETEXT:
And I will appoint a place for my people Israel and will plant them, that they may dwell in their own place and be disturbed no more. And violent men shall waste them no more, as formerly,


BIBLETEXT:
from the time that I appointed judges over my people Israel. And I will subdue all your enemies. Moreover, I declare to you that the LORD will build you a house.


BIBLETEXT:
When your days are fulfilled to walk with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring after you, one of your own sons, and I will establish his kingdom.


BIBLETEXT:
He shall build a house for me, and I will establish his throne forever.


BIBLETEXT:
I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son. I will not take my steadfast love from him, as I took it from him who was before you,


BIBLETEXT:
but I will confirm him in my house and in my kingdom forever, and his throne shall be established forever.'"


BIBLETEXT:
Then King David went in and sat before the LORD and said, "Who am I, O LORD God, and what is my house, that you have brought me thus far?


BIBLETEXT:
And this was a small thing in your eyes, O God. You have also spoken of your servant's house for a great while to come, and have shown me future generations, O LORD God!


BIBLETEXT:
And what more can David say to you for honoring your servant? For you know your servant.


BIBLETEXT:
For your servant's sake, O LORD, and according to your own heart, you have done all this greatness, in making known all these great things.


BIBLETEXT:
There is none like you, O LORD, and there is no God besides you, according to all that we have heard with our ears.


BIBLETEXT:
And who is like your people Israel, the one nation on earth whom God went to redeem to be his people, making for yourself a name for great and awesome things, in driving out nations before your people whom you redeemed from Egypt?


BIBLETEXT:
And you made your people Israel to be your people forever, and you, O LORD, became their God.


BIBLETEXT:
And now, O LORD, let the word that you have spoken concerning your servant and concerning his house be established forever, and do as you have spoken,


BIBLETEXT:
and your name will be established and magnified forever, saying, 'The LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, is Israel's God,' and the house of your servant David will be established before you.


BIBLETEXT:
For you, my God, have revealed to your servant that you will build a house for him. Therefore your servant has found courage to pray before you.


BIBLETEXT:
And now, O LORD, you are God, and you have promised this good thing to your servant.


BIBLETEXT:
Now you have been pleased to bless the house of your servant, that it may continue forever before you, for it is you, O LORD, who have blessed, and it is blessed forever."


BIBLETEXT:
After this David defeated the Philistines and subdued them, and he took Gath and its villages out of the hand of the Philistines.


BIBLETEXT:
And he defeated Moab, and the Moabites became servants to David and brought tribute.


BIBLETEXT:
David also defeated Hadadezer king of Zobah-Hamath, as he went to set up his monument at the river Euphrates.


BIBLETEXT:
And David took from him 1,000 chariots, 7,000 horsemen, and 20,000 foot soldiers. And David hamstrung all the chariot horses, but left enough for 100 chariots.


BIBLETEXT:
Then David put garrisons in Syria of Damascus, and the Syrians became servants to David and brought tribute. And the LORD gave victory to David wherever he went.


BIBLETEXT:
And from Tibhath and from Cun, cities of Hadadezer, David took a large amount of bronze. With it Solomon made the bronze sea and the pillars and the vessels of bronze.


BIBLETEXT:
When Tou king of Hamath heard that David had defeated the whole army of Hadadezer, king of Zobah,


BIBLETEXT:
he sent his son Hadoram to King David, to ask about his health and to bless him because he had fought against Hadadezer and defeated him; for Hadadezer had often been at war with Tou. And he sent all sorts of articles of gold, of silver, and of bronze.


BIBLETEXT:
These also King David dedicated to the LORD, together with the silver and gold that he had carried off from all the nations, from Edom, Moab, the Ammonites, the Philistines, and Amalek.


BIBLETEXT:
And Abishai, the son of Zeruiah, killed 18,000 Edomites in the Valley of Salt.


BIBLETEXT:
Then he put garrisons in Edom, and all the Edomites became David's servants. And the LORD gave victory to David wherever he went.


BIBLETEXT:
So David reigned over all Israel, and he administered justice and equity to all his people.


BIBLETEXT:
And Joab the son of Zeruiah was over the army; and Jehoshaphat the son of Ahilud was recorder;


BIBLETEXT:
and Zadok the son of Ahitub and Ahimelech the son of Abiathar were priests; and Shavsha was secretary;


BIBLETEXT:
and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada was over the Cherethites and the Pelethites; and David's sons were the chief officials in the service of the king.


BIBLETEXT:
Now after this Nahash the king of the Ammonites died, and his son reigned in his place.


BIBLETEXT:
And David said, "I will deal kindly with Hanun the son of Nahash, for his father dealt kindly with me." So David sent messengers to console him concerning his father. And David's servants came to the land of the Ammonites to Hanun to console him.


BIBLETEXT:
But the princes of the Ammonites said to Hanun, "Do you think, because David has sent comforters to you, that he is honoring your father? Have not his servants come to you to search and to overthrow and to spy out the land?"


BIBLETEXT:
So Hanun took David's servants and shaved them and cut off their garments in the middle, at their hips, and sent them away;


BIBLETEXT:
and they departed. When David was told concerning the men, he sent messengers to meet them, for the men were greatly ashamed. And the king said, "Remain at Jericho until your beards have grown and then return."


BIBLETEXT:
When the Ammonites saw that they had become a stench to David, Hanun and the Ammonites sent 1,000 talents of silver to hire chariots and horsemen from Mesopotamia, from Aram-maacah, and from Zobah.


BIBLETEXT:
They hired 32,000 chariots and the king of Maacah with his army, who came and encamped before Medeba. And the Ammonites were mustered from their cities and came to battle.


BIBLETEXT:
When David heard of it, he sent Joab and all the army of the mighty men.


BIBLETEXT:
And the Ammonites came out and drew up in battle array at the entrance of the city, and the kings who had come were by themselves in the open country.


BIBLETEXT:
The rest of his men he put in the charge of Abishai his brother, and they were arrayed against the Ammonites.


BIBLETEXT:
And he said, "If the Syrians are too strong for me, then you shall help me, but if the Ammonites are too strong for you, then I will help you.


BIBLETEXT:
Be strong, and let us use our strength for our people and for the cities of our God, and may the LORD do what seems good to him."


BIBLETEXT:
So Joab and the people who were with him drew near before the Syrians for battle, and they fled before him.


BIBLETEXT:
And when the Ammonites saw that the Syrians fled, they likewise fled before Abishai, Joab's brother, and entered the city. Then Joab came to Jerusalem.


BIBLETEXT:
But when the Syrians saw that they had been defeated by Israel, they sent messengers and brought out the Syrians who were beyond the Euphrates, with Shophach the commander of the army of Hadadezer at their head.


BIBLETEXT:
And when it was told to David, he gathered all Israel together and crossed the Jordan and came to them and drew up his forces against them. And when David set the battle in array against the Syrians, they fought with him.


BIBLETEXT:
And the Syrians fled before Israel, and David killed of the Syrians the men of 7,000 chariots and 40,000 foot soldiers, and put to death also Shophach the commander of their army.


BIBLETEXT:
And when the servants of Hadadezer saw that they had been defeated by Israel, they made peace with David and became subject to him. So the Syrians were not willing to save the Ammonites anymore.


BIBLETEXT:
In the spring of the year, the time when kings go out to battle, Joab led out the army and ravaged the country of the Ammonites and came and besieged Rabbah. But David remained at Jerusalem. And Joab struck down Rabbah and overthrew it.


BIBLETEXT:
And David took the crown of their king from his head. He found that it weighed a talent of gold, and in it was a precious stone. And it was placed on David's head. And he brought out the spoil of the city, a very great amount.


BIBLETEXT:
And he brought out the people who were in it and set them to labor with saws and iron picks and axes. And thus David did to all the cities of the Ammonites. Then David and all the people returned to Jerusalem.


BIBLETEXT:
And after this there arose war with the Philistines at Gezer. Then Sibbecai the Hushathite struck down Sippai, who was one of the descendants of the giants, and the Philistines were subdued.


BIBLETEXT:
And there was again war with the Philistines, and Elhanan the son of Jair struck down Lahmi the brother of Goliath the Gittite, the shaft of whose spear was like a weaver's beam.


BIBLETEXT:
And there was again war at Gath, where there was a man of great stature, who had six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot, twenty-four in number, and he also was descended from the giants.


BIBLETEXT:
And when he taunted Israel, Jonathan the son of Shimea, David's brother, struck him down.


BIBLETEXT:
These were descended from the giants in Gath, and they fell by the hand of David and by the hand of his servants.


BIBLETEXT:
Then Satan stood against Israel and incited David to number Israel.


BIBLETEXT:
So David said to Joab and the commanders of the army, "Go, number Israel, from Beersheba to Dan, and bring me a report, that I may know their number."


BIBLETEXT:
But Joab said, "May the LORD add to his people a hundred times as many as they are! Are they not, my lord the king, all of them my lord's servants? Why then should my lord require this? Why should it be a cause of guilt for Israel?"


BIBLETEXT:
But the king's word prevailed against Joab. So Joab departed and went throughout all Israel and came back to Jerusalem.


BIBLETEXT:
And Joab gave the sum of the numbering of the people to David. In all Israel there were 1,100,000 men who drew the sword, and in Judah 470,000 who drew the sword.


BIBLETEXT:
But he did not include Levi and Benjamin in the numbering, for the king's command was abhorrent to Joab.


BIBLETEXT:
But God was displeased with this thing, and he struck Israel.


BIBLETEXT:
And David said to God, "I have sinned greatly in that I have done this thing. But now, please take away the iniquity of your servant, for I have acted very foolishly."


BIBLETEXT:
And the LORD spoke to Gad, David's seer, saying,


BIBLETEXT:
"Go and say to David, 'Thus says the LORD, Three things I offer you; choose one of them, that I may do it to you.'"


BIBLETEXT:
So Gad came to David and said to him, "Thus says the LORD, 'Choose what you will:


BIBLETEXT:
either three years of famine, or three months of devastation by your foes while the sword of your enemies overtakes you, or else three days of the sword of the LORD, pestilence on the land, with the angel of the LORD destroying throughout all the territory of Israel.' Now decide what answer I shall return to him who sent me."


BIBLETEXT:
Then David said to Gad, "I am in great distress. Let me fall into the hand of the LORD, for his mercy is very great, but do not let me fall into the hand of man."


BIBLETEXT:
So the LORD sent a pestilence on Israel, and 70,000 men of Israel fell.


BIBLETEXT:
And God sent the angel to Jerusalem to destroy it, but as he was about to destroy it, the LORD saw, and he relented from the calamity. And he said to the angel who was working destruction, "It is enough; now stay your hand." And the angel of the LORD was standing by the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite.


BIBLETEXT:
And David lifted his eyes and saw the angel of the LORD standing between earth and heaven, and in his hand a drawn sword stretched out over Jerusalem. Then David and the elders, clothed in sackcloth, fell upon their faces.


BIBLETEXT:
And David said to God, "Was it not I who gave command to number the people? It is I who have sinned and done great evil. But these sheep, what have they done? Please let your hand, O LORD my God, be against me and against my father's house. But do not let the plague be on your people."


BIBLETEXT:
Now the angel of the LORD had commanded Gad to say to David that David should go up and raise an altar to the LORD on the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite.


BIBLETEXT:
So David went up at Gad's word, which he had spoken in the name of the LORD.


BIBLETEXT:
Now Ornan was threshing wheat. He turned and saw the angel, and his four sons who were with him hid themselves.


BIBLETEXT:
As David came to Ornan, Ornan looked and saw David and went out from the threshing floor and paid homage to David with his face to the ground.


BIBLETEXT:
And David said to Ornan, "Give me the site of the threshing floor that I may build on it an altar to the LORD--give it to me at its full price--that the plague may be averted from the people."


BIBLETEXT:
Then Ornan said to David, "Take it, and let my lord the king do what seems good to him. See, I give the oxen for burnt offerings and the threshing sledges for the wood and the wheat for a grain offering; I give it all."


BIBLETEXT:
But King David said to Ornan, "No, but I will buy them for the full price. I will not take for the LORD what is yours, nor offer burnt offerings that cost me nothing."


BIBLETEXT:
So David paid Ornan 600 shekels of gold by weight for the site.


BIBLETEXT:
And David built there an altar to the LORD and presented burnt offerings and peace offerings and called on the LORD, and the LORD answered him with fire from heaven upon the altar of burnt offering.


BIBLETEXT:
Then the LORD commanded the angel, and he put his sword back into its sheath.


BIBLETEXT:
At that time, when David saw that the LORD had answered him at the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite, he sacrificed there.


BIBLETEXT:
For the tabernacle of the LORD, which Moses had made in the wilderness, and the altar of burnt offering were at that time in the high place at Gibeon,


BIBLETEXT:
but David could not go before it to inquire of God, for he was afraid of the sword of the angel of the LORD.


BIBLETEXT:
Then David said, "Here shall be the house of the LORD God and here the altar of burnt offering for Israel."


BIBLETEXT:
David commanded to gather together the resident aliens who were in the land of Israel, and he set stonecutters to prepare dressed stones for building the house of God.


BIBLETEXT:
David also provided great quantities of iron for nails for the doors of the gates and for clamps, as well as bronze in quantities beyond weighing,


BIBLETEXT:
and cedar timbers without number, for the Sidonians and Tyrians brought great quantities of cedar to David.


BIBLETEXT:
For David said, "Solomon my son is young and inexperienced, and the house that is to be built for the LORD must be exceedingly magnificent, of fame and glory throughout all lands. I will therefore make preparation for it." So David provided materials in great quantity before his death.


BIBLETEXT:
Then he called for Solomon his son and charged him to build a house for the LORD, the God of Israel.


BIBLETEXT:
David said to Solomon, "My son, I had it in my heart to build a house to the name of the LORD my God.


BIBLETEXT:
But the word of the LORD came to me, saying, 'You have shed much blood and have waged great wars. You shall not build a house to my name, because you have shed so much blood before me on the earth.


BIBLETEXT:
Behold, a son shall be born to you who shall be a man of rest. I will give him rest from all his surrounding enemies. For his name shall be Solomon, and I will give peace and quiet to Israel in his days.


BIBLETEXT:
He shall build a house for my name. He shall be my son, and I will be his father, and I will establish his royal throne in Israel forever.'


BIBLETEXT:
"Now, my son, the LORD be with you, so that you may succeed in building the house of the LORD your God, as he has spoken concerning you.


BIBLETEXT:
Only, may the LORD grant you discretion and understanding, that when he gives you charge over Israel you may keep the law of the LORD your God.


BIBLETEXT:
Then you will prosper if you are careful to observe the statutes and the rules that the LORD commanded Moses for Israel. Be strong and courageous. Fear not; do not be dismayed.


BIBLETEXT:
With great pains I have provided for the house of the LORD 100,000 talents of gold, a million talents of silver, and bronze and iron beyond weighing, for there is so much of it; timber and stone, too, I have provided. To these you must add.


BIBLETEXT:
You have an abundance of workmen: stonecutters, masons, carpenters, and all kinds of craftsmen without number, skilled in working


BIBLETEXT:
gold, silver, bronze, and iron. Arise and work! The LORD be with you!"


BIBLETEXT:
David also commanded all the leaders of Israel to help Solomon his son, saying,


BIBLETEXT:
"Is not the LORD your God with you? And has he not given you peace on every side? For he has delivered the inhabitants of the land into my hand, and the land is subdued before the LORD and his people.


BIBLETEXT:
Now set your mind and heart to seek the LORD your God. Arise and build the sanctuary of the LORD God, so that the ark of the covenant of the LORD and the holy vessels of God may be brought into a house built for the name of the LORD."


BIBLETEXT:
When David was old and full of days, he made Solomon his son king over Israel.


BIBLETEXT:
David assembled all the leaders of Israel and the priests and the Levites.


BIBLETEXT:
The Levites, thirty years old and upward, were numbered, and the total was 38,000 men.


BIBLETEXT:
"Twenty-four thousand of these," David said, "shall have charge of the work in the house of the LORD, 6,000 shall be officers and judges,


BIBLETEXT:
4,000 gatekeepers, and 4,000 shall offer praises to the LORD with the instruments that I have made for praise."


BIBLETEXT:
And David organized them in divisions corresponding to the sons of Levi: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari.


BIBLETEXT:
The sons of Gershon were Ladan and Shimei.


BIBLETEXT:
The sons of Ladan: Jehiel the chief, and Zetham, and Joel, three.


BIBLETEXT:
The sons of Shimei: Shelomoth, Haziel, and Haran, three. These were the heads of the fathers' houses of Ladan.


BIBLETEXT:
And the sons of Shimei: Jahath, Zina, and Jeush and Beriah. These four were the sons of Shimei.


BIBLETEXT:
Jahath was the chief, and Zizah the second; but Jeush and Beriah did not have many sons, therefore they became counted as a single father's house.


BIBLETEXT:
The sons of Kohath: Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel, four.


BIBLETEXT:
The sons of Amram: Aaron and Moses. Aaron was set apart to dedicate the most holy things, that he and his sons forever should make offerings before the LORD and minister to him and pronounce blessings in his name forever.


BIBLETEXT:
But the sons of Moses the man of God were named among the tribe of Levi.


BIBLETEXT:
The sons of Eliezer: Rehabiah the chief. Eliezer had no other sons, but the sons of Rehabiah were very many.


BIBLETEXT:
The sons of Hebron: Jeriah the chief, Amariah the second, Jahaziel the third, and Jekameam the fourth.


BIBLETEXT:
The sons of Uzziel: Micah the chief and Isshiah the second.


BIBLETEXT:
The sons of Merari: Mahli and Mushi. The sons of Mahli: Eleazar and Kish.


BIBLETEXT:
Eleazar died having no sons, but only daughters; their kinsmen, the sons of Kish, married them.


BIBLETEXT:
The sons of Mushi: Mahli, Eder, and Jeremoth, three.


BIBLETEXT:
These were the sons of Levi by their fathers' houses, the heads of fathers' houses as they were listed according to the number of the names of the individuals from twenty years old and upward who were to do the work for the service of the house of the LORD.


BIBLETEXT:
For David said, "The LORD, the God of Israel, has given rest to his people, and he dwells in Jerusalem forever.


BIBLETEXT:
And so the Levites no longer need to carry the tabernacle or any of the things for its service."


BIBLETEXT:
For by the last words of David the sons of Levi were numbered from twenty years old and upward.


BIBLETEXT:
For their duty was to assist the sons of Aaron for the service of the house of the LORD, having the care of the courts and the chambers, the cleansing of all that is holy, and any work for the service of the house of God.


BIBLETEXT:
Their duty was also to assist with the showbread, the flour for the grain offering, the wafers of unleavened bread, the baked offering, the offering mixed with oil, and all measures of quantity or size.


BIBLETEXT:
And they were to stand every morning, thanking and praising the LORD, and likewise at evening,


BIBLETEXT:
and whenever burnt offerings were offered to the LORD on Sabbaths, new moons, and feast days, according to the number required of them, regularly before the LORD.


BIBLETEXT:
Thus they were to keep charge of the tent of meeting and the sanctuary, and to attend the sons of Aaron, their brothers, for the service of the house of the LORD.


BIBLETEXT:
The divisions of the sons of Aaron were these. The sons of Aaron: Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar.


BIBLETEXT:
But Nadab and Abihu died before their father and had no children, so Eleazar and Ithamar became the priests.


BIBLETEXT:
With the help of Zadok of the sons of Eleazar, and Ahimelech of the sons of Ithamar, David organized them according to the appointed duties in their service.


BIBLETEXT:
Since more chief men were found among the sons of Eleazar than among the sons of Ithamar, they organized them under sixteen heads of fathers' houses of the sons of Eleazar, and eight of the sons of Ithamar.


BIBLETEXT:
They divided them by lot, all alike, for there were sacred officers and officers of God among both the sons of Eleazar and the sons of Ithamar.


BIBLETEXT:
And the scribe Shemaiah, the son of Nethanel, a Levite, recorded them in the presence of the king and the princes and Zadok the priest and Ahimelech the son of Abiathar and the heads of the fathers' houses of the priests and of the Levites, one father's house being chosen for Eleazar and one chosen for Ithamar.


BIBLETEXT:
The first lot fell to Jehoiarib, the second to Jedaiah,


BIBLETEXT:
the third to Harim, the fourth to Seorim,


BIBLETEXT:
the fifth to Malchijah, the sixth to Mijamin,


BIBLETEXT:
the seventh to Hakkoz, the eighth to Abijah,


BIBLETEXT:
the ninth to Jeshua, the tenth to Shecaniah,


BIBLETEXT:
the eleventh to Eliashib, the twelfth to Jakim,


BIBLETEXT:
the thirteenth to Huppah, the fourteenth to Jeshebeab,


BIBLETEXT:
the fifteenth to Bilgah, the sixteenth to Immer,


BIBLETEXT:
the seventeenth to Hezir, the eighteenth to Happizzez,


BIBLETEXT:
the nineteenth to Pethahiah, the twentieth to Jehezkel,


BIBLETEXT:
the twenty-first to Jachin, the twenty-second to Gamul,


BIBLETEXT:
the twenty-third to Delaiah, the twenty-fourth to Maaziah.


BIBLETEXT:
These had as their appointed duty in their service to come into the house of the LORD according to the procedure established for them by Aaron their father, as the LORD God of Israel had commanded him.


BIBLETEXT:
And of the rest of the sons of Levi: of the sons of Amram, Shubael; of the sons of Shubael, Jehdeiah.


BIBLETEXT:
Of Rehabiah: of the sons of Rehabiah, Isshiah the chief.


BIBLETEXT:
Of the Izharites, Shelomoth; of the sons of Shelomoth, Jahath.


BIBLETEXT:
The sons of Hebron: Jeriah the chief, Amariah the second, Jahaziel the third, Jekameam the fourth.


BIBLETEXT:
The sons of Uzziel, Micah; of the sons of Micah, Shamir.


BIBLETEXT:
The brother of Micah, Isshiah; of the sons of Isshiah, Zechariah.


BIBLETEXT:
The sons of Merari: Mahli and Mushi. The sons of Jaaziah: Beno.


BIBLETEXT:
The sons of Merari: of Jaaziah, Beno, Shoham, Zaccur, and Ibri.


BIBLETEXT:
The sons of Mushi: Mahli, Eder, and Jerimoth. These were the sons of the Levites according to their fathers' houses.


BIBLETEXT:
These also, the head of each father's house and his younger brother alike, cast lots, just as their brothers the sons of Aaron, in the presence of King David, Zadok, Ahimelech, and the heads of fathers' houses of the priests and of the Levites.


BIBLETEXT:
David and the chiefs of the service also set apart for the service the sons of Asaph, and of Heman, and of Jeduthun, who prophesied with lyres, with harps, and with cymbals. The list of those who did the work and of their duties was:


BIBLETEXT:
Of the sons of Asaph: Zaccur, Joseph, Nethaniah, and Asharelah, sons of Asaph, under the direction of Asaph, who prophesied under the direction of the king.


BIBLETEXT:
Of Jeduthun, the sons of Jeduthun: Gedaliah, Zeri, Jeshaiah, Shimei, Hashabiah, and Mattithiah, six, under the direction of their father Jeduthun, who prophesied with the lyre in thanksgiving and praise to the LORD.


BIBLETEXT:
Of Heman, the sons of Heman: Bukkiah, Mattaniah, Uzziel, Shebuel and Jerimoth, Hananiah, Hanani, Eliathah, Giddalti, and Romamti-ezer, Joshbekashah, Mallothi, Hothir, Mahazioth.


BIBLETEXT:
All these were the sons of Heman the king's seer, according to the promise of God to exalt him, for God had given Heman fourteen sons and three daughters.


BIBLETEXT:
They were all under the direction of their father in the music in the house of the LORD with cymbals, harps, and lyres for the service of the house of God. Asaph, Jeduthun, and Heman were under the order of the king.


BIBLETEXT:
The number of them along with their brothers, who were trained in singing to the LORD, all who were skillful, was 288.


BIBLETEXT:
And they cast lots for their duties, small and great, teacher and pupil alike.


BIBLETEXT:
The first lot fell for Asaph to Joseph; the second to Gedaliah, to him and his brothers and his sons, twelve;


BIBLETEXT:
the third to Zaccur, his sons and his brothers, twelve;


BIBLETEXT:
the fourth to Izri, his sons and his brothers, twelve;


BIBLETEXT:
the fifth to Nethaniah, his sons and his brothers, twelve;


BIBLETEXT:
the sixth to Bukkiah, his sons and his brothers, twelve;


BIBLETEXT:
the seventh to Jesharelah, his sons and his brothers, twelve;


BIBLETEXT:
the eighth to Jeshaiah, his sons and his brothers, twelve;


BIBLETEXT:
the ninth to Mattaniah, his sons and his brothers, twelve;


BIBLETEXT:
the tenth to Shimei, his sons and his brothers, twelve;


BIBLETEXT:
the eleventh to Azarel, his sons and his brothers, twelve;


BIBLETEXT:
the twelfth to Hashabiah, his sons and his brothers, twelve;


BIBLETEXT:
to the thirteenth, Shubael, his sons and his brothers, twelve;


BIBLETEXT:
to the fourteenth, Mattithiah, his sons and his brothers, twelve;


BIBLETEXT:
to the fifteenth, to Jeremoth, his sons and his brothers, twelve;


BIBLETEXT:
to the sixteenth, to Hananiah, his sons and his brothers, twelve;


BIBLETEXT:
to the seventeenth, to Joshbekashah, his sons and his brothers, twelve;


BIBLETEXT:
to the eighteenth, to Hanani, his sons and his brothers, twelve;


BIBLETEXT:
to the nineteenth, to Mallothi, his sons and his brothers, twelve;


BIBLETEXT:
to the twentieth, to Eliathah, his sons and his brothers, twelve;


BIBLETEXT:
to the twenty-first, to Hothir, his sons and his brothers, twelve;


BIBLETEXT:
to the twenty-second, to Giddalti, his sons and his brothers, twelve;


BIBLETEXT:
to the twenty-third, to Mahazioth, his sons and his brothers, twelve;


BIBLETEXT:
to the twenty-fourth, to Romamti-ezer, his sons and his brothers, twelve.


BIBLETEXT:
As for the divisions of the gatekeepers: of the Korahites, Meshelemiah the son of Kore, of the sons of Asaph.


BIBLETEXT:
And Meshelemiah had sons: Zechariah the firstborn, Jediael the second, Zebadiah the third, Jathniel the fourth,


BIBLETEXT:
Elam the fifth, Jehohanan the sixth, Eliehoenai the seventh.


BIBLETEXT:
And Obed-edom had sons: Shemaiah the firstborn, Jehozabad the second, Joah the third, Sachar the fourth, Nethanel the fifth,


BIBLETEXT:
Ammiel the sixth, Issachar the seventh, Peullethai the eighth, for God blessed him.


BIBLETEXT:
Also to his son Shemaiah were sons born who were rulers in their fathers' houses, for they were men of great ability.


BIBLETEXT:
The sons of Shemaiah: Othni, Rephael, Obed and Elzabad, whose brothers were able men, Elihu and Semachiah.


BIBLETEXT:
All these were of the sons of Obed-edom with their sons and brothers, able men qualified for the service; sixty-two of Obed-edom.


BIBLETEXT:
And Meshelemiah had sons and brothers, able men, eighteen.


BIBLETEXT:
And Hosah, of the sons of Merari, had sons: Shimri the chief (for though he was not the firstborn, his father made him chief),


BIBLETEXT:
Hilkiah the second, Tebaliah the third, Zechariah the fourth: all the sons and brothers of Hosah were thirteen.


BIBLETEXT:
These divisions of the gatekeepers, corresponding to their chief men, had duties, just as their brothers did, ministering in the house of the LORD.


BIBLETEXT:
And they cast lots by fathers' houses, small and great alike, for their gates.


BIBLETEXT:
The lot for the east fell to Shelemiah. They cast lots also for his son Zechariah, a shrewd counselor, and his lot came out for the north.


BIBLETEXT:
Obed-edom's came out for the south, and to his sons was allotted the gatehouse.


BIBLETEXT:
For Shuppim and Hosah it came out for the west, at the gate of Shallecheth on the road that goes up. Watch corresponded to watch.


BIBLETEXT:
On the east there were six each day, on the north four each day, on the south four each day, as well as two and two at the gatehouse.


BIBLETEXT:
And for the colonnade on the west there were four at the road and two at the colonnade.


BIBLETEXT:
These were the divisions of the gatekeepers among the Korahites and the sons of Merari.


BIBLETEXT:
And of the Levites, Ahijah had charge of the treasuries of the house of God and the treasuries of the dedicated gifts.


BIBLETEXT:
The sons of Ladan, the sons of the Gershonites belonging to Ladan, the heads of the fathers' houses belonging to Ladan the Gershonite: Jehieli.


BIBLETEXT:
The sons of Jehieli, Zetham, and Joel his brother, were in charge of the treasuries of the house of the LORD.


BIBLETEXT:
Of the Amramites, the Izharites, the Hebronites, and the Uzzielites--


BIBLETEXT:
and Shebuel the son of Gershom, son of Moses, was chief officer in charge of the treasuries.


BIBLETEXT:
His brothers: from Eliezer were his son Rehabiah, and his son Jeshaiah, and his son Joram, and his son Zichri, and his son Shelomoth.


BIBLETEXT:
This Shelomoth and his brothers were in charge of all the treasuries of the dedicated gifts that David the king and the heads of the fathers' houses and the officers of the thousands and the hundreds and the commanders of the army had dedicated.


BIBLETEXT:
From spoil won in battles they dedicated gifts for the maintenance of the house of the LORD.


BIBLETEXT:
Also all that Samuel the seer and Saul the son of Kish and Abner the son of Ner and Joab the son of Zeruiah had dedicated--all dedicated gifts were in the care of Shelomoth and his brothers.


BIBLETEXT:
Of the Izharites, Chenaniah and his sons were appointed to external duties for Israel, as officers and judges.


BIBLETEXT:
Of the Hebronites, Hashabiah and his brothers, 1,700 men of ability, had the oversight of Israel westward of the Jordan for all the work of the LORD and for the service of the king.


BIBLETEXT:
Of the Hebronites, Jerijah was chief of the Hebronites of whatever genealogy or fathers' houses. (In the fortieth year of David's reign search was made and men of great ability among them were found at Jazer in Gilead.)


BIBLETEXT:
King David appointed him and his brothers, 2,700 men of ability, heads of fathers' houses, to have the oversight of the Reubenites, the Gadites and the half-tribe of the Manassites for everything pertaining to God and for the affairs of the king.


BIBLETEXT:
This is the number of the people of Israel, the heads of fathers' houses, the commanders of thousands and hundreds, and their officers who served the king in all matters concerning the divisions that came and went, month after month throughout the year, each division numbering 24,000:


BIBLETEXT:
Jashobeam the son of Zabdiel was in charge of the first division in the first month; in his division were 24,000.


BIBLETEXT:
He was a descendant of Perez and was chief of all the commanders. He served for the first month.


BIBLETEXT:
Dodai the Ahohite was in charge of the division of the second month; in his division were 24,000.


BIBLETEXT:
The third commander, for the third month, was Benaiah, the son of Jehoiada the chief priest; in his division were 24,000.


BIBLETEXT:
This is the Benaiah who was a mighty man of the thirty and in command of the thirty; Ammizabad his son was in charge of his division.


BIBLETEXT:
Asahel the brother of Joab was fourth, for the fourth month, and his son Zebadiah after him; in his division were 24,000.


BIBLETEXT:
The fifth commander, for the fifth month, was Shamhuth the Izrahite; in his division were 24,000.


BIBLETEXT:
Sixth, for the sixth month, was Ira, the son of Ikkesh the Tekoite; in his division were 24,000.


BIBLETEXT:
Seventh, for the seventh month, was Helez the Pelonite, of the sons of Ephraim; in his division were 24,000.


BIBLETEXT:
Eighth, for the eighth month, was Sibbecai the Hushathite, of the Zerahites; in his division were 24,000.


BIBLETEXT:
Ninth, for the ninth month, was Abiezer of Anathoth, a Benjaminite; in his division were 24,000.


BIBLETEXT:
Tenth, for the tenth month, was Maharai of Netophah, of the Zerahites; in his division were 24,000.


BIBLETEXT:
Eleventh, for the eleventh month, was Benaiah of Pirathon, of the sons of Ephraim; in his division were 24,000.


BIBLETEXT:
Twelfth, for the twelfth month, was Heldai the Netophathite, of Othniel; in his division were 24,000.


BIBLETEXT:
Over the tribes of Israel, for the Reubenites, Eliezer the son of Zichri was chief officer; for the Simeonites, Shephatiah the son of Maacah;


BIBLETEXT:
for Levi, Hashabiah the son of Kemuel; for Aaron, Zadok;


BIBLETEXT:
for Judah, Elihu, one of David's brothers; for Issachar, Omri the son of Michael;


BIBLETEXT:
for Zebulun, Ishmaiah the son of Obadiah; for Naphtali, Jeremoth the son of Azriel;


BIBLETEXT:
for the Ephraimites, Hoshea the son of Azaziah; for the half-tribe of Manasseh, Joel the son of Pedaiah;


BIBLETEXT:
for the half-tribe of Manasseh in Gilead, Iddo the son of Zechariah; for Benjamin, Jaasiel the son of Abner;


BIBLETEXT:
for Dan, Azarel the son of Jeroham. These were the leaders of the tribes of Israel.


BIBLETEXT:
David did not count those below twenty years of age, for the LORD had promised to make Israel as many as the stars of heaven.


BIBLETEXT:
Joab the son of Zeruiah began to count, but did not finish. Yet wrath came upon Israel for this, and the number was not entered in the chronicles of King David.


BIBLETEXT:
Over the king's treasuries was Azmaveth the son of Adiel; and over the treasuries in the country, in the cities, in the villages, and in the towers, was Jonathan the son of Uzziah;


BIBLETEXT:
and over those who did the work of the field for tilling the soil was Ezri the son of Chelub;


BIBLETEXT:
and over the vineyards was Shimei the Ramathite; and over the produce of the vineyards for the wine cellars was Zabdi the Shiphmite.


BIBLETEXT:
Over the olive and sycamore trees in the Shephelah was Baal-hanan the Gederite; and over the stores of oil was Joash.


BIBLETEXT:
Over the herds that pastured in Sharon was Shitrai the Sharonite; over the herds in the valleys was Shaphat the son of Adlai.


BIBLETEXT:
Over the camels was Obil the Ishmaelite; and over the donkeys was Jehdeiah the Meronothite. Over the flocks was Jaziz the Hagrite.


BIBLETEXT:
All these were stewards of King David's property.


BIBLETEXT:
Jonathan, David's uncle, was a counselor, being a man of understanding and a scribe. He and Jehiel the son of Hachmoni attended the king's sons.


BIBLETEXT:
Ahithophel was the king's counselor, and Hushai the Archite was the king's friend.


BIBLETEXT:
Ahithophel was succeeded by Jehoiada the son of Benaiah, and Abiathar. Joab was commander of the king's army.


BIBLETEXT:
David assembled at Jerusalem all the officials of Israel, the officials of the tribes, the officers of the divisions that served the king, the commanders of thousands, the commanders of hundreds, the stewards of all the property and livestock of the king and his sons, together with the palace officials, the mighty men and all the seasoned warriors.


BIBLETEXT:
Then King David rose to his feet and said: "Hear me, my brothers and my people. I had it in my heart to build a house of rest for the ark of the covenant of the LORD and for the footstool of our God, and I made preparations for building.


BIBLETEXT:
But God said to me, 'You may not build a house for my name, for you are a man of war and have shed blood.'


BIBLETEXT:
Yet the LORD God of Israel chose me from all my father's house to be king over Israel forever. For he chose Judah as leader, and in the house of Judah my father's house, and among my father's sons he took pleasure in me to make me king over all Israel.


BIBLETEXT:
And of all my sons (for the LORD has given me many sons) he has chosen Solomon my son to sit on the throne of the kingdom of the LORD over Israel.


BIBLETEXT:
He said to me, 'It is Solomon your son who shall build my house and my courts, for I have chosen him to be my son, and I will be his father.


BIBLETEXT:
I will establish his kingdom forever if he continues strong in keeping my commandments and my rules, as he is today.'


BIBLETEXT:
Now therefore in the sight of all Israel, the assembly of the LORD, and in the hearing of our God, observe and seek out all the commandments of the LORD your God, that you may possess this good land and leave it for an inheritance to your children after you forever.


BIBLETEXT:
"And you, Solomon my son, know the God of your father and serve him with a whole heart and with a willing mind, for the LORD searches all hearts and understands every plan and thought. If you seek him, he will be found by you, but if you forsake him, he will cast you off forever.


BIBLETEXT:
Be careful now, for the LORD has chosen you to build a house for the sanctuary; be strong and do it."


BIBLETEXT:
Then David gave Solomon his son the plan of the vestibule of the temple, and of its houses, its treasuries, its upper rooms, and its inner chambers, and of the room for the mercy seat;


BIBLETEXT:
and the plan of all that he had in mind for the courts of the house of the LORD, all the surrounding chambers, the treasuries of the house of God, and the treasuries for dedicated gifts;


BIBLETEXT:
for the divisions of the priests and of the Levites, and all the work of the service in the house of the LORD; for all the vessels for the service in the house of the LORD,


BIBLETEXT:
the weight of gold for all golden vessels for each service, the weight of silver vessels for each service,


BIBLETEXT:
the weight of the golden lampstands and their lamps, the weight of gold for each lampstand and its lamps, the weight of silver for a lampstand and its lamps, according to the use of each lampstand in the service,


BIBLETEXT:
the weight of gold for each table for the showbread, the silver for the silver tables,


BIBLETEXT:
and pure gold for the forks, the basins and the cups; for the golden bowls and the weight of each; for the silver bowls and the weight of each;


BIBLETEXT:
for the altar of incense made of refined gold, and its weight; also his plan for the golden chariot of the cherubim that spread their wings and covered the ark of the covenant of the LORD.


BIBLETEXT:
"All this he made clear to me in writing from the hand of the LORD, all the work to be done according to the plan."


BIBLETEXT:
Then David said to Solomon his son, "Be strong and courageous and do it. Do not be afraid and do not be dismayed, for the LORD God, even my God, is with you. He will not leave you or forsake you, until all the work for the service of the house of the LORD is finished.


BIBLETEXT:
And behold the divisions of the priests and the Levites for all the service of the house of God; and with you in all the work will be every willing man who has skill for any kind of service; also the officers and all the people will be wholly at your command."


BIBLETEXT:
And David the king said to all the assembly, "Solomon my son, whom alone God has chosen, is young and inexperienced, and the work is great, for the palace will not be for man but for the LORD God.


BIBLETEXT:
So I have provided for the house of my God, so far as I was able, the gold for the things of gold, the silver for the things of silver, and the bronze for the things of bronze, the iron for the things of iron, and wood for the things of wood, besides great quantities of onyx and stones for setting, antimony, colored stones, all sorts of precious stones and marble.


BIBLETEXT:
Moreover, in addition to all that I have provided for the holy house, I have a treasure of my own of gold and silver, and because of my devotion to the house of my God I give it to the house of my God:


BIBLETEXT:
3,000 talents of gold, of the gold of Ophir, and 7,000 talents of refined silver, for overlaying the walls of the house,


BIBLETEXT:
and for all the work to be done by craftsmen, gold for the things of gold and silver for the things of silver. Who then will offer willingly, consecrating himself today to the LORD?"


BIBLETEXT:
Then the leaders of fathers' houses made their freewill offerings, as did also the leaders of the tribes, the commanders of thousands and of hundreds, and the officers over the king's work.


BIBLETEXT:
They gave for the service of the house of God 5,000 talents and 10,000 darics of gold, 10,000 talents of silver, 18,000 talents of bronze and 100,000 talents of iron.


BIBLETEXT:
And whoever had precious stones gave them to the treasury of the house of the LORD, in the care of Jehiel the Gershonite.


BIBLETEXT:
Then the people rejoiced because they had given willingly, for with a whole heart they had offered freely to the LORD. David the king also rejoiced greatly.


BIBLETEXT:
Therefore David blessed the LORD in the presence of all the assembly. And David said: "Blessed are you, O LORD, the God of Israel our father, forever and ever.


BIBLETEXT:
Yours, O LORD, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty, for all that is in the heavens and in the earth is yours. Yours is the kingdom, O LORD, and you are exalted as head above all.


BIBLETEXT:
Both riches and honor come from you, and you rule over all. In your hand are power and might, and in your hand it is to make great and to give strength to all.


BIBLETEXT:
And now we thank you, our God, and praise your glorious name.


BIBLETEXT:
"But who am I, and what is my people, that we should be able thus to offer willingly? For all things come from you, and of your own have we given you.


BIBLETEXT:
For we are strangers before you and sojourners, as all our fathers were. Our days on the earth are like a shadow, and there is no abiding.


BIBLETEXT:
O LORD our God, all this abundance that we have provided for building you a house for your holy name comes from your hand and is all your own.


BIBLETEXT:
I know, my God, that you test the heart and have pleasure in uprightness. In the uprightness of my heart I have freely offered all these things, and now I have seen your people, who are present here, offering freely and joyously to you.


BIBLETEXT:
O LORD, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, our fathers, keep forever such purposes and thoughts in the hearts of your people, and direct their hearts toward you.


BIBLETEXT:
Grant to Solomon my son a whole heart that he may keep your commandments, your testimonies, and your statutes, performing all, and that he may build the palace for which I have made provision."


BIBLETEXT:
Then David said to all the assembly, "Bless the LORD your God." And all the assembly blessed the LORD, the God of their fathers, and bowed their heads and paid homage to the LORD and to the king.


BIBLETEXT:
And they offered sacrifices to the LORD, and on the next day offered burnt offerings to the LORD, 1,000 bulls, 1,000 rams, and 1,000 lambs, with their drink offerings, and sacrifices in abundance for all Israel.


BIBLETEXT:
And they ate and drank before the LORD on that day with great gladness. And they made Solomon the son of David king the second time, and they anointed him as prince for the LORD, and Zadok as priest.


BIBLETEXT:
Then Solomon sat on the throne of the LORD as king in place of David his father. And he prospered, and all Israel obeyed him.


BIBLETEXT:
All the leaders and the mighty men, and also all the sons of King David, pledged their allegiance to King Solomon.


BIBLETEXT:
And the LORD made Solomon very great in the sight of all Israel and bestowed on him such royal majesty as had not been on any king before him in Israel.


BIBLETEXT:
Thus David the son of Jesse reigned over all Israel.


BIBLETEXT:
The time that he reigned over Israel was forty years. He reigned seven years in Hebron and thirty-three years in Jerusalem.


BIBLETEXT:
Then he died at a good age, full of days, riches, and honor. And Solomon his son reigned in his place.


BIBLETEXT:
Now the acts of King David, from first to last, are written in the Chronicles of Samuel the seer, and in the Chronicles of Nathan the prophet, and in the Chronicles of Gad the seer,


BIBLETEXT:
with accounts of all his rule and his might and of the circumstances that came upon him and upon Israel and upon all the kingdoms of the countries.


BIBLETEXT:
Solomon the son of David established himself in his kingdom, and the LORD his God was with him and made him exceedingly great.


BIBLETEXT:
Solomon spoke to all Israel, to the commanders of thousands and of hundreds, to the judges, and to all the leaders in all Israel, the heads of fathers' houses.


BIBLETEXT:
And Solomon, and all the assembly with him, went to the high place that was at Gibeon, for the tent of meeting of God, which Moses the servant of the LORD had made in the wilderness, was there.


BIBLETEXT:
(But David had brought up the ark of God from Kiriath-jearim to the place that David had prepared for it, for he had pitched a tent for it in Jerusalem.)


BIBLETEXT:
Moreover, the bronze altar that Bezalel the son of Uri, son of Hur, had made, was there before the tabernacle of the LORD. And Solomon and the assembly sought it out.


BIBLETEXT:
And Solomon went up there to the bronze altar before the LORD, which was at the tent of meeting, and offered a thousand burnt offerings on it.


BIBLETEXT:
In that night God appeared to Solomon, and said to him, "Ask what I shall give you."


BIBLETEXT:
And Solomon said to God, "You have shown great and steadfast love to David my father, and have made me king in his place.


BIBLETEXT:
O LORD God, let your word to David my father be now fulfilled, for you have made me king over a people as numerous as the dust of the earth.


BIBLETEXT:
Give me now wisdom and knowledge to go out and come in before this people, for who can govern this people of yours, which is so great?"


BIBLETEXT:
God answered Solomon, "Because this was in your heart, and you have not asked possessions, wealth, honor, or the life of those who hate you, and have not even asked long life, but have asked wisdom and knowledge for yourself that you may govern my people over whom I have made you king,


BIBLETEXT:
wisdom and knowledge are granted to you. I will also give you riches, possessions, and honor, such as none of the kings had who were before you, and none after you shall have the like."


BIBLETEXT:
So Solomon came from the high place at Gibeon, from before the tent of meeting, to Jerusalem. And he reigned over Israel.


BIBLETEXT:
Solomon gathered together chariots and horsemen. He had 1,400 chariots and 12,000 horsemen, whom he stationed in the chariot cities and with the king in Jerusalem.


BIBLETEXT:
And the king made silver and gold as common in Jerusalem as stone, and he made cedar as plentiful as the sycamore of the Shephelah.


BIBLETEXT:
And Solomon's import of horses was from Egypt and Kue, and the king's traders would buy them from Kue for a price.


BIBLETEXT:
They imported a chariot from Egypt for 600 shekels of silver, and a horse for 150. Likewise through them these were exported to all the kings of the Hittites and the kings of Syria.


BIBLETEXT:
Now Solomon purposed to build a temple for the name of the LORD, and a royal palace for himself.


BIBLETEXT:
And Solomon assigned 70,000 men to bear burdens and 80,000 to quarry in the hill country, and 3,600 to oversee them.


BIBLETEXT:
And Solomon sent word to Hiram the king of Tyre: "As you dealt with David my father and sent him cedar to build himself a house to dwell in, so deal with me.


BIBLETEXT:
Behold, I am about to build a house for the name of the LORD my God and dedicate it to him for the burning of incense of sweet spices before him, and for the regular arrangement of the showbread, and for burnt offerings morning and evening, on the Sabbaths and the new moons and the appointed feasts of the LORD our God, as ordained forever for Israel.


BIBLETEXT:
The house that I am to build will be great, for our God is greater than all gods.


BIBLETEXT:
But who is able to build him a house, since heaven, even highest heaven, cannot contain him? Who am I to build a house for him, except as a place to make offerings before him?


BIBLETEXT:
So now send me a man skilled to work in gold, silver, bronze, and iron, and in purple, crimson, and blue fabrics, trained also in engraving, to be with the skilled workers who are with me in Judah and Jerusalem, whom David my father provided.


BIBLETEXT:
Send me also cedar, cypress, and algum timber from Lebanon, for I know that your servants know how to cut timber in Lebanon. And my servants will be with your servants,


BIBLETEXT:
to prepare timber for me in abundance, for the house I am to build will be great and wonderful.


BIBLETEXT:
I will give for your servants, the woodsmen who cut timber, 20,000 cors of crushed wheat, 20,000 cors of barley, 20,000 baths of wine, and 20,000 baths of oil."


BIBLETEXT:
Then Hiram the king of Tyre answered in a letter that he sent to Solomon, "Because the LORD loves his people, he has made you king over them."


BIBLETEXT:
Hiram also said, "Blessed be the LORD God of Israel, who made heaven and earth, who has given King David a wise son, who has discretion and understanding, who will build a temple for the LORD and a royal palace for himself.


BIBLETEXT:
"Now I have sent a skilled man, who has understanding, Huram-abi,


BIBLETEXT:
the son of a woman of the daughters of Dan, and his father was a man of Tyre. He is trained to work in gold, silver, bronze, iron, stone, and wood, and in purple, blue, and crimson fabrics and fine linen, and to do all sorts of engraving and execute any design that may be assigned him, with your craftsmen, the craftsmen of my lord, David your father.


BIBLETEXT:
Now therefore the wheat and barley, oil and wine, of which my lord has spoken, let him send to his servants.


BIBLETEXT:
And we will cut whatever timber you need from Lebanon and bring it to you in rafts by sea to Joppa, so that you may take it up to Jerusalem."


BIBLETEXT:
Then Solomon counted all the resident aliens who were in the land of Israel, after the census of them that David his father had taken, and there were found 153,600.


BIBLETEXT:
Seventy thousand of them he assigned to bear burdens, 80,000 to quarry in the hill country, and 3,600 as overseers to make the people work.


BIBLETEXT:
Then Solomon began to build the house of the LORD in Jerusalem on Mount Moriah, where the LORD had appeared to David his father, at the place that David had appointed, on the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite.


BIBLETEXT:
He began to build in the second month of the fourth year of his reign.


BIBLETEXT:
These are Solomon's measurements for building the house of God: the length, in cubits of the old standard, was sixty cubits, and the breadth twenty cubits.


BIBLETEXT:
The vestibule in front of the nave of the house was twenty cubits long, equal to the width of the house, and its height was 120 cubits. He overlaid it on the inside with pure gold.


BIBLETEXT:
The nave he lined with cypress and covered it with fine gold and made palms and chains on it.


BIBLETEXT:
He adorned the house with settings of precious stones. The gold was gold of Parvaim.


BIBLETEXT:
So he lined the house with gold--its beams, its thresholds, its walls, and its doors--and he carved cherubim on the walls.


BIBLETEXT:
And he made the Most Holy Place. Its length, corresponding to the breadth of the house, was twenty cubits, and its breadth was twenty cubits. He overlaid it with 600 talents of fine gold.


BIBLETEXT:
The weight of gold for the nails was fifty shekels. And he overlaid the upper chambers with gold.


BIBLETEXT:
In the Most Holy Place he made two cherubim of wood and overlaid them with gold.


BIBLETEXT:
The wings of the cherubim together extended twenty cubits: one wing of the one, of five cubits, touched the wall of the house, and its other wing, of five cubits, touched the wing of the other cherub;


BIBLETEXT:
and of this cherub, one wing, of five cubits, touched the wall of the house, and the other wing, also of five cubits, was joined to the wing of the first cherub.


BIBLETEXT:
The wings of these cherubim extended twenty cubits. The cherubim stood on their feet, facing the nave.


BIBLETEXT:
And he made the veil of blue and purple and crimson fabrics and fine linen, and he worked cherubim on it.


BIBLETEXT:
In front of the house he made two pillars thirty-five cubits high, with a capital of five cubits on the top of each.


BIBLETEXT:
He made chains like a necklace and put them on the tops of the pillars, and he made a hundred pomegranates and put them on the chains.


BIBLETEXT:
He set up the pillars in front of the temple, one on the south, the other on the north; that on the south he called Jachin, and that on the north Boaz.


BIBLETEXT:
He made an altar of bronze, twenty cubits long and twenty cubits wide and ten cubits high.


BIBLETEXT:
Under it were figures of gourds, for ten cubits, compassing the sea all around. The gourds were in two rows, cast with it when it was cast.


BIBLETEXT:
Its thickness was a handbreadth. And its brim was made like the brim of a cup, like the flower of a lily. It held 3,000 baths.


BIBLETEXT:
He also made ten basins in which to wash, and set five on the south side, and five on the north side. In these they were to rinse off what was used for the burnt offering, and the sea was for the priests to wash in.


BIBLETEXT:
And he made ten golden lampstands as prescribed, and set them in the temple, five on the south side and five on the north.


BIBLETEXT:
He also made ten tables and placed them in the temple, five on the south side and five on the north. And he made a hundred basins of gold.


BIBLETEXT:
He made the court of the priests and the great court and doors for the court and overlaid their doors with bronze.


BIBLETEXT:
And he set the sea at the southeast corner of the house.


BIBLETEXT:
Hiram also made the pots, the shovels, and the basins. So Hiram finished the work that he did for King Solomon on the house of God:


BIBLETEXT:
the two pillars, the bowls, and the two capitals on the top of the pillars; and the two latticeworks to cover the two bowls of the capitals that were on the top of the pillars;


BIBLETEXT:
and the 400 pomegranates for the two latticeworks, two rows of pomegranates for each latticework, to cover the two bowls of the capitals that were on the pillars.


BIBLETEXT:
He made the stands also, and the basins on the stands,


BIBLETEXT:
and the one sea, and the twelve oxen underneath it.


BIBLETEXT:
The pots, the shovels, the forks, and all the equipment for these Huram-abi made of burnished bronze for King Solomon for the house of the LORD.


BIBLETEXT:
In the plain of the Jordan the king cast them, in the clay ground between Succoth and Zeredah.


BIBLETEXT:
Solomon made all these things in great quantities, for the weight of the bronze was not sought.


BIBLETEXT:
So Solomon made all the vessels that were in the house of God: the golden altar, the tables for the bread of the Presence,


BIBLETEXT:
the lampstands and their lamps of pure gold to burn before the inner sanctuary, as prescribed;


BIBLETEXT:
the flowers, the lamps, and the tongs, of purest gold;


BIBLETEXT:
the snuffers, basins, dishes for incense, and fire pans, of pure gold, and the sockets of the temple, for the inner doors to the Most Holy Place and for the doors of the nave of the temple were of gold.


BIBLETEXT:
Thus all the work that Solomon did for the house of the LORD was finished. And Solomon brought in the things that David his father had dedicated, and stored the silver, the gold, and all the vessels in the treasuries of the house of God.


BIBLETEXT:
Then Solomon assembled the elders of Israel and all the heads of the tribes, the leaders of the fathers' houses of the people of Israel, in Jerusalem, to bring up the ark of the covenant of the LORD out of the city of David, which is Zion.


BIBLETEXT:
And all the men of Israel assembled before the king at the feast that is in the seventh month.


BIBLETEXT:
And all the elders of Israel came, and the Levites took up the ark.


BIBLETEXT:
And they brought up the ark, the tent of meeting, and all the holy vessels that were in the tent; the Levitical priests brought them up.


BIBLETEXT:
And King Solomon and all the congregation of Israel, who had assembled before him, were before the ark, sacrificing so many sheep and oxen that they could not be counted or numbered.


BIBLETEXT:
Then the priests brought the ark of the covenant of the LORD to its place, in the inner sanctuary of the house, in the Most Holy Place, underneath the wings of the cherubim.


BIBLETEXT:
The cherubim spread out their wings over the place of the ark, so that the cherubim made a covering above the ark and its poles.


BIBLETEXT:
And the poles were so long that the ends of the poles were seen from the Holy Place before the inner sanctuary, but they could not be seen from outside. And they are there to this day.


BIBLETEXT:
There was nothing in the ark except the two tablets that Moses put there at Horeb, where the LORD made a covenant with the people of Israel, when they came out of Egypt.


BIBLETEXT:
And when the priests came out of the Holy Place (for all the priests who were present had consecrated themselves, without regard to their divisions,


BIBLETEXT:
and all the Levitical singers, Asaph, Heman, and Jeduthun, their sons and kinsmen, arrayed in fine linen, with cymbals, harps, and lyres, stood east of the altar with 120 priests who were trumpeters;


BIBLETEXT:
and it was the duty of the trumpeters and singers to make themselves heard in unison in praise and thanksgiving to the LORD), and when the song was raised, with trumpets and cymbals and other musical instruments, in praise to the LORD, "For he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever," the house, the house of the LORD, was filled with a cloud,


BIBLETEXT:
so that the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud, for the glory of the LORD filled the house of God.


BIBLETEXT:
But I have built you an exalted house, a place for you to dwell in forever."


BIBLETEXT:
'Since the day that I brought my people out of the land of Egypt, I chose no city out of all the tribes of Israel in which to build a house, that my name might be there, and I chose no man as prince over my people Israel;


BIBLETEXT:
but I have chosen Jerusalem that my name may be there, and I have chosen David to be over my people Israel.'


BIBLETEXT:
Nevertheless, it is not you who shall build the house, but your son who shall be born to you shall build the house for my name.'


BIBLETEXT:
Now the LORD has fulfilled his promise that he made. For I have risen in the place of David my father and sit on the throne of Israel, as the LORD promised, and I have built the house for the name of the LORD, the God of Israel.


BIBLETEXT:
And there I have set the ark, in which is the covenant of the LORD that he made with the people of Israel."


BIBLETEXT:
Then Solomon stood before the altar of the LORD in the presence of all the assembly of Israel and spread out his hands.


BIBLETEXT:
Solomon had made a bronze platform five cubits long, five cubits wide, and three cubits high, and had set it in the court, and he stood on it. Then he knelt on his knees in the presence of all the assembly of Israel, and spread out his hands toward heaven,


BIBLETEXT:
and said, "O LORD, God of Israel, there is no God like you, in heaven or on earth, keeping covenant and showing steadfast love to your servants who walk before you with all their heart,


BIBLETEXT:
Now therefore, O LORD, God of Israel, keep for your servant David my father what you have promised him, saying, 'You shall not lack a man to sit before me on the throne of Israel, if only your sons pay close attention to their way, to walk in my law as you have walked before me.'


BIBLETEXT:
Now therefore, O LORD, God of Israel, let your word be confirmed, which you have spoken to your servant David.


BIBLETEXT:
"But will God indeed dwell with man on the earth? Behold, heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain you, how much less this house that I have built!


BIBLETEXT:
Yet have regard to the prayer of your servant and to his plea, O LORD my God, listening to the cry and to the prayer that your servant prays before you,


BIBLETEXT:
that your eyes may be open day and night toward this house, the place where you have promised to set your name, that you may listen to the prayer that your servant offers toward this place.


BIBLETEXT:
And listen to the pleas of your servant and of your people Israel, when they pray toward this place. And listen from heaven your dwelling place, and when you hear, forgive.


BIBLETEXT:
then hear from heaven and act and judge your servants, repaying the guilty by bringing his conduct on his own head, and vindicating the righteous by rewarding him according to his righteousness.


BIBLETEXT:
"If your people Israel are defeated before the enemy because they have sinned against you, and they turn again and acknowledge your name and pray and plead with you in this house,


BIBLETEXT:
then hear from heaven and forgive the sin of your people Israel and bring them again to the land that you gave to them and to their fathers.


BIBLETEXT:
"If there is famine in the land, if there is pestilence or blight or mildew or locust or caterpillar, if their enemies besiege them in the land at their gates, whatever plague, whatever sickness there is,


BIBLETEXT:
whatever prayer, whatever plea is made by any man or by all your people Israel, each knowing his own affliction and his own sorrow and stretching out his hands toward this house,


BIBLETEXT:
then hear from heaven your dwelling place and forgive and render to each whose heart you know, according to all his ways, for you, you only, know the hearts of the children of mankind,


BIBLETEXT:
that they may fear you and walk in your ways all the days that they live in the land that you gave to our fathers.


BIBLETEXT:
"Likewise, when a foreigner, who is not of your people Israel, comes from a far country for the sake of your great name and your mighty hand and your outstretched arm, when he comes and prays toward this house,


BIBLETEXT:
hear from heaven your dwelling place and do according to all for which the foreigner calls to you, in order that all the peoples of the earth may know your name and fear you, as do your people Israel, and that they may know that this house that I have built is called by your name.


BIBLETEXT:
"If your people go out to battle against their enemies, by whatever way you shall send them, and they pray to you toward this city that you have chosen and the house that I have built for your name,


BIBLETEXT:
then hear from heaven their prayer and their plea, and maintain their cause.


BIBLETEXT:
"If they sin against you--for there is no one who does not sin--and you are angry with them and give them to an enemy, so that they are carried away captive to a land far or near,


BIBLETEXT:
yet if they turn their heart in the land to which they have been carried captive, and repent and plead with you in the land of their captivity, saying, 'We have sinned and have acted perversely and wickedly,'


BIBLETEXT:
if they repent with all their mind and with all their heart in the land of their captivity to which they were carried captive, and pray toward their land, which you gave to their fathers, the city that you have chosen and the house that I have built for your name,


BIBLETEXT:
then hear from heaven your dwelling place their prayer and their pleas, and maintain their cause and forgive your people who have sinned against you.


BIBLETEXT:
Now, O my God, let your eyes be open and your ears attentive to the prayer of this place.


BIBLETEXT:
"And now arise, O LORD God, and go to your resting place, you and the ark of your might. Let your priests, O LORD God, be clothed with salvation, and let your saints rejoice in your goodness.


BIBLETEXT:
O LORD God, do not turn away the face of your anointed one! Remember your steadfast love for David your servant."


BIBLETEXT:
As soon as Solomon finished his prayer, fire came down from heaven and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices, and the glory of the LORD filled the temple.


BIBLETEXT:
And the priests could not enter the house of the LORD, because the glory of the LORD filled the LORD's house.


BIBLETEXT:
When all the people of Israel saw the fire come down and the glory of the LORD on the temple, they bowed down with their faces to the ground on the pavement and worshiped and gave thanks to the LORD, saying, "For he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever."


BIBLETEXT:
Then the king and all the people offered sacrifice before the LORD.


BIBLETEXT:
King Solomon offered as a sacrifice 22,000 oxen and 120,000 sheep. So the king and all the people dedicated the house of God.


BIBLETEXT:
The priests stood at their posts; the Levites also, with the instruments for music to the LORD that King David had made for giving thanks to the LORD--for his steadfast love endures forever--whenever David offered praises by their ministry; opposite them the priests sounded trumpets, and all Israel stood.


BIBLETEXT:
And Solomon consecrated the middle of the court that was before the house of the LORD, for there he offered the burnt offering and the fat of the peace offerings, because the bronze altar Solomon had made could not hold the burnt offering and the grain offering and the fat.


BIBLETEXT:
At that time Solomon held the feast for seven days, and all Israel with him, a very great assembly, from Lebo-hamath to the Brook of Egypt.


BIBLETEXT:
And on the eighth day they held a solemn assembly, for they had kept the dedication of the altar seven days and the feast seven days.


BIBLETEXT:
On the twenty-third day of the seventh month he sent the people away to their homes, joyful and glad of heart for the prosperity that the LORD had granted to David and to Solomon and to Israel his people.


BIBLETEXT:
Thus Solomon finished the house of the LORD and the king's house. All that Solomon had planned to do in the house of the LORD and in his own house he successfully accomplished.


BIBLETEXT:
Then the LORD appeared to Solomon in the night and said to him: "I have heard your prayer and have chosen this place for myself as a house of sacrifice.


BIBLETEXT:
When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or command the locust to devour the land, or send pestilence among my people,


BIBLETEXT:
if my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.


BIBLETEXT:
Now my eyes will be open and my ears attentive to the prayer that is made in this place.


BIBLETEXT:
For now I have chosen and consecrated this house that my name may be there forever. My eyes and my heart will be there for all time.


BIBLETEXT:
And as for you, if you will walk before me as David your father walked, doing according to all that I have commanded you and keeping my statutes and my rules,


BIBLETEXT:
then I will establish your royal throne, as I covenanted with David your father, saying, 'You shall not lack a man to rule Israel.'


BIBLETEXT:
"But if you turn aside and forsake my statutes and my commandments that I have set before you, and go and serve other gods and worship them,


BIBLETEXT:
then I will pluck you up from my land that I have given you, and this house that I have consecrated for my name, I will cast out of my sight, and I will make it a proverb and a byword among all peoples.


BIBLETEXT:
And at this house, which was exalted, everyone passing by will be astonished and say, 'Why has the LORD done thus to this land and to this house?'


BIBLETEXT:
Then they will say, 'Because they abandoned the LORD, the God of their fathers who brought them out of the land of Egypt and laid hold on other gods and worshiped them and served them. Therefore he has brought all this disaster on them.'"


BIBLETEXT:
At the end of twenty years, in which Solomon had built the house of the LORD and his own house,


BIBLETEXT:
Solomon rebuilt the cities that Hiram had given to him, and settled the people of Israel in them.


BIBLETEXT:
And Solomon went to Hamath-zobah and took it.


BIBLETEXT:
He built Tadmor in the wilderness and all the store cities that he built in Hamath.


BIBLETEXT:
He also built Upper Beth-horon and Lower Beth-horon, fortified cities with walls, gates, and bars,


BIBLETEXT:
and Baalath, and all the store cities that Solomon had and all the cities for his chariots and the cities for his horsemen, and whatever Solomon desired to build in Jerusalem, in Lebanon, and in all the land of his dominion.


BIBLETEXT:
All the people who were left of the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, who were not of Israel,


BIBLETEXT:
from their descendants who were left after them in the land, whom the people of Israel had not destroyed--these Solomon drafted as forced labor, and so they are to this day.


BIBLETEXT:
But of the people of Israel Solomon made no slaves for his work; they were soldiers, and his officers, the commanders of his chariots, and his horsemen.


BIBLETEXT:
And these were the chief officers of King Solomon, 250, who exercised authority over the people.


BIBLETEXT:
Solomon brought Pharaoh's daughter up from the city of David to the house that he had built for her, for he said, "My wife shall not live in the house of David king of Israel, for the places to which the ark of the LORD has come are holy."


BIBLETEXT:
Then Solomon offered up burnt offerings to the LORD on the altar of the LORD that he had built before the vestibule,


BIBLETEXT:
as the duty of each day required, offering according to the commandment of Moses for the Sabbaths, the new moons, and the three annual feasts--the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the Feast of Weeks, and the Feast of Booths.


BIBLETEXT:
According to the ruling of David his father, he appointed the divisions of the priests for their service, and the Levites for their offices of praise and ministry before the priests as the duty of each day required, and the gatekeepers in their divisions at each gate, for so David the man of God had commanded.


BIBLETEXT:
And they did not turn aside from what the king had commanded the priests and Levites concerning any matter and concerning the treasuries.


BIBLETEXT:
Thus was accomplished all the work of Solomon from the day the foundation of the house of the LORD was laid until it was finished. So the house of the LORD was completed.


BIBLETEXT:
Then Solomon went to Ezion-geber and Eloth on the shore of the sea, in the land of Edom.


BIBLETEXT:
And Hiram sent to him by the hand of his servants ships and servants familiar with the sea, and they went to Ophir together with the servants of Solomon and brought from there 450 talents of gold and brought it to King Solomon.


BIBLETEXT:
Now when the queen of Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon, she came to Jerusalem to test him with hard questions, having a very great retinue and camels bearing spices and very much gold and precious stones. And when she came to Solomon, she told him all that was on her mind.


BIBLETEXT:
And Solomon answered all her questions. There was nothing hidden from Solomon that he could not explain to her.


BIBLETEXT:
And when the queen of Sheba had seen the wisdom of Solomon, the house that he had built,


BIBLETEXT:
the food of his table, the seating of his officials, and the attendance of his servants, and their clothing, his cupbearers, and their clothing, and his burnt offerings that he offered at the house of the LORD, there was no more breath in her.


BIBLETEXT:
but I did not believe the reports until I came and my own eyes had seen it. And behold, half the greatness of your wisdom was not told me; you surpass the report that I heard.


BIBLETEXT:
Happy are your wives! Happy are these your servants, who continually stand before you and hear your wisdom!


BIBLETEXT:
Blessed be the LORD your God, who has delighted in you and set you on his throne as king for the LORD your God! Because your God loved Israel and would establish them forever, he has made you king over them, that you may execute justice and righteousness."


BIBLETEXT:
Then she gave the king 120 talents of gold, and a very great quantity of spices, and precious stones. There were no spices such as those that the queen of Sheba gave to King Solomon.


BIBLETEXT:
Moreover, the servants of Hiram and the servants of Solomon, who brought gold from Ophir, brought algum wood and precious stones.


BIBLETEXT:
And the king made from the algum wood supports for the house of the LORD and for the king's house, lyres also and harps for the singers. There never was seen the like of them before in the land of Judah.


BIBLETEXT:
And King Solomon gave to the queen of Sheba all that she desired, whatever she asked besides what she had brought to the king. So she turned and went back to her own land with her servants.


BIBLETEXT:
besides that which the explorers and merchants brought. And all the kings of Arabia and the governors of the land brought gold and silver to Solomon.


BIBLETEXT:
King Solomon made 200 large shields of beaten gold; 600 shekels of beaten gold went into each shield.


BIBLETEXT:
And he made 300 shields of beaten gold; 300 shekels of gold went into each shield; and the king put them in the House of the Forest of Lebanon.


BIBLETEXT:
The king also made a great ivory throne and overlaid it with pure gold.


BIBLETEXT:
The throne had six steps and a footstool of gold, which were attached to the throne, and on each side of the seat were armrests and two lions standing beside the armrests,


BIBLETEXT:
while twelve lions stood there, one on each end of a step on the six steps. Nothing like it was ever made for any kingdom.


BIBLETEXT:
All King Solomon's drinking vessels were of gold, and all the vessels of the House of the Forest of Lebanon were of pure gold. Silver was not considered as anything in the days of Solomon.


BIBLETEXT:
For the king's ships went to Tarshish with the servants of Hiram. Once every three years the ships of Tarshish used to come bringing gold, silver, ivory, apes, and peacocks.


BIBLETEXT:
And all the kings of the earth sought the presence of Solomon to hear his wisdom, which God had put into his mind.


BIBLETEXT:
Every one of them brought his present, articles of silver and of gold, garments, myrrh, spices, horses, and mules, so much year by year.


BIBLETEXT:
And Solomon had 4,000 stalls for horses and chariots, and 12,000 horsemen, whom he stationed in the chariot cities and with the king in Jerusalem.


BIBLETEXT:
And he ruled over all the kings from the Euphrates to the land of the Philistines and to the border of Egypt.


BIBLETEXT:
And horses were imported for Solomon from Egypt and from all lands.


BIBLETEXT:
Now the rest of the acts of Solomon, from first to last, are they not written in the history of Nathan the prophet, and in the prophecy of Ahijah the Shilonite, and in the visions of Iddo the seer concerning Jeroboam the son of Nebat?


BIBLETEXT:
Solomon reigned in Jerusalem over all Israel forty years.


BIBLETEXT:
And Solomon slept with his fathers and was buried in the city of David his father, and Rehoboam his son reigned in his place.


BIBLETEXT:
And as soon as Jeroboam the son of Nebat heard of it (for he was in Egypt, where he had fled from King Solomon), then Jeroboam returned from Egypt.


BIBLETEXT:
And they sent and called him. And Jeroboam and all Israel came and said to Rehoboam,


BIBLETEXT:
He said to them, "Come to me again in three days." So the people went away.


BIBLETEXT:
And they said to him, "If you will be good to this people and please them and speak good words to them, then they will be your servants forever."


BIBLETEXT:
But he abandoned the counsel that the old men gave him, and took counsel with the young men who had grown up with him and stood before him.


BIBLETEXT:
And the young men who had grown up with him said to him, "Thus shall you speak to the people who said to you, 'Your father made our yoke heavy, but you lighten it for us'; thus shall you say to them, 'My little finger is thicker than my father's thighs.


BIBLETEXT:
And the king answered them harshly; and forsaking the counsel of the old men,


BIBLETEXT:
King Rehoboam spoke to them according to the counsel of the young men, saying, "My father made your yoke heavy, but I will add to it. My father disciplined you with whips, but I will discipline you with scorpions."


BIBLETEXT:
So the king did not listen to the people, for it was a turn of affairs brought about by God that the LORD might fulfill his word, which he spoke by Ahijah the Shilonite to Jeroboam the son of Nebat.


BIBLETEXT:
And when all Israel saw that the king did not listen to them, the people answered the king, "What portion have we in David? We have no inheritance in the son of Jesse. Each of you to your tents, O Israel! Look now to your own house, David." So all Israel went to their tents.


BIBLETEXT:
Then King Rehoboam sent Hadoram, who was taskmaster over the forced labor, and the people of Israel stoned him to death with stones. And King Rehoboam quickly mounted his chariot to flee to Jerusalem.


BIBLETEXT:
When Rehoboam came to Jerusalem, he assembled the house of Judah and Benjamin, 180,000 chosen warriors, to fight against Israel, to restore the kingdom to Rehoboam.


BIBLETEXT:
But the word of the LORD came to Shemaiah the man of God:


BIBLETEXT:
"Say to Rehoboam the son of Solomon, king of Judah, and to all Israel in Judah and Benjamin,


BIBLETEXT:
'Thus says the LORD, You shall not go up or fight against your relatives. Return every man to his home, for this thing is from me.'" So they listened to the word of the LORD and returned and did not go against Jeroboam.


BIBLETEXT:
Rehoboam lived in Jerusalem, and he built cities for defense in Judah.


BIBLETEXT:
Zorah, Aijalon, and Hebron, fortified cities that are in Judah and in Benjamin.


BIBLETEXT:
He made the fortresses strong, and put commanders in them, and stores of food, oil, and wine.


BIBLETEXT:
And he put shields and spears in all the cities and made them very strong. So he held Judah and Benjamin.


BIBLETEXT:
And the priests and the Levites who were in all Israel presented themselves to him from all places where they lived.


BIBLETEXT:
For the Levites left their common lands and their holdings and came to Judah and Jerusalem, because Jeroboam and his sons cast them out from serving as priests of the LORD,


BIBLETEXT:
and he appointed his own priests for the high places and for the goat idols and for the calves that he had made.


BIBLETEXT:
And those who had set their hearts to seek the LORD God of Israel came after them from all the tribes of Israel to Jerusalem to sacrifice to the LORD, the God of their fathers.


BIBLETEXT:
They strengthened the kingdom of Judah, and for three years they made Rehoboam the son of Solomon secure, for they walked for three years in the way of David and Solomon.


BIBLETEXT:
Rehoboam took as wife Mahalath the daughter of Jerimoth the son of David, and of Abihail the daughter of Eliab the son of Jesse,


BIBLETEXT:
and she bore him sons, Jeush, Shemariah, and Zaham.


BIBLETEXT:
After her he took Maacah the daughter of Absalom, who bore him Abijah, Attai, Ziza, and Shelomith.


BIBLETEXT:
Rehoboam loved Maacah the daughter of Absalom above all his wives and concubines (he took eighteen wives and sixty concubines, and fathered twenty-eight sons and sixty daughters).


BIBLETEXT:
And Rehoboam appointed Abijah the son of Maacah as chief prince among his brothers, for he intended to make him king.


BIBLETEXT:
And he dealt wisely and distributed some of his sons through all the districts of Judah and Benjamin, in all the fortified cities, and he gave them abundant provisions and procured wives for them.


BIBLETEXT:
When the rule of Rehoboam was established and he was strong, he abandoned the law of the LORD, and all Israel with him.


BIBLETEXT:
In the fifth year of King Rehoboam, because they had been unfaithful to the LORD, Shishak king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem


BIBLETEXT:
with 1,200 chariots and 60,000 horsemen. And the people were without number who came with him from Egypt--Libyans, Sukkiim, and Ethiopians.


BIBLETEXT:
And he took the fortified cities of Judah and came as far as Jerusalem.


BIBLETEXT:
Then Shemaiah the prophet came to Rehoboam and to the princes of Judah, who had gathered at Jerusalem because of Shishak, and said to them, "Thus says the LORD, 'You abandoned me, so I have abandoned you to the hand of Shishak.'"


BIBLETEXT:
Then the princes of Israel and the king humbled themselves and said, "The LORD is righteous."


BIBLETEXT:
When the LORD saw that they humbled themselves, the word of the LORD came to Shemaiah: "They have humbled themselves. I will not destroy them, but I will grant them some deliverance, and my wrath shall not be poured out on Jerusalem by the hand of Shishak.


BIBLETEXT:
Nevertheless, they shall be servants to him, that they may know my service and the service of the kingdoms of the countries."


BIBLETEXT:
So Shishak king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem. He took away the treasures of the house of the LORD and the treasures of the king's house. He took away everything. He also took away the shields of gold that Solomon had made,


BIBLETEXT:
and King Rehoboam made in their place shields of bronze and committed them to the hands of the officers of the guard, who kept the door of the king's house.


BIBLETEXT:
And as often as the king went into the house of the LORD, the guard came and carried them and brought them back to the guardroom.


BIBLETEXT:
And when he humbled himself the wrath of the LORD turned from him, so as not to make a complete destruction. Moreover, conditions were good in Judah.


BIBLETEXT:
So King Rehoboam grew strong in Jerusalem and reigned. Rehoboam was forty-one years old when he began to reign, and he reigned seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city that the LORD had chosen out of all the tribes of Israel to put his name there. His mother's name was Naamah the Ammonite.


BIBLETEXT:
And he did evil, for he did not set his heart to seek the LORD.


BIBLETEXT:
Now the acts of Rehoboam, from first to last, are they not written in the chronicles of Shemaiah the prophet and of Iddo the seer? There were continual wars between Rehoboam and Jeroboam.


BIBLETEXT:
And Rehoboam slept with his fathers and was buried in the city of David, and Abijah his son reigned in his place.


BIBLETEXT:
In the eighteenth year of King Jeroboam, Abijah began to reign over Judah.


BIBLETEXT:
He reigned for three years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Micaiah the daughter of Uriel of Gibeah. Now there was war between Abijah and Jeroboam.


BIBLETEXT:
Abijah went out to battle, having an army of valiant men of war, 400,000 chosen men. And Jeroboam drew up his line of battle against him with 800,000 chosen mighty warriors.


BIBLETEXT:
Then Abijah stood up on Mount Zemaraim that is in the hill country of Ephraim and said, "Hear me, O Jeroboam and all Israel!


BIBLETEXT:
Ought you not to know that the LORD God of Israel gave the kingship over Israel forever to David and his sons by a covenant of salt?


BIBLETEXT:
Yet Jeroboam the son of Nebat, a servant of Solomon the son of David, rose up and rebelled against his lord,


BIBLETEXT:
and certain worthless scoundrels gathered about him and defied Rehoboam the son of Solomon, when Rehoboam was young and irresolute and could not withstand them.


BIBLETEXT:
"And now you think to withstand the kingdom of the LORD in the hand of the sons of David, because you are a great multitude and have with you the golden calves that Jeroboam made you for gods.


BIBLETEXT:
Have you not driven out the priests of the LORD, the sons of Aaron, and the Levites, and made priests for yourselves like the peoples of other lands? Whoever comes for ordination with a young bull or seven rams becomes a priest of what are no gods.


BIBLETEXT:
But as for us, the LORD is our God, and we have not forsaken him. We have priests ministering to the LORD who are sons of Aaron, and Levites for their service.


BIBLETEXT:
They offer to the LORD every morning and every evening burnt offerings and incense of sweet spices, set out the showbread on the table of pure gold, and care for the golden lampstand that its lamps may burn every evening. For we keep the charge of the LORD our God, but you have forsaken him.


BIBLETEXT:
Behold, God is with us at our head, and his priests with their battle trumpets to sound the call to battle against you. O sons of Israel, do not fight against the LORD, the God of your fathers, for you cannot succeed."


BIBLETEXT:
Jeroboam had sent an ambush around to come upon them from behind. Thus his troops were in front of Judah, and the ambush was behind them.


BIBLETEXT:
And when Judah looked, behold, the battle was in front of and behind them. And they cried to the LORD, and the priests blew the trumpets.


BIBLETEXT:
Then the men of Judah raised the battle shout. And when the men of Judah shouted, God defeated Jeroboam and all Israel before Abijah and Judah.


BIBLETEXT:
The men of Israel fled before Judah, and God gave them into their hand.


BIBLETEXT:
Abijah and his people struck them with great force, so there fell slain of Israel 500,000 chosen men.


BIBLETEXT:
Thus the men of Israel were subdued at that time, and the men of Judah prevailed, because they relied on the LORD, the God of their fathers.


BIBLETEXT:
And Abijah pursued Jeroboam and took cities from him, Bethel with its villages and Jeshanah with its villages and Ephron with its villages.


BIBLETEXT:
Jeroboam did not recover his power in the days of Abijah. And the LORD struck him down, and he died.


BIBLETEXT:
But Abijah grew mighty. And he took fourteen wives and had twenty-two sons and sixteen daughters.


BIBLETEXT:
The rest of the acts of Abijah, his ways and his sayings, are written in the story of the prophet Iddo.


BIBLETEXT:
Abijah slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the city of David. And Asa his son reigned in his place. In his days the land had rest for ten years.


BIBLETEXT:
And Asa did what was good and right in the eyes of the LORD his God.


BIBLETEXT:
He took away the foreign altars and the high places and broke down the pillars and cut down the Asherim


BIBLETEXT:
and commanded Judah to seek the LORD, the God of their fathers, and to keep the law and the commandment.


BIBLETEXT:
He also took out of all the cities of Judah the high places and the incense altars. And the kingdom had rest under him.


BIBLETEXT:
He built fortified cities in Judah, for the land had rest. He had no war in those years, for the LORD gave him peace.


BIBLETEXT:
And he said to Judah, "Let us build these cities and surround them with walls and towers, gates and bars. The land is still ours, because we have sought the LORD our God. We have sought him, and he has given us peace on every side." So they built and prospered.


BIBLETEXT:
And Asa had an army of 300,000 from Judah, armed with large shields and spears, and 280,000 men from Benjamin that carried shields and drew bows. All these were mighty men of valor.


BIBLETEXT:
Zerah the Ethiopian came out against them with an army of a million men and 300 chariots, and came as far as Mareshah.


BIBLETEXT:
And Asa went out to meet him, and they drew up their lines of battle in the Valley of Zephathah at Mareshah.


BIBLETEXT:
And Asa cried to the LORD his God, "O LORD, there is none like you to help, between the mighty and the weak. Help us, O LORD our God, for we rely on you, and in your name we have come against this multitude. O LORD, you are our God; let not man prevail against you."


BIBLETEXT:
So the LORD defeated the Ethiopians before Asa and before Judah, and the Ethiopians fled.


BIBLETEXT:
Asa and the people who were with him pursued them as far as Gerar, and the Ethiopians fell until none remained alive, for they were broken before the LORD and his army. The men of Judah carried away very much spoil.


BIBLETEXT:
And they attacked all the cities around Gerar, for the fear of the LORD was upon them. They plundered all the cities, for there was much plunder in them.


BIBLETEXT:
And they struck down the tents of those who had livestock and carried away sheep in abundance and camels. Then they returned to Jerusalem.


BIBLETEXT:
The Spirit of God came upon Azariah the son of Oded,


BIBLETEXT:
and he went out to meet Asa and said to him, "Hear me, Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin: The LORD is with you while you are with him. If you seek him, he will be found by you, but if you forsake him, he will forsake you.


BIBLETEXT:
For a long time Israel was without the true God, and without a teaching priest and without law,


BIBLETEXT:
but when in their distress they turned to the LORD, the God of Israel, and sought him, he was found by them.


BIBLETEXT:
In those times there was no peace to him who went out or to him who came in, for great disturbances afflicted all the inhabitants of the lands.


BIBLETEXT:
They were broken in pieces. Nation was crushed by nation and city by city, for God troubled them with every sort of distress.


BIBLETEXT:
But you, take courage! Do not let your hands be weak, for your work shall be rewarded."


BIBLETEXT:
As soon as Asa heard these words, the prophecy of Azariah the son of Oded, he took courage and put away the detestable idols from all the land of Judah and Benjamin and from the cities that he had taken in the hill country of Ephraim, and he repaired the altar of the LORD that was in front of the vestibule of the house of the LORD.


BIBLETEXT:
And he gathered all Judah and Benjamin, and those from Ephraim, Manasseh, and Simeon who were residing with them, for great numbers had deserted to him from Israel when they saw that the LORD his God was with him.


BIBLETEXT:
They were gathered at Jerusalem in the third month of the fifteenth year of the reign of Asa.


BIBLETEXT:
They sacrificed to the LORD on that day from the spoil that they had brought 700 oxen and 7,000 sheep.


BIBLETEXT:
And they entered into a covenant to seek the LORD, the God of their fathers, with all their heart and with all their soul,


BIBLETEXT:
but that whoever would not seek the LORD, the God of Israel, should be put to death, whether young or old, man or woman.


BIBLETEXT:
They swore an oath to the LORD with a loud voice and with shouting and with trumpets and with horns.


BIBLETEXT:
And all Judah rejoiced over the oath, for they had sworn with all their heart and had sought him with their whole desire, and he was found by them, and the LORD gave them rest all around.


BIBLETEXT:
Even Maacah, his mother, King Asa removed from being queen mother because she had made a detestable image for Asherah. Asa cut down her image, crushed it, and burned it at the brook Kidron.


BIBLETEXT:
But the high places were not taken out of Israel. Nevertheless, the heart of Asa was wholly true all his days.


BIBLETEXT:
And he brought into the house of God the sacred gifts of his father and his own sacred gifts, silver, and gold, and vessels.


BIBLETEXT:
And there was no more war until the thirty-fifth year of the reign of Asa.


BIBLETEXT:
In the thirty-sixth year of the reign of Asa, Baasha king of Israel went up against Judah and built Ramah, that he might permit no one to go out or come in to Asa king of Judah.


BIBLETEXT:
Then Asa took silver and gold from the treasures of the house of the LORD and the king's house and sent them to Ben-hadad king of Syria, who lived in Damascus, saying,


BIBLETEXT:
"There is a covenant between me and you, as there was between my father and your father. Behold, I am sending to you silver and gold. Go, break your covenant with Baasha king of Israel, that he may withdraw from me."


BIBLETEXT:
And Ben-hadad listened to King Asa and sent the commanders of his armies against the cities of Israel, and they conquered Ijon, Dan, Abel-maim, and all the store cities of Naphtali.


BIBLETEXT:
And when Baasha heard of it, he stopped building Ramah and let his work cease.


BIBLETEXT:
Then King Asa took all Judah, and they carried away the stones of Ramah and its timber, with which Baasha had been building, and with them he built Geba and Mizpah.


BIBLETEXT:
At that time Hanani the seer came to Asa king of Judah and said to him, "Because you relied on the king of Syria, and did not rely on the LORD your God, the army of the king of Syria has escaped you.


BIBLETEXT:
Were not the Ethiopians and the Libyans a huge army with very many chariots and horsemen? Yet because you relied on the LORD, he gave them into your hand.


BIBLETEXT:
For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to give strong support to those whose heart is blameless toward him. You have done foolishly in this, for from now on you will have wars."


BIBLETEXT:
Then Asa was angry with the seer and put him in the stocks in prison, for he was in a rage with him because of this. And Asa inflicted cruelties upon some of the people at the same time.


BIBLETEXT:
The acts of Asa, from first to last, are written in the Book of the Kings of Judah and Israel.


BIBLETEXT:
In the thirty-ninth year of his reign Asa was diseased in his feet, and his disease became severe. Yet even in his disease he did not seek the LORD, but sought help from physicians.


BIBLETEXT:
And Asa slept with his fathers, dying in the forty-first year of his reign.


BIBLETEXT:
They buried him in the tomb that he had cut for himself in the city of David. They laid him on a bier that had been filled with various kinds of spices prepared by the perfumer's art, and they made a very great fire in his honor.


BIBLETEXT:
Jehoshaphat his son reigned in his place and strengthened himself against Israel.


BIBLETEXT:
He placed forces in all the fortified cities of Judah and set garrisons in the land of Judah, and in the cities of Ephraim that Asa his father had captured.


BIBLETEXT:
The LORD was with Jehoshaphat, because he walked in the earlier ways of his father David. He did not seek the Baals,


BIBLETEXT:
but sought the God of his father and walked in his commandments, and not according to the practices of Israel.


BIBLETEXT:
Therefore the LORD established the kingdom in his hand. And all Judah brought tribute to Jehoshaphat, and he had great riches and honor.


BIBLETEXT:
His heart was courageous in the ways of the LORD. And furthermore, he took the high places and the Asherim out of Judah.


BIBLETEXT:
In the third year of his reign he sent his officials, Ben-hail, Obadiah, Zechariah, Nethanel, and Micaiah, to teach in the cities of Judah;


BIBLETEXT:
and with them the Levites, Shemaiah, Nethaniah, Zebadiah, Asahel, Shemiramoth, Jehonathan, Adonijah, Tobijah, and Tobadonijah; and with these Levites, the priests Elishama and Jehoram.


BIBLETEXT:
And they taught in Judah, having the Book of the Law of the LORD with them. They went about through all the cities of Judah and taught among the people.


BIBLETEXT:
And the fear of the LORD fell upon all the kingdoms of the lands that were around Judah, and they made no war against Jehoshaphat.


BIBLETEXT:
Some of the Philistines brought Jehoshaphat presents and silver for tribute, and the Arabians also brought him 7,700 rams and 7,700 goats.


BIBLETEXT:
And Jehoshaphat grew steadily greater. He built in Judah fortresses and store cities,


BIBLETEXT:
and he had large supplies in the cities of Judah. He had soldiers, mighty men of valor, in Jerusalem.


BIBLETEXT:
This was the muster of them by fathers' houses: Of Judah, the commanders of thousands: Adnah the commander, with 300,000 mighty men of valor;


BIBLETEXT:
and next to him Jehohanan the commander, with 280,000;


BIBLETEXT:
and next to him Amasiah the son of Zichri, a volunteer for the service of the LORD, with 200,000 mighty men of valor.


BIBLETEXT:
Of Benjamin: Eliada, a mighty man of valor, with 200,000 men armed with bow and shield;


BIBLETEXT:
and next to him Jehozabad with 180,000 armed for war.


BIBLETEXT:
These were in the service of the king, besides those whom the king had placed in the fortified cities throughout all Judah.


BIBLETEXT:
Now Jehoshaphat had great riches and honor, and he made a marriage alliance with Ahab.


BIBLETEXT:
After some years he went down to Ahab in Samaria. And Ahab killed an abundance of sheep and oxen for him and for the people who were with him, and induced him to go up against Ramoth-gilead.


BIBLETEXT:
Ahab king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat king of Judah, "Will you go with me to Ramoth-gilead?" He answered him, "I am as you are, my people as your people. We will be with you in the war."


BIBLETEXT:
Then the king of Israel gathered the prophets together, four hundred men, and said to them, "Shall we go to battle against Ramoth-gilead, or shall I refrain?" And they said, "Go up, for God will give it into the hand of the king."


BIBLETEXT:
And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, "There is yet one man by whom we may inquire of the LORD, Micaiah the son of Imlah; but I hate him, for he never prophesies good concerning me, but always evil." And Jehoshaphat said, "Let not the king say so."


BIBLETEXT:
Now the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat the king of Judah were sitting on their thrones, arrayed in their robes. And they were sitting at the threshing floor at the entrance of the gate of Samaria, and all the prophets were prophesying before them.


BIBLETEXT:
And all the prophets prophesied so and said, "Go up to Ramoth-gilead and triumph. The LORD will give it into the hand of the king."


BIBLETEXT:
But Micaiah said, "As the LORD lives, what my God says, that I will speak."


BIBLETEXT:
And when he had come to the king, the king said to him, "Micaiah, shall we go to Ramoth-gilead to battle, or shall I refrain?" And he answered, "Go up and triumph; they will be given into your hand."


BIBLETEXT:
And Micaiah said, "Therefore hear the word of the LORD: I saw the LORD sitting on his throne, and all the host of heaven standing on his right hand and on his left.


BIBLETEXT:
And the LORD said, 'Who will entice Ahab the king of Israel, that he may go up and fall at Ramoth-gilead?' And one said one thing, and another said another.


BIBLETEXT:
Then a spirit came forward and stood before the LORD, saying, 'I will entice him.' And the LORD said to him, 'By what means?'


BIBLETEXT:
And he said, 'I will go out, and will be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets.' And he said, 'You are to entice him, and you shall succeed; go out and do so.'


BIBLETEXT:
Now therefore behold, the LORD has put a lying spirit in the mouth of these your prophets. The LORD has declared disaster concerning you."


BIBLETEXT:
Then Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah came near and struck Micaiah on the cheek and said, "Which way did the Spirit of the LORD go from me to speak to you?"


BIBLETEXT:
And the king of Israel said, "Seize Micaiah and take him back to Amon the governor of the city and to Joash the king's son,


BIBLETEXT:
and say, 'Thus says the king, Put this fellow in prison and feed him with meager rations of bread and water until I return in peace.'"


BIBLETEXT:
And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, "I will disguise myself and go into battle, but you wear your robes." And the king of Israel disguised himself, and they went into battle.


BIBLETEXT:
Now the king of Syria had commanded the captains of his chariots, "Fight with neither small nor great, but only with the king of Israel."


BIBLETEXT:
As soon as the captains of the chariots saw Jehoshaphat, they said, "It is the king of Israel." So they turned to fight against him. And Jehoshaphat cried out, and the LORD helped him; God drew them away from him.


BIBLETEXT:
For as soon as the captains of the chariots saw that it was not the king of Israel, they turned back from pursuing him.


BIBLETEXT:
And the battle continued that day, and the king of Israel was propped up in his chariot facing the Syrians until evening. Then at sunset he died.


BIBLETEXT:
Jehoshaphat the king of Judah returned in safety to his house in Jerusalem.


BIBLETEXT:
But Jehu the son of Hanani the seer went out to meet him and said to King Jehoshaphat, "Should you help the wicked and love those who hate the LORD? Because of this, wrath has gone out against you from the LORD.


BIBLETEXT:
Nevertheless, some good is found in you, for you destroyed the Asherahs out of the land, and have set your heart to seek God."


BIBLETEXT:
Jehoshaphat lived at Jerusalem. And he went out again among the people, from Beersheba to the hill country of Ephraim, and brought them back to the LORD, the God of their fathers.


BIBLETEXT:
He appointed judges in the land in all the fortified cities of Judah, city by city,


BIBLETEXT:
and said to the judges, "Consider what you do, for you judge not for man but for the LORD. He is with you in giving judgment.


BIBLETEXT:
Now then, let the fear of the LORD be upon you. Be careful what you do, for there is no injustice with the LORD our God, or partiality or taking bribes."


BIBLETEXT:
Moreover, in Jerusalem Jehoshaphat appointed certain Levites and priests and heads of families of Israel, to give judgment for the LORD and to decide disputed cases. They had their seat at Jerusalem.


BIBLETEXT:
And he charged them: "Thus you shall do in the fear of the LORD, in faithfulness, and with your whole heart:


BIBLETEXT:
whenever a case comes to you from your brothers who live in their cities, concerning bloodshed, law or commandment, statutes or rules, then you shall warn them, that they may not incur guilt before the LORD and wrath may not come upon you and your brothers. Thus you shall do, and you will not incur guilt.


BIBLETEXT:
And behold, Amariah the chief priest is over you in all matters of the LORD; and Zebadiah the son of Ishmael, the governor of the house of Judah, in all the king's matters, and the Levites will serve you as officers. Deal courageously, and may the LORD be with the upright!"


BIBLETEXT:
After this the Moabites and Ammonites, and with them some of the Meunites, came against Jehoshaphat for battle.


BIBLETEXT:
Some men came and told Jehoshaphat, "A great multitude is coming against you from Edom, from beyond the sea; and, behold, they are in Hazazon-tamar" (that is, Engedi).


BIBLETEXT:
Then Jehoshaphat was afraid and set his face to seek the LORD, and proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah.


BIBLETEXT:
And Judah assembled to seek help from the LORD; from all the cities of Judah they came to seek the LORD.


BIBLETEXT:
And Jehoshaphat stood in the assembly of Judah and Jerusalem, in the house of the LORD, before the new court,


BIBLETEXT:
and said, "O LORD, God of our fathers, are you not God in heaven? You rule over all the kingdoms of the nations. In your hand are power and might, so that none is able to withstand you.


BIBLETEXT:
Did you not, our God, drive out the inhabitants of this land before your people Israel, and give it forever to the descendants of Abraham your friend?


BIBLETEXT:
And they have lived in it and have built for you in it a sanctuary for your name, saying,


BIBLETEXT:
'If disaster comes upon us, the sword, judgment, or pestilence, or famine, we will stand before this house and before you--for your name is in this house--and cry out to you in our affliction, and you will hear and save.'


BIBLETEXT:
And now behold, the men of Ammon and Moab and Mount Seir, whom you would not let Israel invade when they came from the land of Egypt, and whom they avoided and did not destroy--


BIBLETEXT:
behold, they reward us by coming to drive us out of your possession, which you have given us to inherit.


BIBLETEXT:
O our God, will you not execute judgment on them? For we are powerless against this great horde that is coming against us. We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you."


BIBLETEXT:
Meanwhile all Judah stood before the LORD, with their little ones, their wives, and their children.


BIBLETEXT:
And the Spirit of the LORD came upon Jahaziel the son of Zechariah, son of Benaiah, son of Jeiel, son of Mattaniah, a Levite of the sons of Asaph, in the midst of the assembly.


BIBLETEXT:
And he said, "Listen, all Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem and King Jehoshaphat: Thus says the LORD to you, 'Do not be afraid and do not be dismayed at this great horde, for the battle is not yours but God's.


BIBLETEXT:
Tomorrow go down against them. Behold, they will come up by the ascent of Ziz. You will find them at the end of the valley, east of the wilderness of Jeruel.


BIBLETEXT:
You will not need to fight in this battle. Stand firm, hold your position, and see the salvation of the LORD on your behalf, O Judah and Jerusalem.' Do not be afraid and do not be dismayed. Tomorrow go out against them, and the LORD will be with you."


BIBLETEXT:
Then Jehoshaphat bowed his head with his face to the ground, and all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem fell down before the LORD, worshiping the LORD.


BIBLETEXT:
And the Levites, of the Kohathites and the Korahites, stood up to praise the LORD, the God of Israel, with a very loud voice.


BIBLETEXT:
And they rose early in the morning and went out into the wilderness of Tekoa. And when they went out, Jehoshaphat stood and said, "Hear me, Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem! Believe in the LORD your God, and you will be established; believe his prophets, and you will succeed."


BIBLETEXT:
And when he had taken counsel with the people, he appointed those who were to sing to the LORD and praise him in holy attire, as they went before the army, and say, "Give thanks to the LORD, for his steadfast love endures forever."


BIBLETEXT:
And when they began to sing and praise, the LORD set an ambush against the men of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir, who had come against Judah, so that they were routed.


BIBLETEXT:
For the men of Ammon and Moab rose against the inhabitants of Mount Seir, devoting them to destruction, and when they had made an end of the inhabitants of Seir, they all helped to destroy one another.


BIBLETEXT:
When Judah came to the watchtower of the wilderness, they looked toward the horde, and behold, there were dead bodies lying on the ground; none had escaped.


BIBLETEXT:
When Jehoshaphat and his people came to take their spoil, they found among them, in great numbers, goods, clothing, and precious things, which they took for themselves until they could carry no more. They were three days in taking the spoil, it was so much.


BIBLETEXT:
On the fourth day they assembled in the Valley of Beracah, for there they blessed the LORD. Therefore the name of that place has been called the Valley of Beracah to this day.


BIBLETEXT:
Then they returned, every man of Judah and Jerusalem, and Jehoshaphat at their head, returning to Jerusalem with joy, for the LORD had made them rejoice over their enemies.


BIBLETEXT:
They came to Jerusalem with harps and lyres and trumpets, to the house of the LORD.


BIBLETEXT:
And the fear of God came on all the kingdoms of the countries when they heard that the LORD had fought against the enemies of Israel.


BIBLETEXT:
So the realm of Jehoshaphat was quiet, for his God gave him rest all around.


BIBLETEXT:
Thus Jehoshaphat reigned over Judah. He was thirty-five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned twenty-five years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Azubah the daughter of Shilhi.


BIBLETEXT:
He walked in the way of Asa his father and did not turn aside from it, doing what was right in the sight of the LORD.


BIBLETEXT:
The high places, however, were not taken away; the people had not yet set their hearts upon the God of their fathers.


BIBLETEXT:
Now the rest of the acts of Jehoshaphat, from first to last, are written in the chronicles of Jehu the son of Hanani, which are recorded in the Book of the Kings of Israel.


BIBLETEXT:
After this Jehoshaphat king of Judah joined with Ahaziah king of Israel, who acted wickedly.


BIBLETEXT:
He joined him in building ships to go to Tarshish, and they built the ships in Ezion-geber.


BIBLETEXT:
Then Eliezer the son of Dodavahu of Mareshah prophesied against Jehoshaphat, saying, "Because you have joined with Ahaziah, the LORD will destroy what you have made." And the ships were wrecked and were not able to go to Tarshish.


BIBLETEXT:
Jehoshaphat slept with his fathers and was buried with his fathers in the city of David, and Jehoram his son reigned in his place.


BIBLETEXT:
He had brothers, the sons of Jehoshaphat: Azariah, Jehiel, Zechariah, Azariah, Michael, and Shephatiah; all these were the sons of Jehoshaphat king of Israel.


BIBLETEXT:
Their father gave them great gifts of silver, gold, and valuable possessions, together with fortified cities in Judah, but he gave the kingdom to Jehoram, because he was the firstborn.


BIBLETEXT:
When Jehoram had ascended the throne of his father and was established, he killed all his brothers with the sword, and also some of the princes of Israel.


BIBLETEXT:
Jehoram was thirty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned eight years in Jerusalem.


BIBLETEXT:
Yet the LORD was not willing to destroy the house of David, because of the covenant that he had made with David, and since he had promised to give a lamp to him and to his sons forever.


BIBLETEXT:
Then Jehoram passed over with his commanders and all his chariots, and he rose by night and struck the Edomites who had surrounded him and his chariot commanders.


BIBLETEXT:
So Edom revolted from the rule of Judah to this day. At that time Libnah also revolted from his rule, because he had forsaken the LORD, the God of his fathers.


BIBLETEXT:
Moreover, he made high places in the hill country of Judah and led the inhabitants of Jerusalem into whoredom and made Judah go astray.


BIBLETEXT:
And a letter came to him from Elijah the prophet, saying, "Thus says the LORD, the God of David your father, 'Because you have not walked in the ways of Jehoshaphat your father, or in the ways of Asa king of Judah,


BIBLETEXT:
but have walked in the way of the kings of Israel and have enticed Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem into whoredom, as the house of Ahab led Israel into whoredom, and also you have killed your brothers, of your father's house, who were better than yourself,


BIBLETEXT:
behold, the LORD will bring a great plague on your people, your children, your wives, and all your possessions,


BIBLETEXT:
and you yourself will have a severe sickness with a disease of your bowels, until your bowels come out because of the disease, day by day.'"


BIBLETEXT:
And the LORD stirred up against Jehoram the anger of the Philistines and of the Arabians who are near the Ethiopians.


BIBLETEXT:
And they came up against Judah and invaded it and carried away all the possessions they found that belonged to the king's house, and also his sons and his wives, so that no son was left to him except Jehoahaz, his youngest son.


BIBLETEXT:
And after all this the LORD struck him in his bowels with an incurable disease.


BIBLETEXT:
In the course of time, at the end of two years, his bowels came out because of the disease, and he died in great agony. His people made no fire in his honor, like the fires made for his fathers.


BIBLETEXT:
He was thirty-two years old when he began to reign, and he reigned eight years in Jerusalem. And he departed with no one's regret. They buried him in the city of David, but not in the tombs of the kings.


BIBLETEXT:
And the inhabitants of Jerusalem made Ahaziah, his youngest son, king in his place, for the band of men that came with the Arabians to the camp had killed all the older sons. So Ahaziah the son of Jehoram king of Judah reigned.


BIBLETEXT:
Ahaziah was twenty-two years old when he began to reign, and he reigned one year in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Athaliah, the granddaughter of Omri.


BIBLETEXT:
He also walked in the ways of the house of Ahab, for his mother was his counselor in doing wickedly.


BIBLETEXT:
He did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, as the house of Ahab had done. For after the death of his father they were his counselors, to his undoing.


BIBLETEXT:
He even followed their counsel and went with Jehoram the son of Ahab king of Israel to make war against Hazael king of Syria at Ramoth-gilead. And the Syrians wounded Joram,


BIBLETEXT:
and he returned to be healed in Jezreel of the wounds that he had received at Ramah, when he fought against Hazael king of Syria. And Ahaziah the son of Jehoram king of Judah went down to see Joram the son of Ahab in Jezreel, because he was wounded.


BIBLETEXT:
But it was ordained by God that the downfall of Ahaziah should come about through his going to visit Joram. For when he came there, he went out with Jehoram to meet Jehu the son of Nimshi, whom the LORD had anointed to destroy the house of Ahab.


BIBLETEXT:
And when Jehu was executing judgment on the house of Ahab, he met the princes of Judah and the sons of Ahaziah's brothers, who attended Ahaziah, and he killed them.


BIBLETEXT:
He searched for Ahaziah, and he was captured while hiding in Samaria, and he was brought to Jehu and put to death. They buried him, for they said, "He is the grandson of Jehoshaphat, who sought the LORD with all his heart." And the house of Ahaziah had no one able to rule the kingdom.


BIBLETEXT:
Now when Athaliah the mother of Ahaziah saw that her son was dead, she arose and destroyed all the royal family of the house of Judah.


BIBLETEXT:
But Jehoshabeath, the daughter of the king, took Joash the son of Ahaziah and stole him away from among the king's sons who were about to be put to death, and she put him and his nurse in a bedroom. Thus Jehoshabeath, the daughter of King Jehoram and wife of Jehoiada the priest, because she was a sister of Ahaziah, hid him from Athaliah, so that she did not put him to death.


BIBLETEXT:
And he remained with them six years, hidden in the house of God, while Athaliah reigned over the land.


BIBLETEXT:
But in the seventh year Jehoiada took courage and entered into a covenant with the commanders of hundreds, Azariah the son of Jeroham, Ishmael the son of Jehohanan, Azariah the son of Obed, Maaseiah the son of Adaiah, and Elishaphat the son of Zichri.


BIBLETEXT:
And they went about through Judah and gathered the Levites from all the cities of Judah, and the heads of fathers' houses of Israel, and they came to Jerusalem.


BIBLETEXT:
And all the assembly made a covenant with the king in the house of God. And Jehoiada said to them, "Behold, the king's son! Let him reign, as the LORD spoke concerning the sons of David.


BIBLETEXT:
This is the thing that you shall do: of you priests and Levites who come off duty on the Sabbath, one third shall be gatekeepers,


BIBLETEXT:
and one third shall be at the king's house and one third at the Gate of the Foundation. And all the people shall be in the courts of the house of the LORD.


BIBLETEXT:
Let no one enter the house of the LORD except the priests and ministering Levites. They may enter, for they are holy, but all the people shall keep the charge of the LORD.


BIBLETEXT:
The Levites shall surround the king, each with his weapons in his hand. And whoever enters the house shall be put to death. Be with the king when he comes in and when he goes out."


BIBLETEXT:
The Levites and all Judah did according to all that Jehoiada the priest commanded, and they each brought his men, who were to go off duty on the Sabbath, with those who were to come on duty on the Sabbath, for Jehoiada the priest did not dismiss the divisions.


BIBLETEXT:
And Jehoiada the priest gave to the captains the spears and the large and small shields that had been King David's, which were in the house of God.


BIBLETEXT:
And he set all the people as a guard for the king, every man with his weapon in his hand, from the south side of the house to the north side of the house, around the altar and the house.


BIBLETEXT:
Then they brought out the king's son and put the crown on him and gave him the testimony. And they proclaimed him king, and Jehoiada and his sons anointed him, and they said, "Long live the king."


BIBLETEXT:
When Athaliah heard the noise of the people running and praising the king, she went into the house of the LORD to the people.


BIBLETEXT:
And when she looked, there was the king standing by his pillar at the entrance, and the captains and the trumpeters beside the king, and all the people of the land rejoicing and blowing trumpets, and the singers with their musical instruments leading in the celebration. And Athaliah tore her clothes and cried, "Treason! Treason!"


BIBLETEXT:
Then Jehoiada the priest brought out the captains who were set over the army, saying to them, "Bring her out between the ranks, and anyone who follows her is to be put to death with the sword." For the priest said, "Do not put her to death in the house of the LORD."


BIBLETEXT:
So they laid hands on her, and she went into the entrance of the horse gate of the king's house, and they put her to death there.


BIBLETEXT:
And Jehoiada made a covenant between himself and all the people and the king that they should be the LORD's people.


BIBLETEXT:
Then all the people went to the house of Baal and tore it down; his altars and his images they broke in pieces, and they killed Mattan the priest of Baal before the altars.


BIBLETEXT:
And Jehoiada posted watchmen for the house of the LORD under the direction of the Levitical priests and the Levites whom David had organized to be in charge of the house of the LORD, to offer burnt offerings to the LORD, as it is written in the Law of Moses, with rejoicing and with singing, according to the order of David.


BIBLETEXT:
He stationed the gatekeepers at the gates of the house of the LORD so that no one should enter who was in any way unclean.


BIBLETEXT:
And he took the captains, the nobles, the governors of the people, and all the people of the land, and they brought the king down from the house of the LORD, marching through the upper gate to the king's house. And they set the king on the royal throne.


BIBLETEXT:
So all the people of the land rejoiced, and the city was quiet after Athaliah had been put to death with the sword.


BIBLETEXT:
Joash was seven years old when he began to reign, and he reigned forty years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Zibiah of Beersheba.


BIBLETEXT:
And Joash did what was right in the eyes of the LORD all the days of Jehoiada the priest.


BIBLETEXT:
Jehoiada got for him two wives, and he had sons and daughters.


BIBLETEXT:
After this Joash decided to restore the house of the LORD.


BIBLETEXT:
And he gathered the priests and the Levites and said to them, "Go out to the cities of Judah and gather from all Israel money to repair the house of your God from year to year, and see that you act quickly." But the Levites did not act quickly.


BIBLETEXT:
So the king summoned Jehoiada the chief and said to him, "Why have you not required the Levites to bring in from Judah and Jerusalem the tax levied by Moses, the servant of the LORD, and the congregation of Israel for the tent of testimony?"


BIBLETEXT:
For the sons of Athaliah, that wicked woman, had broken into the house of God, and had also used all the dedicated things of the house of the LORD for the Baals.


BIBLETEXT:
So the king commanded, and they made a chest and set it outside the gate of the house of the LORD.


BIBLETEXT:
And proclamation was made throughout Judah and Jerusalem to bring in for the LORD the tax that Moses the servant of God laid on Israel in the wilderness.


BIBLETEXT:
And all the princes and all the people rejoiced and brought their tax and dropped it into the chest until they had finished.


BIBLETEXT:
And whenever the chest was brought to the king's officers by the Levites, when they saw that there was much money in it, the king's secretary and the officer of the chief priest would come and empty the chest and take it and return it to its place. Thus they did day after day, and collected money in abundance.


BIBLETEXT:
And the king and Jehoiada gave it to those who had charge of the work of the house of the LORD, and they hired masons and carpenters to restore the house of the LORD, and also workers in iron and bronze to repair the house of the LORD.


BIBLETEXT:
So those who were engaged in the work labored, and the repairing went forward in their hands, and they restored the house of God to its proper condition and strengthened it.


BIBLETEXT:
And when they had finished, they brought the rest of the money before the king and Jehoiada, and with it were made utensils for the house of the LORD, both for the service and for the burnt offerings, and dishes for incense and vessels of gold and silver. And they offered burnt offerings in the house of the LORD regularly all the days of Jehoiada.


BIBLETEXT:
But Jehoiada grew old and full of days, and died. He was 130 years old at his death.


BIBLETEXT:
And they buried him in the city of David among the kings, because he had done good in Israel, and toward God and his house.


BIBLETEXT:
Now after the death of Jehoiada the princes of Judah came and paid homage to the king. Then the king listened to them.


BIBLETEXT:
And they abandoned the house of the LORD, the God of their fathers, and served the Asherim and the idols. And wrath came upon Judah and Jerusalem for this guilt of theirs.


BIBLETEXT:
Yet he sent prophets among them to bring them back to the LORD. These testified against them, but they would not pay attention.


BIBLETEXT:
Then the Spirit of God clothed Zechariah the son of Jehoiada the priest, and he stood above the people, and said to them, "Thus says God, 'Why do you break the commandments of the LORD, so that you cannot prosper? Because you have forsaken the LORD, he has forsaken you.'"


BIBLETEXT:
But they conspired against him, and by command of the king they stoned him with stones in the court of the house of the LORD.


BIBLETEXT:
Thus Joash the king did not remember the kindness that Jehoiada, Zechariah's father, had shown him, but killed his son. And when he was dying, he said, "May the LORD see and avenge!"


BIBLETEXT:
At the end of the year the army of the Syrians came up against Joash. They came to Judah and Jerusalem and destroyed all the princes of the people from among the people and sent all their spoil to the king of Damascus.


BIBLETEXT:
Though the army of the Syrians had come with few men, the LORD delivered into their hand a very great army, because Judah had forsaken the LORD, the God of their fathers. Thus they executed judgment on Joash.


BIBLETEXT:
When they had departed from him, leaving him severely wounded, his servants conspired against him because of the blood of the son of Jehoiada the priest, and killed him on his bed. So he died, and they buried him in the city of David, but they did not bury him in the tombs of the kings.


BIBLETEXT:
Those who conspired against him were Zabad the son of Shimeath the Ammonite, and Jehozabad the son of Shimrith the Moabite.


BIBLETEXT:
Accounts of his sons and of the many oracles against him and of the rebuilding of the house of God are written in the Story of the Book of the Kings. And Amaziah his son reigned in his place.


BIBLETEXT:
Amaziah was twenty-five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Jehoaddan of Jerusalem.


BIBLETEXT:
And he did what was right in the eyes of the LORD, yet not with a whole heart.


BIBLETEXT:
And as soon as the royal power was firmly his, he killed his servants who had struck down the king his father.


BIBLETEXT:
But he did not put their children to death, according to what is written in the Law, in the Book of Moses, where the LORD commanded, "Fathers shall not die because of their children, nor children die because of their fathers, but each one shall die for his own sin."


BIBLETEXT:
Then Amaziah assembled the men of Judah and set them by fathers' houses under commanders of thousands and of hundreds for all Judah and Benjamin. He mustered those twenty years old and upward, and found that they were 300,000 choice men, fit for war, able to handle spear and shield.


BIBLETEXT:
He hired also 100,000 mighty men of valor from Israel for 100 talents of silver.


BIBLETEXT:
But a man of God came to him and said, "O king, do not let the army of Israel go with you, for the LORD is not with Israel, with all these Ephraimites.


BIBLETEXT:
But go, act, be strong for the battle. Why should you suppose that God will cast you down before the enemy? For God has power to help or to cast down."


BIBLETEXT:
And Amaziah said to the man of God, "But what shall we do about the hundred talents that I have given to the army of Israel?" The man of God answered, "The LORD is able to give you much more than this."


BIBLETEXT:
Then Amaziah discharged the army that had come to him from Ephraim to go home again. And they became very angry with Judah and returned home in fierce anger.


BIBLETEXT:
But Amaziah took courage and led out his people and went to the Valley of Salt and struck down 10,000 men of Seir.


BIBLETEXT:
The men of Judah captured another 10,000 alive and took them to the top of a rock and threw them down from the top of the rock, and they were all dashed to pieces.


BIBLETEXT:
But the men of the army whom Amaziah sent back, not letting them go with him to battle, raided the cities of Judah, from Samaria to Beth-horon, and struck down 3,000 people in them and took much spoil.


BIBLETEXT:
After Amaziah came from striking down the Edomites, he brought the gods of the men of Seir and set them up as his gods and worshiped them, making offerings to them.


BIBLETEXT:
Therefore the LORD was angry with Amaziah and sent to him a prophet, who said to him, "Why have you sought the gods of a people who did not deliver their own people from your hand?"


BIBLETEXT:
But as he was speaking, the king said to him, "Have we made you a royal counselor? Stop! Why should you be struck down?" So the prophet stopped, but said, "I know that God has determined to destroy you, because you have done this and have not listened to my counsel."


BIBLETEXT:
Then Amaziah king of Judah took counsel and sent to Joash the son of Jehoahaz, son of Jehu, king of Israel, saying, "Come, let us look one another in the face."


BIBLETEXT:
And Joash the king of Israel sent word to Amaziah king of Judah, "A thistle on Lebanon sent to a cedar on Lebanon, saying, 'Give your daughter to my son for a wife,' and a wild beast of Lebanon passed by and trampled down the thistle.


BIBLETEXT:
You say, 'See, I have struck down Edom,' and your heart has lifted you up in boastfulness. But now stay at home. Why should you provoke trouble so that you fall, you and Judah with you?"


BIBLETEXT:
But Amaziah would not listen, for it was of God, in order that he might give them into the hand of their enemies, because they had sought the gods of Edom.


BIBLETEXT:
So Joash king of Israel went up, and he and Amaziah king of Judah faced one another in battle at Beth-shemesh, which belongs to Judah.


BIBLETEXT:
And Joash king of Israel captured Amaziah king of Judah, the son of Joash, son of Ahaziah, at Beth-shemesh, and brought him to Jerusalem and broke down the wall of Jerusalem for 400 cubits, from the Ephraim Gate to the Corner Gate.


BIBLETEXT:
And he seized all the gold and silver, and all the vessels that were found in the house of God, in the care of Obed-edom. He seized also the treasuries of the king's house, also hostages, and he returned to Samaria.


BIBLETEXT:
Amaziah the son of Joash, king of Judah, lived fifteen years after the death of Joash the son of Jehoahaz, king of Israel.


BIBLETEXT:
Now the rest of the deeds of Amaziah, from first to last, are they not written in the Book of the Kings of Judah and Israel?


BIBLETEXT:
From the time when he turned away from the LORD they made a conspiracy against him in Jerusalem, and he fled to Lachish. But they sent after him to Lachish and put him to death there.


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


BIBLETEXT:
And all the people of Judah took Uzziah, who was sixteen years old, and made him king instead of his father Amaziah.


BIBLETEXT:
He built Eloth and restored it to Judah, after the king slept with his fathers.


BIBLETEXT:
Uzziah was sixteen years old when he began to reign, and he reigned fifty-two years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Jecoliah of Jerusalem.


BIBLETEXT:
He set himself to seek God in the days of Zechariah, who instructed him in the fear of God, and as long as he sought the LORD, God made him prosper.


BIBLETEXT:
He went out and made war against the Philistines and broke through the wall of Gath and the wall of Jabneh and the wall of Ashdod, and he built cities in the territory of Ashdod and elsewhere among the Philistines.


BIBLETEXT:
God helped him against the Philistines and against the Arabians who lived in Gurbaal and against the Meunites.


BIBLETEXT:
The Ammonites paid tribute to Uzziah, and his fame spread even to the border of Egypt, for he became very strong.


BIBLETEXT:
Moreover, Uzziah built towers in Jerusalem at the Corner Gate and at the Valley Gate and at the Angle, and fortified them.


BIBLETEXT:
And he built towers in the wilderness and cut out many cisterns, for he had large herds, both in the Shephelah and in the plain, and he had farmers and vinedressers in the hills and in the fertile lands, for he loved the soil.


BIBLETEXT:
Moreover, Uzziah had an army of soldiers, fit for war, in divisions according to the numbers in the muster made by Jeiel the secretary and Maaseiah the officer, under the direction of Hananiah, one of the king's commanders.


BIBLETEXT:
The whole number of the heads of fathers' houses of mighty men of valor was 2,600.


BIBLETEXT:
Under their command was an army of 307,500, who could make war with mighty power, to help the king against the enemy.


BIBLETEXT:
And Uzziah prepared for all the army shields, spears, helmets, coats of mail, bows, and stones for slinging.


BIBLETEXT:
In Jerusalem he made engines, invented by skillful men, to be on the towers and the corners, to shoot arrows and great stones. And his fame spread far, for he was marvelously helped, till he was strong.


BIBLETEXT:
But when he was strong, he grew proud, to his destruction. For he was unfaithful to the LORD his God and entered the temple of the LORD to burn incense on the altar of incense.


BIBLETEXT:
But Azariah the priest went in after him, with eighty priests of the LORD who were men of valor,


BIBLETEXT:
and they withstood King Uzziah and said to him, "It is not for you, Uzziah, to burn incense to the LORD, but for the priests, the sons of Aaron, who are consecrated to burn incense. Go out of the sanctuary, for you have done wrong, and it will bring you no honor from the LORD God."


BIBLETEXT:
Then Uzziah was angry. Now he had a censer in his hand to burn incense, and when he became angry with the priests, leprosy broke out on his forehead in the presence of the priests in the house of the LORD, by the altar of incense.


BIBLETEXT:
And Azariah the chief priest and all the priests looked at him, and behold, he was leprous in his forehead! And they rushed him out quickly, and he himself hurried to go out, because the LORD had struck him.


BIBLETEXT:
And King Uzziah was a leper to the day of his death, and being a leper lived in a separate house, for he was excluded from the house of the LORD. And Jotham his son was over the king's household, governing the people of the land.


BIBLETEXT:
Now the rest of the acts of Uzziah, from first to last, Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz wrote.


BIBLETEXT:
And Uzziah slept with his fathers, and they buried him with his fathers in the burial field that belonged to the kings, for they said, "He is a leper." And Jotham his son reigned in his place.


BIBLETEXT:
Jotham was twenty-five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Jerushah the daughter of Zadok.


BIBLETEXT:
And he did what was right in the eyes of the LORD according to all that his father Uzziah had done, except he did not enter the temple of the LORD. But the people still followed corrupt practices.


BIBLETEXT:
He built the upper gate of the house of the LORD and did much building on the wall of Ophel.


BIBLETEXT:
Moreover, he built cities in the hill country of Judah, and forts and towers on the wooded hills.


BIBLETEXT:
He fought with the king of the Ammonites and prevailed against them. And the Ammonites gave him that year 100 talents of silver, and 10,000 cors of wheat and 10,000 of barley. The Ammonites paid him the same amount in the second and the third years.


BIBLETEXT:
So Jotham became mighty, because he ordered his ways before the LORD his God.


BIBLETEXT:
Now the rest of the acts of Jotham, and all his wars and his ways, behold, they are written in the Book of the Kings of Israel and Judah.


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


BIBLETEXT:
And Jotham slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the city of David, and Ahaz his son reigned in his place.


BIBLETEXT:
Ahaz was twenty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem. And he did not do what was right in the eyes of the LORD, as his father David had done,


BIBLETEXT:
but he walked in the ways of the kings of Israel. He even made metal images for the Baals,


BIBLETEXT:
and he made offerings in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom and burned his sons as an offering, according to the abominations of the nations whom the LORD drove out before the people of Israel.


BIBLETEXT:
Therefore the LORD his God gave him into the hand of the king of Syria, who defeated him and took captive a great number of his people and brought them to Damascus. He was also given into the hand of the king of Israel, who struck him with great force.


BIBLETEXT:
For Pekah the son of Remaliah killed 120,000 from Judah in one day, all of them men of valor, because they had forsaken the LORD, the God of their fathers.


BIBLETEXT:
And Zichri, a mighty man of Ephraim, killed Maaseiah the king's son and Azrikam the commander of the palace and Elkanah the next in authority to the king.


BIBLETEXT:
The men of Israel took captive 200,000 of their relatives, women, sons, and daughters. They also took much spoil from them and brought the spoil to Samaria.


BIBLETEXT:
But a prophet of the LORD was there, whose name was Oded, and he went out to meet the army that came to Samaria and said to them, "Behold, because the LORD, the God of your fathers, was angry with Judah, he gave them into your hand, but you have killed them in a rage that has reached up to heaven.


BIBLETEXT:
And now you intend to subjugate the people of Judah and Jerusalem, male and female, as your slaves. Have you not sins of your own against the LORD your God?


BIBLETEXT:
Now hear me, and send back the captives from your relatives whom you have taken, for the fierce wrath of the LORD is upon you."


BIBLETEXT:
Certain chiefs also of the men of Ephraim, Azariah the son of Johanan, Berechiah the son of Meshillemoth, Jehizkiah the son of Shallum, and Amasa the son of Hadlai, stood up against those who were coming from the war


BIBLETEXT:
and said to them, "You shall not bring the captives in here, for you propose to bring upon us guilt against the LORD in addition to our present sins and guilt. For our guilt is already great, and there is fierce wrath against Israel."


BIBLETEXT:
So the armed men left the captives and the spoil before the princes and all the assembly.


BIBLETEXT:
And the men who have been mentioned by name rose and took the captives, and with the spoil they clothed all who were naked among them. They clothed them, gave them sandals, provided them with food and drink, and anointed them, and carrying all the feeble among them on donkeys, they brought them to their kinsfolk at Jericho, the city of palm trees. Then they returned to Samaria.


BIBLETEXT:
At that time King Ahaz sent to the king of Assyria for help.


BIBLETEXT:
For the Edomites had again invaded and defeated Judah and carried away captives.


BIBLETEXT:
And the Philistines had made raids on the cities in the Shephelah and the Negeb of Judah, and had taken Beth-shemesh, Aijalon, Gederoth, Soco with its villages, Timnah with its villages, and Gimzo with its villages. And they settled there.


BIBLETEXT:
For the LORD humbled Judah because of Ahaz king of Israel, for he had made Judah act sinfully and had been very unfaithful to the LORD.


BIBLETEXT:
So Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria came against him and afflicted him instead of strengthening him.


BIBLETEXT:
For Ahaz took a portion from the house of the LORD and the house of the king and of the princes, and gave tribute to the king of Assyria, but it did not help him.


BIBLETEXT:
In the time of his distress he became yet more faithless to the LORD--this same King Ahaz.


BIBLETEXT:
For he sacrificed to the gods of Damascus that had defeated him and said, "Because the gods of the kings of Syria helped them, I will sacrifice to them that they may help me." But they were the ruin of him and of all Israel.


BIBLETEXT:
And Ahaz gathered together the vessels of the house of God and cut in pieces the vessels of the house of God, and he shut up the doors of the house of the LORD, and he made himself altars in every corner of Jerusalem.


BIBLETEXT:
In every city of Judah he made high places to make offerings to other gods, provoking to anger the LORD, the God of his fathers.


BIBLETEXT:
Now the rest of his acts and all his ways, from first to last, behold, they are written in the Book of the Kings of Judah and Israel.


BIBLETEXT:
And Ahaz slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the city, in Jerusalem, for they did not bring him into the tombs of the kings of Israel. And Hezekiah his son reigned in his place.


BIBLETEXT:
Hezekiah began to reign when he was twenty-five years old, and he reigned twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Abijah the daughter of Zechariah.


BIBLETEXT:
In the first year of his reign, in the first month, he opened the doors of the house of the LORD and repaired them.


BIBLETEXT:
He brought in the priests and the Levites and assembled them in the square on the east


BIBLETEXT:
and said to them, "Hear me, Levites! Now consecrate yourselves, and consecrate the house of the LORD, the God of your fathers, and carry out the filth from the Holy Place.


BIBLETEXT:
For our fathers have been unfaithful and have done what was evil in the sight of the LORD our God. They have forsaken him and have turned away their faces from the habitation of the LORD and turned their backs.


BIBLETEXT:
They also shut the doors of the vestibule and put out the lamps and have not burned incense or offered burnt offerings in the Holy Place to the God of Israel.


BIBLETEXT:
Therefore the wrath of the LORD came on Judah and Jerusalem, and he has made them an object of horror, of astonishment, and of hissing, as you see with your own eyes.


BIBLETEXT:
For behold, our fathers have fallen by the sword, and our sons and our daughters and our wives are in captivity for this.


BIBLETEXT:
Now it is in my heart to make a covenant with the LORD, the God of Israel, in order that his fierce anger may turn away from us.


BIBLETEXT:
My sons, do not now be negligent, for the LORD has chosen you to stand in his presence, to minister to him and to be his ministers and make offerings to him."


BIBLETEXT:
Then the Levites arose, Mahath the son of Amasai, and Joel the son of Azariah, of the sons of the Kohathites; and of the sons of Merari, Kish the son of Abdi, and Azariah the son of Jehallelel; and of the Gershonites, Joah the son of Zimmah, and Eden the son of Joah;


BIBLETEXT:
and of the sons of Elizaphan, Shimri and Jeuel; and of the sons of Asaph, Zechariah and Mattaniah;


BIBLETEXT:
and of the sons of Heman, Jehuel and Shimei; and of the sons of Jeduthun, Shemaiah and Uzziel.


BIBLETEXT:
They gathered their brothers and consecrated themselves and went in as the king had commanded, by the words of the LORD, to cleanse the house of the LORD.


BIBLETEXT:
The priests went into the inner part of the house of the LORD to cleanse it, and they brought out all the uncleanness that they found in the temple of the LORD into the court of the house of the LORD. And the Levites took it and carried it out to the brook Kidron.


BIBLETEXT:
They began to consecrate on the first day of the first month, and on the eighth day of the month they came to the vestibule of the LORD. Then for eight days they consecrated the house of the LORD, and on the sixteenth day of the first month they finished.


BIBLETEXT:
Then they went in to Hezekiah the king and said, "We have cleansed all the house of the LORD, the altar of burnt offering and all its utensils, and the table for the showbread and all its utensils.


BIBLETEXT:
All the utensils that King Ahaz discarded in his reign when he was faithless, we have made ready and consecrated, and behold, they are before the altar of the LORD."


BIBLETEXT:
Then Hezekiah the king rose early and gathered the officials of the city and went up to the house of the LORD.


BIBLETEXT:
And they brought seven bulls, seven rams, seven lambs, and seven male goats for a sin offering for the kingdom and for the sanctuary and for Judah. And he commanded the priests, the sons of Aaron, to offer them on the altar of the LORD.


BIBLETEXT:
So they slaughtered the bulls, and the priests received the blood and threw it against the altar. And they slaughtered the rams, and their blood was thrown against the altar. And they slaughtered the lambs, and their blood was thrown against the altar.


BIBLETEXT:
Then the goats for the sin offering were brought to the king and the assembly, and they laid their hands on them,


BIBLETEXT:
and the priests slaughtered them and made a sin offering with their blood on the altar, to make atonement for all Israel. For the king commanded that the burnt offering and the sin offering should be made for all Israel.


BIBLETEXT:
And he stationed the Levites in the house of the LORD with cymbals, harps, and lyres, according to the commandment of David and of Gad the king's seer and of Nathan the prophet, for the commandment was from the LORD through his prophets.


BIBLETEXT:
The Levites stood with the instruments of David, and the priests with the trumpets.


BIBLETEXT:
Then Hezekiah commanded that the burnt offering be offered on the altar. And when the burnt offering began, the song to the LORD began also, and the trumpets, accompanied by the instruments of David king of Israel.


BIBLETEXT:
The whole assembly worshiped, and the singers sang, and the trumpeters sounded. All this continued until the burnt offering was finished.


BIBLETEXT:
When the offering was finished, the king and all who were present with him bowed themselves and worshiped.


BIBLETEXT:
And Hezekiah the king and the officials commanded the Levites to sing praises to the LORD with the words of David and of Asaph the seer. And they sang praises with gladness, and they bowed down and worshiped.


BIBLETEXT:
Then Hezekiah said, "You have now consecrated yourselves to the LORD. Come near; bring sacrifices and thank offerings to the house of the LORD." And the assembly brought sacrifices and thank offerings, and all who were of a willing heart brought burnt offerings.


BIBLETEXT:
The number of the burnt offerings that the assembly brought was 70 bulls, 100 rams, and 200 lambs; all these were for a burnt offering to the LORD.


BIBLETEXT:
And the consecrated offerings were 600 bulls and 3,000 sheep.


BIBLETEXT:
But the priests were too few and could not flay all the burnt offerings, so until other priests had consecrated themselves, their brothers the Levites helped them, until the work was finished--for the Levites were more upright in heart than the priests in consecrating themselves.


BIBLETEXT:
Besides the great number of burnt offerings, there was the fat of the peace offerings, and there were the drink offerings for the burnt offerings. Thus the service of the house of the LORD was restored.


BIBLETEXT:
And Hezekiah and all the people rejoiced because God had prepared for the people, for the thing came about suddenly.


BIBLETEXT:
Hezekiah sent to all Israel and Judah, and wrote letters also to Ephraim and Manasseh, that they should come to the house of the LORD at Jerusalem to keep the Passover to the LORD, the God of Israel.


BIBLETEXT:
For the king and his princes and all the assembly in Jerusalem had taken counsel to keep the Passover in the second month--


BIBLETEXT:
for they could not keep it at that time because the priests had not consecrated themselves in sufficient number, nor had the people assembled in Jerusalem--


BIBLETEXT:
and the plan seemed right to the king and all the assembly.


BIBLETEXT:
So they decreed to make a proclamation throughout all Israel, from Beersheba to Dan, that the people should come and keep the Passover to the LORD, the God of Israel, at Jerusalem, for they had not kept it as often as prescribed.


BIBLETEXT:
So couriers went throughout all Israel and Judah with letters from the king and his princes, as the king had commanded, saying, "O people of Israel, return to the LORD, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, that he may turn again to the remnant of you who have escaped from the hand of the kings of Assyria.


BIBLETEXT:
Do not be like your fathers and your brothers, who were faithless to the LORD God of their fathers, so that he made them a desolation, as you see.


BIBLETEXT:
Do not now be stiff-necked as your fathers were, but yield yourselves to the LORD and come to his sanctuary, which he has consecrated forever, and serve the LORD your God, that his fierce anger may turn away from you.


BIBLETEXT:
For if you return to the LORD, your brothers and your children will find compassion with their captors and return to this land. For the LORD your God is gracious and merciful and will not turn away his face from you, if you return to him."


BIBLETEXT:
So the couriers went from city to city through the country of Ephraim and Manasseh, and as far as Zebulun, but they laughed them to scorn and mocked them.


BIBLETEXT:
However, some men of Asher, of Manasseh, and of Zebulun humbled themselves and came to Jerusalem.


BIBLETEXT:
The hand of God was also on Judah to give them one heart to do what the king and the princes commanded by the word of the LORD.


BIBLETEXT:
And many people came together in Jerusalem to keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread in the second month, a very great assembly.


BIBLETEXT:
They set to work and removed the altars that were in Jerusalem, and all the altars for burning incense they took away and threw into the Kidron Valley.


BIBLETEXT:
And they slaughtered the Passover lamb on the fourteenth day of the second month. And the priests and the Levites were ashamed, so that they consecrated themselves and brought burnt offerings into the house of the LORD.


BIBLETEXT:
They took their accustomed posts according to the Law of Moses the man of God. The priests threw the blood that they received from the hand of the Levites.


BIBLETEXT:
For there were many in the assembly who had not consecrated themselves. Therefore the Levites had to slaughter the Passover lamb for everyone who was not clean, to consecrate it to the LORD.


BIBLETEXT:
For a majority of the people, many of them from Ephraim, Manasseh, Issachar, and Zebulun, had not cleansed themselves, yet they ate the Passover otherwise than as prescribed. For Hezekiah had prayed for them, saying, "May the good LORD pardon everyone


BIBLETEXT:
who sets his heart to seek God, the LORD, the God of his fathers, even though not according to the sanctuary's rules of cleanness."


BIBLETEXT:
And the LORD heard Hezekiah and healed the people.


BIBLETEXT:
And the people of Israel who were present at Jerusalem kept the Feast of Unleavened Bread seven days with great gladness, and the Levites and the priests praised the LORD day by day, singing with all their might to the LORD.


BIBLETEXT:
And Hezekiah spoke encouragingly to all the Levites who showed good skill in the service of the LORD. So they ate the food of the festival for seven days, sacrificing peace offerings and giving thanks to the LORD, the God of their fathers.


BIBLETEXT:
Then the whole assembly agreed together to keep the feast for another seven days. So they kept it for another seven days with gladness.


BIBLETEXT:
For Hezekiah king of Judah gave the assembly 1,000 bulls and 7,000 sheep for offerings, and the princes gave the assembly 1,000 bulls and 10,000 sheep. And the priests consecrated themselves in great numbers.


BIBLETEXT:
The whole assembly of Judah, and the priests and the Levites, and the whole assembly that came out of Israel, and the sojourners who came out of the land of Israel, and the sojourners who lived in Judah, rejoiced.


BIBLETEXT:
So there was great joy in Jerusalem, for since the time of Solomon the son of David king of Israel there had been nothing like this in Jerusalem.


BIBLETEXT:
Then the priests and the Levites arose and blessed the people, and their voice was heard, and their prayer came to his holy habitation in heaven.


BIBLETEXT:
Now when all this was finished, all Israel who were present went out to the cities of Judah and broke in pieces the pillars and cut down the Asherim and broke down the high places and the altars throughout all Judah and Benjamin, and in Ephraim and Manasseh, until they had destroyed them all. Then all the people of Israel returned to their cities, every man to his possession.


BIBLETEXT:
And Hezekiah appointed the divisions of the priests and of the Levites, division by division, each according to his service, the priests and the Levites, for burnt offerings and peace offerings, to minister in the gates of the camp of the LORD and to give thanks and praise.


BIBLETEXT:
The contribution of the king from his own possessions was for the burnt offerings: the burnt offerings of morning and evening, and the burnt offerings for the Sabbaths, the new moons, and the appointed feasts, as it is written in the Law of the LORD.


BIBLETEXT:
And he commanded the people who lived in Jerusalem to give the portion due to the priests and the Levites, that they might give themselves to the Law of the LORD.


BIBLETEXT:
As soon as the command was spread abroad, the people of Israel gave in abundance the firstfruits of grain, wine, oil, honey, and of all the produce of the field. And they brought in abundantly the tithe of everything.


BIBLETEXT:
And the people of Israel and Judah who lived in the cities of Judah also brought in the tithe of cattle and sheep, and the tithe of the dedicated things that had been dedicated to the LORD their God, and laid them in heaps.


BIBLETEXT:
In the third month they began to pile up the heaps, and finished them in the seventh month.


BIBLETEXT:
When Hezekiah and the princes came and saw the heaps, they blessed the LORD and his people Israel.


BIBLETEXT:
And Hezekiah questioned the priests and the Levites about the heaps.


BIBLETEXT:
Azariah the chief priest, who was of the house of Zadok, answered him, "Since they began to bring the contributions into the house of the LORD, we have eaten and had enough and have plenty left, for the LORD has blessed his people, so that we have this large amount left."


BIBLETEXT:
Then Hezekiah commanded them to prepare chambers in the house of the LORD, and they prepared them.


BIBLETEXT:
And they faithfully brought in the contributions, the tithes, and the dedicated things. The chief officer in charge of them was Conaniah the Levite, with Shimei his brother as second,


BIBLETEXT:
while Jehiel, Azaziah, Nahath, Asahel, Jerimoth, Jozabad, Eliel, Ismachiah, Mahath, and Benaiah were overseers assisting Conaniah and Shimei his brother, by the appointment of Hezekiah the king and Azariah the chief officer of the house of God.


BIBLETEXT:
And Kore the son of Imnah the Levite, keeper of the east gate, was over the freewill offerings to God, to apportion the contribution reserved for the LORD and the most holy offerings.


BIBLETEXT:
Eden, Miniamin, Jeshua, Shemaiah, Amariah, and Shecaniah were faithfully assisting him in the cities of the priests, to distribute the portions to their brothers, old and young alike, by divisions,


BIBLETEXT:
except those enrolled by genealogy, males from three years old and upward--all who entered the house of the LORD as the duty of each day required--for their service according to their offices, by their divisions.


BIBLETEXT:
The enrollment of the priests was according to their fathers' houses; that of the Levites from twenty years old and upward was according to their offices, by their divisions.


BIBLETEXT:
They were enrolled with all their little children, their wives, their sons, and their daughters, the whole assembly, for they were faithful in keeping themselves holy.


BIBLETEXT:
And for the sons of Aaron, the priests, who were in the fields of common land belonging to their cities, there were men in the several cities who were designated by name to distribute portions to every male among the priests and to everyone among the Levites who was enrolled.


BIBLETEXT:
Thus Hezekiah did throughout all Judah, and he did what was good and right and faithful before the LORD his God.


BIBLETEXT:
And every work that he undertook in the service of the house of God and in accordance with the law and the commandments, seeking his God, he did with all his heart, and prospered.


BIBLETEXT:
After these things and these acts of faithfulness, Sennacherib king of Assyria came and invaded Judah and encamped against the fortified cities, thinking to win them for himself.


BIBLETEXT:
And when Hezekiah saw that Sennacherib had come and intended to fight against Jerusalem,


BIBLETEXT:
he planned with his officers and his mighty men to stop the water of the springs that were outside the city; and they helped him.


BIBLETEXT:
A great many people were gathered, and they stopped all the springs and the brook that flowed through the land, saying, "Why should the kings of Assyria come and find much water?"


BIBLETEXT:
He set to work resolutely and built up all the wall that was broken down and raised towers upon it, and outside it he built another wall, and he strengthened the Millo in the city of David. He also made weapons and shields in abundance.


BIBLETEXT:
And he set combat commanders over the people and gathered them together to him in the square at the gate of the city and spoke encouragingly to them, saying,


BIBLETEXT:
"Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or dismayed before the king of Assyria and all the horde that is with him, for there are more with us than with him.


BIBLETEXT:
With him is an arm of flesh, but with us is the LORD our God, to help us and to fight our battles." And the people took confidence from the words of Hezekiah king of Judah.


BIBLETEXT:
After this, Sennacherib king of Assyria, who was besieging Lachish with all his forces, sent his servants to Jerusalem to Hezekiah king of Judah and to all the people of Judah who were in Jerusalem, saying,


BIBLETEXT:
"Thus says Sennacherib king of Assyria, 'On what are you trusting, that you endure the siege in Jerusalem?


BIBLETEXT:
Is not Hezekiah misleading you, that he may give you over to die by famine and by thirst, when he tells you, "The LORD our God will deliver us from the hand of the king of Assyria"?


BIBLETEXT:
Has not this same Hezekiah taken away his high places and his altars and commanded Judah and Jerusalem, "Before one altar you shall worship, and on it you shall burn your sacrifices"?


BIBLETEXT:
Do you not know what I and my fathers have done to all the peoples of other lands? Were the gods of the nations of those lands at all able to deliver their lands out of my hand?


BIBLETEXT:
Who among all the gods of those nations that my fathers devoted to destruction was able to deliver his people from my hand, that your God should be able to deliver you from my hand?


BIBLETEXT:
Now, therefore, do not let Hezekiah deceive you or mislead you in this fashion, and do not believe him, for no god of any nation or kingdom has been able to deliver his people from my hand or from the hand of my fathers. How much less will your God deliver you out of my hand!'"


BIBLETEXT:
And his servants said still more against the LORD God and against his servant Hezekiah.


BIBLETEXT:
And he wrote letters to cast contempt on the LORD, the God of Israel, and to speak against him, saying, "Like the gods of the nations of the lands who have not delivered their people from my hands, so the God of Hezekiah will not deliver his people from my hand."


BIBLETEXT:
And they shouted it with a loud voice in the language of Judah to the people of Jerusalem who were on the wall, to frighten and terrify them, in order that they might take the city.


BIBLETEXT:
And they spoke of the God of Jerusalem as they spoke of the gods of the peoples of the earth, which are the work of men's hands.


BIBLETEXT:
Then Hezekiah the king and Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz, prayed because of this and cried to heaven.


BIBLETEXT:
And the LORD sent an angel, who cut off all the mighty warriors and commanders and officers in the camp of the king of Assyria. So he returned with shame of face to his own land. And when he came into the house of his god, some of his own sons struck him down there with the sword.


BIBLETEXT:
So the LORD saved Hezekiah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem from the hand of Sennacherib king of Assyria and from the hand of all his enemies, and he provided for them on every side.


BIBLETEXT:
And many brought gifts to the LORD to Jerusalem and precious things to Hezekiah king of Judah, so that he was exalted in the sight of all nations from that time onward.


BIBLETEXT:
In those days Hezekiah became sick and was at the point of death, and he prayed to the LORD, and he answered him and gave him a sign.


BIBLETEXT:
But Hezekiah did not make return according to the benefit done to him, for his heart was proud. Therefore wrath came upon him and Judah and Jerusalem.


BIBLETEXT:
But Hezekiah humbled himself for the pride of his heart, both he and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so that the wrath of the LORD did not come upon them in the days of Hezekiah.


BIBLETEXT:
And Hezekiah had very great riches and honor, and he made for himself treasuries for silver, for gold, for precious stones, for spices, for shields, and for all kinds of costly vessels;


BIBLETEXT:
storehouses also for the yield of grain, wine, and oil; and stalls for all kinds of cattle, and sheepfolds.


BIBLETEXT:
We also asked them their names, for your information, that we might write down the names of their leaders.


BIBLETEXT:
And this was their reply to us: 'We are the servants of the God of heaven and earth, and we are rebuilding the house that was built many years ago, which a great king of Israel built and finished.


BIBLETEXT:
But because our fathers had angered the God of heaven, he gave them into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, the Chaldean, who destroyed this house and carried away the people to Babylonia.


BIBLETEXT:
However, in the first year of Cyrus king of Babylon, Cyrus the king made a decree that this house of God should be rebuilt.


BIBLETEXT:
And the gold and silver vessels of the house of God, which Nebuchadnezzar had taken out of the temple that was in Jerusalem and brought into the temple of Babylon, these Cyrus the king took out of the temple of Babylon, and they were delivered to one whose name was Sheshbazzar, whom he had made governor;


BIBLETEXT:
and he said to him, "Take these vessels, go and put them in the temple that is in Jerusalem, and let the house of God be rebuilt on its site."


BIBLETEXT:
Then this Sheshbazzar came and laid the foundations of the house of God that is in Jerusalem, and from that time until now it has been in building, and it is not yet finished.'


BIBLETEXT:
Therefore, if it seems good to the king, let search be made in the royal archives there in Babylon, to see whether a decree was issued by Cyrus the king for the rebuilding of this house of God in Jerusalem. And let the king send us his pleasure in this matter."


BIBLETEXT:
Then Darius the king made a decree, and search was made in Babylonia, in the house of the archives where the documents were stored.


BIBLETEXT:
And in Ecbatana, the capital that is in the province of Media, a scroll was found on which this was written: "A record.


BIBLETEXT:
In the first year of Cyrus the king, Cyrus the king issued a decree: Concerning the house of God at Jerusalem, let the house be rebuilt, the place where sacrifices were offered, and let its foundations be retained. Its height shall be sixty cubits and its breadth sixty cubits,


BIBLETEXT:
with three layers of great stones and one layer of timber. Let the cost be paid from the royal treasury.


BIBLETEXT:
And also let the gold and silver vessels of the house of God, which Nebuchadnezzar took out of the temple that is in Jerusalem and brought to Babylon, be restored and brought back to the temple that is in Jerusalem, each to its place. You shall put them in the house of God."


BIBLETEXT:
"Now therefore, Tattenai, governor of the province Beyond the River, Shethar-bozenai, and your associates the governors who are in the province Beyond the River, keep away.


BIBLETEXT:
Let the work on this house of God alone. Let the governor of the Jews and the elders of the Jews rebuild this house of God on its site.


BIBLETEXT:
Moreover, I make a decree regarding what you shall do for these elders of the Jews for the rebuilding of this house of God. The cost is to be paid to these men in full and without delay from the royal revenue, the tribute of the province from Beyond the River.


BIBLETEXT:
And whatever is needed--bulls, rams, or sheep for burnt offerings to the God of heaven, wheat, salt, wine, or oil, as the priests at Jerusalem require--let that be given to them day by day without fail,


BIBLETEXT:
that they may offer pleasing sacrifices to the God of heaven and pray for the life of the king and his sons.


BIBLETEXT:
Also I make a decree that if anyone alters this edict, a beam shall be pulled out of his house, and he shall be impaled on it, and his house shall be made a dunghill.


BIBLETEXT:
May the God who has caused his name to dwell there overthrow any king or people who shall put out a hand to alter this, or to destroy this house of God that is in Jerusalem. I Darius make a decree; let it be done with all diligence."


BIBLETEXT:
Then, according to the word sent by Darius the king, Tattenai, the governor of the province Beyond the River, Shethar-bozenai, and their associates did with all diligence what Darius the king had ordered.


BIBLETEXT:
And the elders of the Jews built and prospered through the prophesying of Haggai the prophet and Zechariah the son of Iddo. They finished their building by decree of the God of Israel and by decree of Cyrus and Darius and Artaxerxes king of Persia;


BIBLETEXT:
and this house was finished on the third day of the month of Adar, in the sixth year of the reign of Darius the king.


BIBLETEXT:
And the people of Israel, the priests and the Levites, and the rest of the returned exiles, celebrated the dedication of this house of God with joy.


BIBLETEXT:
They offered at the dedication of this house of God 100 bulls, 200 rams, 400 lambs, and as a sin offering for all Israel 12 male goats, according to the number of the tribes of Israel.


BIBLETEXT:
And they set the priests in their divisions and the Levites in their divisions, for the service of God at Jerusalem, as it is written in the Book of Moses.


BIBLETEXT:
On the fourteenth day of the first month, the returned exiles kept the Passover.


BIBLETEXT:
For the priests and the Levites had purified themselves together; all of them were clean. So they slaughtered the Passover lamb for all the returned exiles, for their fellow priests, and for themselves.


BIBLETEXT:
It was eaten by the people of Israel who had returned from exile, and also by every one who had joined them and separated himself from the uncleanness of the peoples of the land to worship the LORD, the God of Israel.


BIBLETEXT:
And they kept the Feast of Unleavened Bread seven days with joy, for the LORD had made them joyful and had turned the heart of the king of Assyria to them, so that he aided them in the work of the house of God, the God of Israel.


BIBLETEXT:
Now after this, in the reign of Artaxerxes king of Persia, Ezra the son of Seraiah, son of Azariah, son of Hilkiah,


BIBLETEXT:
son of Shallum, son of Zadok, son of Ahitub,


BIBLETEXT:
son of Amariah, son of Azariah, son of Meraioth,


BIBLETEXT:
son of Zerahiah, son of Uzzi, son of Bukki,


BIBLETEXT:
son of Abishua, son of Phinehas, son of Eleazar, son of Aaron the chief priest--


BIBLETEXT:
this Ezra went up from Babylonia. He was a scribe skilled in the Law of Moses that the LORD, the God of Israel, had given, and the king granted him all that he asked, for the hand of the LORD his God was on him.


BIBLETEXT:
And there went up also to Jerusalem, in the seventh year of Artaxerxes the king, some of the people of Israel, and some of the priests and Levites, the singers and gatekeepers, and the temple servants.


BIBLETEXT:
And Ezra came to Jerusalem in the fifth month, which was in the seventh year of the king.


BIBLETEXT:
For on the first day of the first month he began to go up from Babylonia, and on the first day of the fifth month he came to Jerusalem, for the good hand of his God was on him.


BIBLETEXT:
For Ezra had set his heart to study the Law of the LORD, and to do it and to teach his statutes and rules in Israel.


BIBLETEXT:
This is a copy of the letter that King Artaxerxes gave to Ezra the priest, the scribe, a man learned in matters of the commandments of the LORD and his statutes for Israel:


BIBLETEXT:
"Artaxerxes, king of kings, to Ezra the priest, the scribe of the Law of the God of heaven. Peace. And now


BIBLETEXT:
I make a decree that anyone of the people of Israel or their priests or Levites in my kingdom, who freely offers to go to Jerusalem, may go with you.


BIBLETEXT:
For you are sent by the king and his seven counselors to make inquiries about Judah and Jerusalem according to the Law of your God, which is in your hand,


BIBLETEXT:
and also to carry the silver and gold that the king and his counselors have freely offered to the God of Israel, whose dwelling is in Jerusalem,


BIBLETEXT:
with all the silver and gold that you shall find in the whole province of Babylonia, and with the freewill offerings of the people and the priests, vowed willingly for the house of their God that is in Jerusalem.


BIBLETEXT:
With this money, then, you shall with all diligence buy bulls, rams, and lambs, with their grain offerings and their drink offerings, and you shall offer them on the altar of the house of your God that is in Jerusalem.


BIBLETEXT:
Whatever seems good to you and your brothers to do with the rest of the silver and gold, you may do, according to the will of your God.


BIBLETEXT:
The vessels that have been given you for the service of the house of your God, you shall deliver before the God of Jerusalem.


BIBLETEXT:
And whatever else is required for the house of your God, which it falls to you to provide, you may provide it out of the king's treasury.


BIBLETEXT:
"And I, Artaxerxes the king, make a decree to all the treasurers in the province Beyond the River: Whatever Ezra the priest, the scribe of the Law of the God of heaven, requires of you, let it be done with all diligence,


BIBLETEXT:
up to 100 talents of silver, 100 cors of wheat, 100 baths of wine, 100 baths of oil, and salt without prescribing how much.


BIBLETEXT:
Whatever is decreed by the God of heaven, let it be done in full for the house of the God of heaven, lest his wrath be against the realm of the king and his sons.


BIBLETEXT:
We also notify you that it shall not be lawful to impose tribute, custom, or toll on anyone of the priests, the Levites, the singers, the doorkeepers, the temple servants, or other servants of this house of God.


BIBLETEXT:
"And you, Ezra, according to the wisdom of your God that is in your hand, appoint magistrates and judges who may judge all the people in the province Beyond the River, all such as know the laws of your God. And those who do not know them, you shall teach.


BIBLETEXT:
Whoever will not obey the law of your God and the law of the king, let judgment be strictly executed on him, whether for death or for banishment or for confiscation of his goods or for imprisonment."


BIBLETEXT:
Blessed be the LORD, the God of our fathers, who put such a thing as this into the heart of the king, to beautify the house of the LORD that is in Jerusalem,


BIBLETEXT:
and who extended to me his steadfast love before the king and his counselors, and before all the king's mighty officers. I took courage, for the hand of the LORD my God was on me, and I gathered leading men from Israel to go up with me.


BIBLETEXT:
These are the heads of their fathers' houses, and this is the genealogy of those who went up with me from Babylonia, in the reign of Artaxerxes the king:


BIBLETEXT:
Of the sons of Phinehas, Gershom. Of the sons of Ithamar, Daniel. Of the sons of David, Hattush.


BIBLETEXT:
Of the sons of Shecaniah, who was of the sons of Parosh, Zechariah, with whom were registered 150 men.


BIBLETEXT:
Of the sons of Pahath-moab, Eliehoenai the son of Zerahiah, and with him 200 men.


BIBLETEXT:
Of the sons of Zattu, Shecaniah the son of Jahaziel, and with him 300 men.


BIBLETEXT:
Of the sons of Adin, Ebed the son of Jonathan, and with him 50 men.


BIBLETEXT:
Of the sons of Elam, Jeshaiah the son of Athaliah, and with him 70 men.


BIBLETEXT:
Of the sons of Shephatiah, Zebadiah the son of Michael, and with him 80 men.


BIBLETEXT:
Of the sons of Joab, Obadiah the son of Jehiel, and with him 218 men.


BIBLETEXT:
Of the sons of Bani, Shelomith the son of Josiphiah, and with him 160 men.


BIBLETEXT:
Of the sons of Bebai, Zechariah, the son of Bebai, and with him 28 men.


BIBLETEXT:
Of the sons of Azgad, Johanan the son of Hakkatan, and with him 110 men.


BIBLETEXT:
Of the sons of Adonikam, those who came later, their names being Eliphelet, Jeuel, and Shemaiah, and with them 60 men.


BIBLETEXT:
Of the sons of Bigvai, Uthai and Zaccur, and with them 70 men.


BIBLETEXT:
I gathered them to the river that runs to Ahava, and there we camped three days. As I reviewed the people and the priests, I found there none of the sons of Levi.


BIBLETEXT:
Then I sent for Eliezer, Ariel, Shemaiah, Elnathan, Jarib, Elnathan, Nathan, Zechariah, and Meshullam, leading men, and for Joiarib and Elnathan, who were men of insight,


BIBLETEXT:
and sent them to Iddo, the leading man at the place Casiphia, telling them what to say to Iddo and his brothers and the temple servants at the place Casiphia, namely, to send us ministers for the house of our God.


BIBLETEXT:
And by the good hand of our God on us, they brought us a man of discretion, of the sons of Mahli the son of Levi, son of Israel, namely Sherebiah with his sons and kinsmen, 18;


BIBLETEXT:
also Hashabiah, and with him Jeshaiah of the sons of Merari, with his kinsmen and their sons, 20;


BIBLETEXT:
besides 220 of the temple servants, whom David and his officials had set apart to attend the Levites. These were all mentioned by name.


BIBLETEXT:
Then I proclaimed a fast there, at the river Ahava, that we might humble ourselves before our God, to seek from him a safe journey for ourselves, our children, and all our goods.


BIBLETEXT:
For I was ashamed to ask the king for a band of soldiers and horsemen to protect us against the enemy on our way, since we had told the king, "The hand of our God is for good on all who seek him, and the power of his wrath is against all who forsake him."


BIBLETEXT:
So we fasted and implored our God for this, and he listened to our entreaty.


BIBLETEXT:
Then I set apart twelve of the leading priests: Sherebiah, Hashabiah, and ten of their kinsmen with them.


BIBLETEXT:
And I weighed out to them the silver and the gold and the vessels, the offering for the house of our God that the king and his counselors and his lords and all Israel there present had offered.


BIBLETEXT:
I weighed out into their hand 650 talents of silver, and silver vessels worth 200 talents, and 100 talents of gold,


BIBLETEXT:
20 bowls of gold worth 1,000 darics, and two vessels of fine bright bronze as precious as gold.


BIBLETEXT:
And I said to them, "You are holy to the LORD, and the vessels are holy, and the silver and the gold are a freewill offering to the LORD, the God of your fathers.


BIBLETEXT:
He likewise provided cities for himself, and flocks and herds in abundance, for God had given him very great possessions.


BIBLETEXT:
This same Hezekiah closed the upper outlet of the waters of Gihon and directed them down to the west side of the city of David. And Hezekiah prospered in all his works.


BIBLETEXT:
And so in the matter of the envoys of the princes of Babylon, who had been sent to him to inquire about the sign that had been done in the land, God left him to himself, in order to test him and to know all that was in his heart.


BIBLETEXT:
Now the rest of the acts of Hezekiah and his good deeds, behold, they are written in the vision of Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz, in the Book of the Kings of Judah and Israel.


BIBLETEXT:
And Hezekiah slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the upper part of the tombs of the sons of David, and all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem did him honor at his death. And Manasseh his son reigned in his place.


BIBLETEXT:
Manasseh was twelve years old when he began to reign, and he reigned fifty-five years in Jerusalem.


BIBLETEXT:
And he did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, according to the abominations of the nations whom the LORD drove out before the people of Israel.


BIBLETEXT:
For he rebuilt the high places that his father Hezekiah had broken down, and he erected altars to the Baals, and made Asherahs, and worshiped all the host of heaven and served them.


BIBLETEXT:
And he built altars in the house of the LORD, of which the LORD had said, "In Jerusalem shall my name be forever."


BIBLETEXT:
And he burned his sons as an offering in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, and used fortune-telling and omens and sorcery, and dealt with mediums and with necromancers. He did much evil in the sight of the LORD, provoking him to anger.


BIBLETEXT:
And the carved image of the idol that he had made he set in the house of God, of which God said to David and to Solomon his son, "In this house, and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, I will put my name forever,


BIBLETEXT:
and I will no more remove the foot of Israel from the land that I appointed for your fathers, if only they will be careful to do all that I have commanded them, all the law, the statutes, and the rules given through Moses."


BIBLETEXT:
Manasseh led Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem astray, to do more evil than the nations whom the LORD destroyed before the people of Israel.


BIBLETEXT:
The LORD spoke to Manasseh and to his people, but they paid no attention.


BIBLETEXT:
Therefore the LORD brought upon them the commanders of the army of the king of Assyria, who captured Manasseh with hooks and bound him with chains of bronze and brought him to Babylon.


BIBLETEXT:
And when he was in distress, he entreated the favor of the LORD his God and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers.


BIBLETEXT:
He prayed to him, and God was moved by his entreaty and heard his plea and brought him again to Jerusalem into his kingdom. Then Manasseh knew that the LORD was God.


BIBLETEXT:
Afterward he built an outer wall for the city of David west of Gihon, in the valley, and for the entrance into the Fish Gate, and carried it around Ophel, and raised it to a very great height. He also put commanders of the army in all the fortified cities in Judah.


BIBLETEXT:
And he took away the foreign gods and the idol from the house of the LORD, and all the altars that he had built on the mountain of the house of the LORD and in Jerusalem, and he threw them outside of the city.


BIBLETEXT:
He also restored the altar of the LORD and offered on it sacrifices of peace offerings and of thanksgiving, and he commanded Judah to serve the LORD, the God of Israel.


BIBLETEXT:
Nevertheless, the people still sacrificed at the high places, but only to the LORD their God.


BIBLETEXT:
Now the rest of the acts of Manasseh, and his prayer to his God, and the words of the seers who spoke to him in the name of the LORD, the God of Israel, behold, they are in the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel.


BIBLETEXT:
And his prayer, and how God was moved by his entreaty, and all his sin and his faithlessness, and the sites on which he built high places and set up the Asherim and the images, before he humbled himself, behold, they are written in the Chronicles of the Seers.


BIBLETEXT:
So Manasseh slept with his fathers, and they buried him in his house, and Amon his son reigned in his place.


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


BIBLETEXT:
And he did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, as Manasseh his father had done. Amon sacrificed to all the images that Manasseh his father had made, and served them.


BIBLETEXT:
And he did not humble himself before the LORD, as Manasseh his father had humbled himself, but this Amon incurred guilt more and more.


BIBLETEXT:
And his servants conspired against him and put him to death in his house.


BIBLETEXT:
But the people of the land struck down all those who had conspired against King Amon. And the people of the land made Josiah his son king in his place.


BIBLETEXT:
Josiah was eight years old when he began to reign, and he reigned thirty-one years in Jerusalem.


BIBLETEXT:
And he did what was right in the eyes of the LORD, and walked in the ways of David his father; and he did not turn aside to the right hand or to the left.


BIBLETEXT:
For in the eighth year of his reign, while he was yet a boy, he began to seek the God of David his father, and in the twelfth year he began to purge Judah and Jerusalem of the high places, the Asherim, and the carved and the metal images.


BIBLETEXT:
And they chopped down the altars of the Baals in his presence, and he cut down the incense altars that stood above them. And he broke in pieces the Asherim and the carved and the metal images, and he made dust of them and scattered it over the graves of those who had sacrificed to them.


BIBLETEXT:
He also burned the bones of the priests on their altars and cleansed Judah and Jerusalem.


BIBLETEXT:
And in the cities of Manasseh, Ephraim, and Simeon, and as far as Naphtali, in their ruins all around,


BIBLETEXT:
he broke down the altars and beat the Asherim and the images into powder and cut down all the incense altars throughout all the land of Israel. Then he returned to Jerusalem.


BIBLETEXT:
Now in the eighteenth year of his reign, when he had cleansed the land and the house, he sent Shaphan the son of Azaliah, and Maaseiah the governor of the city, and Joah the son of Joahaz, the recorder, to repair the house of the LORD his God.


BIBLETEXT:
They came to Hilkiah the high priest and gave him the money that had been brought into the house of God, which the Levites, the keepers of the threshold, had collected from Manasseh and Ephraim and from all the remnant of Israel and from all Judah and Benjamin and from the inhabitants of Jerusalem.


BIBLETEXT:
And they gave it to the workmen who were working in the house of the LORD. And the workmen who were working in the house of the LORD gave it for repairing and restoring the house.


BIBLETEXT:
They gave it to the carpenters and the builders to buy quarried stone, and timber for binders and beams for the buildings that the kings of Judah had let go to ruin.


BIBLETEXT:
And the men did the work faithfully. Over them were set Jahath and Obadiah the Levites, of the sons of Merari, and Zechariah and Meshullam, of the sons of the Kohathites, to have oversight. The Levites, all who were skillful with instruments of music,


BIBLETEXT:
were over the burden-bearers and directed all who did work in every kind of service, and some of the Levites were scribes and officials and gatekeepers.


BIBLETEXT:
While they were bringing out the money that had been brought into the house of the LORD, Hilkiah the priest found the Book of the Law of the LORD given through Moses.


BIBLETEXT:
Then Hilkiah answered and said to Shaphan the secretary, "I have found the Book of the Law in the house of the LORD." And Hilkiah gave the book to Shaphan.


BIBLETEXT:
Shaphan brought the book to the king, and further reported to the king, "All that was committed to your servants they are doing.


BIBLETEXT:
They have emptied out the money that was found in the house of the LORD and have given it into the hand of the overseers and the workmen."


BIBLETEXT:
Then Shaphan the secretary told the king, "Hilkiah the priest has given me a book." And Shaphan read from it before the king.


BIBLETEXT:
And when the king heard the words of the Law, he tore his clothes.


BIBLETEXT:
And the king commanded Hilkiah, Ahikam the son of Shaphan, Abdon the son of Micah, Shaphan the secretary, and Asaiah the king's servant, saying,


BIBLETEXT:
"Go, inquire of the LORD for me and for those who are left in Israel and in Judah, concerning the words of the book that has been found. For great is the wrath of the LORD that is poured out on us, because our fathers have not kept the word of the LORD, to do according to all that is written in this book."


BIBLETEXT:
So Hilkiah and those whom the king had sent went to Huldah the prophetess, the wife of Shallum the son of Tokhath, son of Hasrah, keeper of the wardrobe (now she lived in Jerusalem in the Second Quarter) and spoke to her to that effect.


BIBLETEXT:
Thus says the LORD, Behold, I will bring disaster upon this place and upon its inhabitants, all the curses that are written in the book that was read before the king of Judah.


BIBLETEXT:
Because they have forsaken me and have made offerings to other gods, that they might provoke me to anger with all the works of their hands, therefore my wrath will be poured out on this place and will not be quenched.


BIBLETEXT:
because your heart was tender and you humbled yourself before God when you heard his words against this place and its inhabitants, and you have humbled yourself before me and have torn your clothes and wept before me, I also have heard you, declares the LORD.


BIBLETEXT:
Behold, I will gather you to your fathers, and you shall be gathered to your grave in peace, and your eyes shall not see all the disaster that I will bring upon this place and its inhabitants.'" And they brought back word to the king.


BIBLETEXT:
Then the king sent and gathered together all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem.


BIBLETEXT:
And the king went up to the house of the LORD, with all the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem and the priests and the Levites, all the people both great and small. And he read in their hearing all the words of the Book of the Covenant that had been found in the house of the LORD.


BIBLETEXT:
And the king stood in his place and made a covenant before the LORD, to walk after the LORD and to keep his commandments and his testimonies and his statutes, with all his heart and all his soul, to perform the words of the covenant that were written in this book.


BIBLETEXT:
Then he made all who were present in Jerusalem and in Benjamin join in it. And the inhabitants of Jerusalem did according to the covenant of God, the God of their fathers.


BIBLETEXT:
And Josiah took away all the abominations from all the territory that belonged to the people of Israel and made all who were present in Israel serve the LORD their God. All his days they did not turn away from following the LORD, the God of their fathers.


BIBLETEXT:
Josiah kept a Passover to the LORD in Jerusalem. And they slaughtered the Passover lamb on the fourteenth day of the first month.


BIBLETEXT:
He appointed the priests to their offices and encouraged them in the service of the house of the LORD.


BIBLETEXT:
And he said to the Levites who taught all Israel and who were holy to the LORD, "Put the holy ark in the house that Solomon the son of David, king of Israel, built. You need not carry it on your shoulders. Now serve the LORD your God and his people Israel.


BIBLETEXT:
Prepare yourselves according to your fathers' houses by your divisions, as prescribed in the writing of David king of Israel and the document of Solomon his son.


BIBLETEXT:
And stand in the Holy Place according to the groupings of the fathers' houses of your brothers the lay people, and according to the division of the Levites by fathers' household.


BIBLETEXT:
And slaughter the Passover lamb, and consecrate yourselves, and prepare for your brothers, to do according to the word of the LORD by Moses."


BIBLETEXT:
Then Josiah contributed to the lay people, as Passover offerings for all who were present, lambs and young goats from the flock to the number of 30,000, and 3,000 bulls; these were from the king's possessions.


BIBLETEXT:
And his officials contributed willingly to the people, to the priests, and to the Levites. Hilkiah, Zechariah, and Jehiel, the chief officers of the house of God, gave to the priests for the Passover offerings 2,600 Passover lambs and 300 bulls.


BIBLETEXT:
Conaniah also, and Shemaiah and Nethanel his brothers, and Hashabiah and Jeiel and Jozabad, the chiefs of the Levites, gave to the Levites for the Passover offerings 5,000 lambs and young goats and 500 bulls.


BIBLETEXT:
When the service had been prepared for, the priests stood in their place, and the Levites in their divisions according to the king's command.


BIBLETEXT:
And they slaughtered the Passover lamb, and the priests threw the blood that they received from them while the Levites flayed the sacrifices.


BIBLETEXT:
And they set aside the burnt offerings that they might distribute them according to the groupings of the fathers' houses of the lay people, to offer to the LORD, as it is written in the Book of Moses. And so they did with the bulls.


BIBLETEXT:
And they roasted the Passover lamb with fire according to the rule; and they boiled the holy offerings in pots, in cauldrons, and in pans, and carried them quickly to all the lay people.


BIBLETEXT:
And afterward they prepared for themselves and for the priests, because the priests, the sons of Aaron, were offering the burnt offerings and the fat parts until night; so the Levites prepared for themselves and for the priests, the sons of Aaron.


BIBLETEXT:
The singers, the sons of Asaph, were in their place according to the command of David, and Asaph, and Heman, and Jeduthun the king's seer; and the gatekeepers were at each gate. They did not need to depart from their service, for their brothers the Levites prepared for them.


BIBLETEXT:
So all the service of the LORD was prepared that day, to keep the Passover and to offer burnt offerings on the altar of the LORD, according to the command of King Josiah.


BIBLETEXT:
And the people of Israel who were present kept the Passover at that time, and the Feast of Unleavened Bread seven days.


BIBLETEXT:
No Passover like it had been kept in Israel since the days of Samuel the prophet. None of the kings of Israel had kept such a Passover as was kept by Josiah, and the priests and the Levites, and all Judah and Israel who were present, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem.


BIBLETEXT:
In the eighteenth year of the reign of Josiah this Passover was kept.


BIBLETEXT:
After all this, when Josiah had prepared the temple, Neco king of Egypt went up to fight at Carchemish on the Euphrates, and Josiah went out to meet him.


BIBLETEXT:
But he sent envoys to him, saying, "What have we to do with each other, king of Judah? I am not coming against you this day, but against the house with which I am at war. And God has commanded me to hurry. Cease opposing God, who is with me, lest he destroy you."


BIBLETEXT:
Nevertheless, Josiah did not turn away from him, but disguised himself in order to fight with him. He did not listen to the words of Neco from the mouth of God, but came to fight in the plain of Megiddo.


BIBLETEXT:
And the archers shot King Josiah. And the king said to his servants, "Take me away, for I am badly wounded."


BIBLETEXT:
So his servants took him out of the chariot and carried him in his second chariot and brought him to Jerusalem. And he died and was buried in the tombs of his fathers. All Judah and Jerusalem mourned for Josiah.


BIBLETEXT:
Jeremiah also uttered a lament for Josiah; and all the singing men and singing women have spoken of Josiah in their laments to this day. They made these a rule in Israel; behold, they are written in the Laments.


BIBLETEXT:
Now the rest of the acts of Josiah, and his good deeds according to what is written in the Law of the LORD,


BIBLETEXT:
and his acts, first and last, behold, they are written in the Book of the Kings of Israel and Judah.


BIBLETEXT:
The people of the land took Jehoahaz the son of Josiah and made him king in his father's place in Jerusalem.


BIBLETEXT:
Jehoahaz was twenty-three years old when he began to reign, and he reigned three months in Jerusalem.


BIBLETEXT:
Then the king of Egypt deposed him in Jerusalem and laid on the land a tribute of a hundred talents of silver and a talent of gold.


BIBLETEXT:
And the king of Egypt made Eliakim his brother king over Judah and Jerusalem, and changed his name to Jehoiakim. But Neco took Jehoahaz his brother and carried him to Egypt.


BIBLETEXT:
Jehoiakim was twenty-five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. He did what was evil in the sight of the LORD his God.


BIBLETEXT:
Against him came up Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and bound him in chains to take him to Babylon.


BIBLETEXT:
Nebuchadnezzar also carried part of the vessels of the house of the LORD to Babylon and put them in his palace in Babylon.


BIBLETEXT:
Now the rest of the acts of Jehoiakim, and the abominations that he did, and what was found against him, behold, they are written in the Book of the Kings of Israel and Judah. And Jehoiachin his son reigned in his place.


BIBLETEXT:
Jehoiachin was eighteen years old when he became king, and he reigned three months and ten days in Jerusalem. He did what was evil in the sight of the LORD.


BIBLETEXT:
In the spring of the year King Nebuchadnezzar sent and brought him to Babylon, with the precious vessels of the house of the LORD, and made his brother Zedekiah king over Judah and Jerusalem.


BIBLETEXT:
Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he began to reign, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem.


BIBLETEXT:
He did what was evil in the sight of the LORD his God. He did not humble himself before Jeremiah the prophet, who spoke from the mouth of the LORD.


BIBLETEXT:
He also rebelled against King Nebuchadnezzar, who had made him swear by God. He stiffened his neck and hardened his heart against turning to the LORD, the God of Israel.


BIBLETEXT:
All the officers of the priests and the people likewise were exceedingly unfaithful, following all the abominations of the nations. And they polluted the house of the LORD that he had made holy in Jerusalem.


BIBLETEXT:
The LORD, the God of their fathers, sent persistently to them by his messengers, because he had compassion on his people and on his dwelling place.


BIBLETEXT:
But they kept mocking the messengers of God, despising his words and scoffing at his prophets, until the wrath of the LORD rose against his people, until there was no remedy.


BIBLETEXT:
Therefore he brought up against them the king of the Chaldeans, who killed their young men with the sword in the house of their sanctuary and had no compassion on young man or virgin, old man or aged. He gave them all into his hand.


BIBLETEXT:
And all the vessels of the house of God, great and small, and the treasures of the house of the LORD, and the treasures of the king and of his princes, all these he brought to Babylon.


BIBLETEXT:
And they burned the house of God and broke down the wall of Jerusalem and burned all its palaces with fire and destroyed all its precious vessels.


BIBLETEXT:
He took into exile in Babylon those who had escaped from the sword, and they became servants to him and to his sons until the establishment of the kingdom of Persia,


BIBLETEXT:
to fulfill the word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah, until the land had enjoyed its Sabbaths. All the days that it lay desolate it kept Sabbath, to fulfill seventy years.


BIBLETEXT:
Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled, the LORD stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, so that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom and also put it in writing:


BIBLETEXT:
"Thus says Cyrus king of Persia, 'The LORD, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth, and he has charged me to build him a house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Whoever is among you of all his people, may the LORD his God be with him. Let him go up.'"


BIBLETEXT:
In the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled, the LORD stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, so that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom and also put it in writing:


BIBLETEXT:
"Thus says Cyrus king of Persia: The LORD, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth, and he has charged me to build him a house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah.


BIBLETEXT:
Whoever is among you of all his people, may his God be with him, and let him go up to Jerusalem, which is in Judah, and rebuild the house of the LORD, the God of Israel--he is the God who is in Jerusalem.


BIBLETEXT:
And let each survivor, in whatever place he sojourns, be assisted by the men of his place with silver and gold, with goods and with beasts, besides freewill offerings for the house of God that is in Jerusalem."


BIBLETEXT:
Then rose up the heads of the fathers' houses of Judah and Benjamin, and the priests and the Levites, everyone whose spirit God had stirred to go up to rebuild the house of the LORD that is in Jerusalem.


BIBLETEXT:
And all who were about them aided them with vessels of silver, with gold, with goods, with beasts, and with costly wares, besides all that was freely offered.


BIBLETEXT:
Cyrus the king also brought out the vessels of the house of the LORD that Nebuchadnezzar had carried away from Jerusalem and placed in the house of his gods.


BIBLETEXT:
Cyrus king of Persia brought these out in the charge of Mithredath the treasurer, who counted them out to Sheshbazzar the prince of Judah.


BIBLETEXT:
And this was the number of them: 30 basins of gold, 1,000 basins of silver, 29 censers,


BIBLETEXT:
30 bowls of gold, 410 bowls of silver, and 1,000 other vessels;


BIBLETEXT:
all the vessels of gold and of silver were 5,400. All these did Sheshbazzar bring up, when the exiles were brought up from Babylonia to Jerusalem.


BIBLETEXT:
Now these were the people of the province who came up out of the captivity of those exiles whom Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon had carried captive to Babylonia. They returned to Jerusalem and Judah, each to his own town.


BIBLETEXT:
They came with Zerubbabel, Jeshua, Nehemiah, Seraiah, Reelaiah, Mordecai, Bilshan, Mispar, Bigvai, Rehum, and Baanah. The number of the men of the people of Israel:


BIBLETEXT:
The sons of Pahath-moab, namely the sons of Jeshua and Joab, 2,812.


BIBLETEXT:
The sons of Ater, namely of Hezekiah, 98.


BIBLETEXT:
The sons of Kiriath-arim, Chephirah, and Beeroth, 743.


BIBLETEXT:
The priests: the sons of Jedaiah, of the house of Jeshua, 973.


BIBLETEXT:
The Levites: the sons of Jeshua and Kadmiel, of the sons of Hodaviah, 74.


BIBLETEXT:
The sons of the gatekeepers: the sons of Shallum, the sons of Ater, the sons of Talmon, the sons of Akkub, the sons of Hatita, and the sons of Shobai, in all 139.


BIBLETEXT:
The temple servants: the sons of Ziha, the sons of Hasupha, the sons of Tabbaoth,


BIBLETEXT:
the sons of Keros, the sons of Siaha, the sons of Padon,


BIBLETEXT:
the sons of Lebanah, the sons of Hagabah, the sons of Akkub,


BIBLETEXT:
the sons of Hagab, the sons of Shamlai, the sons of Hanan,


BIBLETEXT:
the sons of Giddel, the sons of Gahar, the sons of Reaiah,


BIBLETEXT:
the sons of Rezin, the sons of Nekoda, the sons of Gazzam,


BIBLETEXT:
the sons of Uzza, the sons of Paseah, the sons of Besai,


BIBLETEXT:
the sons of Asnah, the sons of Meunim, the sons of Nephisim,


BIBLETEXT:
the sons of Bakbuk, the sons of Hakupha, the sons of Harhur,


BIBLETEXT:
the sons of Bazluth, the sons of Mehida, the sons of Harsha,


BIBLETEXT:
the sons of Barkos, the sons of Sisera, the sons of Temah,


BIBLETEXT:
the sons of Neziah, and the sons of Hatipha.


BIBLETEXT:
The sons of Solomon's servants: the sons of Sotai, the sons of Hassophereth, the sons of Peruda,


BIBLETEXT:
the sons of Jaalah, the sons of Darkon, the sons of Giddel,


BIBLETEXT:
the sons of Shephatiah, the sons of Hattil, the sons of Pochereth-hazzebaim, and the sons of Ami.


BIBLETEXT:
All the temple servants and the sons of Solomon's servants were 392.


BIBLETEXT:
The following were those who came up from Tel-melah, Tel-harsha, Cherub, Addan, and Immer, though they could not prove their fathers' houses or their descent, whether they belonged to Israel:


BIBLETEXT:
the sons of Delaiah, the sons of Tobiah, and the sons of Nekoda, 652.


BIBLETEXT:
Also, of the sons of the priests: the sons of Habaiah, the sons of Hakkoz, and the sons of Barzillai (who had taken a wife from the daughters of Barzillai the Gileadite, and was called by their name).


BIBLETEXT:
These sought their registration among those enrolled in the genealogies, but they were not found there, and so they were excluded from the priesthood as unclean.


BIBLETEXT:
The governor told them that they were not to partake of the most holy food, until there should be a priest to consult Urim and Thummim.


BIBLETEXT:
besides their male and female servants, of whom there were 7,337, and they had 200 male and female singers.


BIBLETEXT:
Their horses were 736, their mules were 245,


BIBLETEXT:
their camels were 435, and their donkeys were 6,720.


BIBLETEXT:
Some of the heads of families, when they came to the house of the LORD that is in Jerusalem, made freewill offerings for the house of God, to erect it on its site.


BIBLETEXT:
According to their ability they gave to the treasury of the work 61,000 darics of gold, 5,000 minas of silver, and 100 priests' garments.


BIBLETEXT:
Now the priests, the Levites, some of the people, the singers, the gatekeepers, and the temple servants lived in their towns, and all the rest of Israel in their towns.


BIBLETEXT:
When the seventh month came, and the children of Israel were in the towns, the people gathered as one man to Jerusalem.


BIBLETEXT:
Then arose Jeshua the son of Jozadak, with his fellow priests, and Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel with his kinsmen, and they built the altar of the God of Israel, to offer burnt offerings on it, as it is written in the Law of Moses the man of God.


BIBLETEXT:
They set the altar in its place, for fear was on them because of the peoples of the lands, and they offered burnt offerings on it to the LORD, burnt offerings morning and evening.


BIBLETEXT:
And they kept the Feast of Booths, as it is written, and offered the daily burnt offerings by number according to the rule, as each day required,


BIBLETEXT:
and after that the regular burnt offerings, the offerings at the new moon and at all the appointed feasts of the LORD, and the offerings of everyone who made a freewill offering to the LORD.


BIBLETEXT:
From the first day of the seventh month they began to offer burnt offerings to the LORD. But the foundation of the temple of the LORD was not yet laid.


BIBLETEXT:
So they gave money to the masons and the carpenters, and food, drink, and oil to the Sidonians and the Tyrians to bring cedar trees from Lebanon to the sea, to Joppa, according to the grant that they had from Cyrus king of Persia.


BIBLETEXT:
Now in the second year after their coming to the house of God at Jerusalem, in the second month, Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel and Jeshua the son of Jozadak made a beginning, together with the rest of their kinsmen, the priests and the Levites and all who had come to Jerusalem from the captivity. They appointed the Levites, from twenty years old and upward, to supervise the work of the house of the LORD.


BIBLETEXT:
And Jeshua with his sons and his brothers, and Kadmiel and his sons, the sons of Judah, together supervised the workmen in the house of God, along with the sons of Henadad and the Levites, their sons and brothers.


BIBLETEXT:
And when the builders laid the foundation of the temple of the LORD, the priests in their vestments came forward with trumpets, and the Levites, the sons of Asaph, with cymbals, to praise the LORD, according to the directions of David king of Israel.


BIBLETEXT:
And they sang responsively, praising and giving thanks to the LORD, "For he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever toward Israel." And all the people shouted with a great shout when they praised the LORD, because the foundation of the house of the LORD was laid.


BIBLETEXT:
But many of the priests and Levites and heads of fathers' houses, old men who had seen the first house, wept with a loud voice when they saw the foundation of this house being laid, though many shouted aloud for joy,


BIBLETEXT:
so that the people could not distinguish the sound of the joyful shout from the sound of the people's weeping, for the people shouted with a great shout, and the sound was heard far away.


BIBLETEXT:
Now when the adversaries of Judah and Benjamin heard that the returned exiles were building a temple to the LORD, the God of Israel,


BIBLETEXT:
they approached Zerubbabel and the heads of fathers' houses and said to them, "Let us build with you, for we worship your God as you do, and we have been sacrificing to him ever since the days of Esarhaddon king of Assyria who brought us here."


BIBLETEXT:
But Zerubbabel, Jeshua, and the rest of the heads of fathers' houses in Israel said to them, "You have nothing to do with us in building a house to our God; but we alone will build to the LORD, the God of Israel, as King Cyrus the king of Persia has commanded us."


BIBLETEXT:
Then the people of the land discouraged the people of Judah and made them afraid to build


BIBLETEXT:
and bribed counselors against them to frustrate their purpose, all the days of Cyrus king of Persia, even until the reign of Darius king of Persia.


BIBLETEXT:
And in the reign of Ahasuerus, in the beginning of his reign, they wrote an accusation against the inhabitants of Judah and Jerusalem.


BIBLETEXT:
In the days of Artaxerxes, Bishlam and Mithredath and Tabeel and the rest of their associates wrote to Artaxerxes king of Persia. The letter was written in Aramaic and translated.


BIBLETEXT:
Rehum the commander and Shimshai the scribe wrote a letter against Jerusalem to Artaxerxes the king as follows:


BIBLETEXT:
Rehum the commander, Shimshai the scribe, and the rest of their associates, the judges, the governors, the officials, the Persians, the men of Erech, the Babylonians, the men of Susa, that is, the Elamites,


BIBLETEXT:
and the rest of the nations whom the great and noble Osnappar deported and settled in the cities of Samaria and in the rest of the province Beyond the River.


BIBLETEXT:
(This is a copy of the letter that they sent.) "To Artaxerxes the king: Your servants, the men of the province Beyond the River, send greeting. And now


BIBLETEXT:
be it known to the king that the Jews who came up from you to us have gone to Jerusalem. They are rebuilding that rebellious and wicked city. They are finishing the walls and repairing the foundations.


BIBLETEXT:
Now be it known to the king that if this city is rebuilt and the walls finished, they will not pay tribute, custom, or toll, and the royal revenue will be impaired.


BIBLETEXT:
Now because we eat the salt of the palace and it is not fitting for us to witness the king's dishonor, therefore we send and inform the king,


BIBLETEXT:
in order that search may be made in the book of the records of your fathers. You will find in the book of the records and learn that this city is a rebellious city, hurtful to kings and provinces, and that sedition was stirred up in it from of old. That was why this city was laid waste.


BIBLETEXT:
We make known to the king that if this city is rebuilt and its walls finished, you will then have no possession in the province Beyond the River."


BIBLETEXT:
The king sent an answer: "To Rehum the commander and Shimshai the scribe and the rest of their associates who live in Samaria and in the rest of the province Beyond the River, greeting. And now


BIBLETEXT:
the letter that you sent to us has been plainly read before me.


BIBLETEXT:
And I made a decree, and search has been made, and it has been found that this city from of old has risen against kings, and that rebellion and sedition have been made in it.


BIBLETEXT:
And mighty kings have been over Jerusalem, who ruled over the whole province Beyond the River, to whom tribute, custom, and toll were paid.


BIBLETEXT:
Therefore make a decree that these men be made to cease, and that this city be not rebuilt, until a decree is made by me.


BIBLETEXT:
And take care not to be slack in this matter. Why should damage grow to the hurt of the king?"


BIBLETEXT:
Then, when the copy of King Artaxerxes' letter was read before Rehum and Shimshai the scribe and their associates, they went in haste to the Jews at Jerusalem and by force and power made them cease.


BIBLETEXT:
Then the work on the house of God that is in Jerusalem stopped, and it ceased until the second year of the reign of Darius king of Persia.


BIBLETEXT:
Now the prophets, Haggai and Zechariah the son of Iddo, prophesied to the Jews who were in Judah and Jerusalem, in the name of the God of Israel who was over them.


BIBLETEXT:
Then Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel and Jeshua the son of Jozadak arose and began to rebuild the house of God that is in Jerusalem, and the prophets of God were with them, supporting them.


BIBLETEXT:
At the same time Tattenai the governor of the province Beyond the River and Shethar-bozenai and their associates came to them and spoke to them thus: "Who gave you a decree to build this house and to finish this structure?"


BIBLETEXT:
They also asked them this: "What are the names of the men who are building this building?"


BIBLETEXT:
But the eye of their God was on the elders of the Jews, and they did not stop them until the report should reach Darius and then an answer be returned by letter concerning it.


BIBLETEXT:
This is a copy of the letter that Tattenai the governor of the province Beyond the River and Shethar-bozenai and his associates, the governors who were in the province Beyond the River, sent to Darius the king.


BIBLETEXT:
They sent him a report, in which was written as follows: "To Darius the king, all peace.


BIBLETEXT:
Be it known to the king that we went to the province of Judah, to the house of the great God. It is being built with huge stones, and timber is laid in the walls. This work goes on diligently and prospers in their hands.


BIBLETEXT:
Then we asked those elders and spoke to them thus: 'Who gave you a decree to build this house and to finish this structure?'


BIBLETEXT:
Guard them and keep them until you weigh them before the chief priests and the Levites and the heads of fathers' houses in Israel at Jerusalem, within the chambers of the house of the LORD."


BIBLETEXT:
So the priests and the Levites took over the weight of the silver and the gold and the vessels, to bring them to Jerusalem, to the house of our God.


BIBLETEXT:
Then we departed from the river Ahava on the twelfth day of the first month, to go to Jerusalem. The hand of our God was on us, and he delivered us from the hand of the enemy and from ambushes by the way.


BIBLETEXT:
We came to Jerusalem, and there we remained three days.


BIBLETEXT:
On the fourth day, within the house of our God, the silver and the gold and the vessels were weighed into the hands of Meremoth the priest, son of Uriah, and with him was Eleazar the son of Phinehas, and with them were the Levites, Jozabad the son of Jeshua and Noadiah the son of Binnui.


BIBLETEXT:
The whole was counted and weighed, and the weight of everything was recorded.


BIBLETEXT:
At that time those who had come from captivity, the returned exiles, offered burnt offerings to the God of Israel, twelve bulls for all Israel, ninety-six rams, seventy-seven lambs, and as a sin offering twelve male goats. All this was a burnt offering to the LORD.


BIBLETEXT:
They also delivered the king's commissions to the king's satraps and to the governors of the province Beyond the River, and they aided the people and the house of God.


BIBLETEXT:
After these things had been done, the officials approached me and said, "The people of Israel and the priests and the Levites have not separated themselves from the peoples of the lands with their abominations, from the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Jebusites, the Ammonites, the Moabites, the Egyptians, and the Amorites.


BIBLETEXT:
For they have taken some of their daughters to be wives for themselves and for their sons, so that the holy race has mixed itself with the peoples of the lands. And in this faithlessness the hand of the officials and chief men has been foremost."


BIBLETEXT:
As soon as I heard this, I tore my garment and my cloak and pulled hair from my head and beard and sat appalled.


BIBLETEXT:
Then all who trembled at the words of the God of Israel, because of the faithlessness of the returned exiles, gathered around me while I sat appalled until the evening sacrifice.


BIBLETEXT:
And at the evening sacrifice I rose from my fasting, with my garment and my cloak torn, and fell upon my knees and spread out my hands to the LORD my God,


BIBLETEXT:
saying: "O my God, I am ashamed and blush to lift my face to you, my God, for our iniquities have risen higher than our heads, and our guilt has mounted up to the heavens.


BIBLETEXT:
From the days of our fathers to this day we have been in great guilt. And for our iniquities we, our kings, and our priests have been given into the hand of the kings of the lands, to the sword, to captivity, to plundering, and to utter shame, as it is today.


BIBLETEXT:
But now for a brief moment favor has been shown by the LORD our God, to leave us a remnant and to give us a secure hold within his holy place, that our God may brighten our eyes and grant us a little reviving in our slavery.


BIBLETEXT:
For we are slaves. Yet our God has not forsaken us in our slavery, but has extended to us his steadfast love before the kings of Persia, to grant us some reviving to set up the house of our God, to repair its ruins, and to give us protection in Judea and Jerusalem.


BIBLETEXT:
"And now, O our God, what shall we say after this? For we have forsaken your commandments,


BIBLETEXT:
which you commanded by your servants the prophets, saying, 'The land that you are entering, to take possession of it, is a land impure with the impurity of the peoples of the lands, with their abominations that have filled it from end to end with their uncleanness.


BIBLETEXT:
Therefore do not give your daughters to their sons, neither take their daughters for your sons, and never seek their peace or prosperity, that you may be strong and eat the good of the land and leave it for an inheritance to your children forever.'


BIBLETEXT:
And after all that has come upon us for our evil deeds and for our great guilt, seeing that you, our God, have punished us less than our iniquities deserved and have given us such a remnant as this,


BIBLETEXT:
shall we break your commandments again and intermarry with the peoples who practice these abominations? Would you not be angry with us until you consumed us, so that there should be no remnant, nor any to escape?


BIBLETEXT:
O LORD, the God of Israel, you are just, for we are left a remnant that has escaped, as it is today. Behold, we are before you in our guilt, for none can stand before you because of this."


BIBLETEXT:
While Ezra prayed and made confession, weeping and casting himself down before the house of God, a very great assembly of men, women, and children, gathered to him out of Israel, for the people wept bitterly.


BIBLETEXT:
And Shecaniah the son of Jehiel, of the sons of Elam, addressed Ezra: "We have broken faith with our God and have married foreign women from the peoples of the land, but even now there is hope for Israel in spite of this.


BIBLETEXT:
Therefore let us make a covenant with our God to put away all these wives and their children, according to the counsel of my lord and of those who tremble at the commandment of our God, and let it be done according to the Law.


BIBLETEXT:
Arise, for it is your task, and we are with you; be strong and do it."


BIBLETEXT:
Then Ezra arose and made the leading priests and Levites and all Israel take oath that they would do as had been said. So they took the oath.


BIBLETEXT:
Then Ezra withdrew from before the house of God and went to the chamber of Jehohanan the son of Eliashib, where he spent the night, neither eating bread nor drinking water, for he was mourning over the faithlessness of the exiles.


BIBLETEXT:
And a proclamation was made throughout Judah and Jerusalem to all the returned exiles that they should assemble at Jerusalem,


BIBLETEXT:
and that if anyone did not come within three days, by order of the officials and the elders all his property should be forfeited, and he himself banned from the congregation of the exiles.


BIBLETEXT:
Then all the men of Judah and Benjamin assembled at Jerusalem within the three days. It was the ninth month, on the twentieth day of the month. And all the people sat in the open square before the house of God, trembling because of this matter and because of the heavy rain.


BIBLETEXT:
And Ezra the priest stood up and said to them, "You have broken faith and married foreign women, and so increased the guilt of Israel.


BIBLETEXT:
Now then make confession to the LORD, the God of your fathers and do his will. Separate yourselves from the peoples of the land and from the foreign wives."


BIBLETEXT:
Then all the assembly answered with a loud voice, "It is so; we must do as you have said.


BIBLETEXT:
But the people are many, and it is a time of heavy rain; we cannot stand in the open. Nor is this a task for one day or for two, for we have greatly transgressed in this matter.


BIBLETEXT:
Let our officials stand for the whole assembly. Let all in our cities who have taken foreign wives come at appointed times, and with them the elders and judges of every city, until the fierce wrath of our God over this matter is turned away from us."


BIBLETEXT:
Only Jonathan the son of Asahel and Jahzeiah the son of Tikvah opposed this, and Meshullam and Shabbethai the Levite supported them.


BIBLETEXT:
Then the returned exiles did so. Ezra the priest selected men, heads of fathers' houses, according to their fathers' houses, each of them designated by name. On the first day of the tenth month they sat down to examine the matter;


BIBLETEXT:
and by the first day of the first month they had come to the end of all the men who had married foreign women.


BIBLETEXT:
Now there were found some of the sons of the priests who had married foreign women: Maaseiah, Eliezer, Jarib, and Gedaliah, some of the sons of Jeshua the son of Jozadak and his brothers.


BIBLETEXT:
They pledged themselves to put away their wives, and their guilt offering was a ram of the flock for their guilt.


BIBLETEXT:
Of the sons of Immer: Hanani and Zebadiah.


BIBLETEXT:
Of the sons of Harim: Maaseiah, Elijah, Shemaiah, Jehiel, and Uzziah.


BIBLETEXT:
Of the sons of Pashhur: Elioenai, Maaseiah, Ishmael, Nethanel, Jozabad, and Elasah.


BIBLETEXT:
Of the Levites: Jozabad, Shimei, Kelaiah (that is, Kelita), Pethahiah, Judah, and Eliezer.


BIBLETEXT:
Of the singers: Eliashib. Of the gatekeepers: Shallum, Telem, and Uri.


BIBLETEXT:
And of Israel: of the sons of Parosh: Ramiah, Izziah, Malchijah, Mijamin, Eleazar, Hashabiah, and Benaiah.


BIBLETEXT:
Of the sons of Elam: Mattaniah, Zechariah, Jehiel, Abdi, Jeremoth, and Elijah.


BIBLETEXT:
Of the sons of Zattu: Elioenai, Eliashib, Mattaniah, Jeremoth, Zabad, and Aziza.


BIBLETEXT:
Of the sons of Bebai were Jehohanan, Hananiah, Zabbai, and Athlai.


BIBLETEXT:
Of the sons of Bani were Meshullam, Malluch, Adaiah, Jashub, Sheal, and Jeremoth.


BIBLETEXT:
Of the sons of Pahath-moab: Adna, Chelal, Benaiah, Maaseiah, Mattaniah, Bezalel, Binnui, and Manasseh.


BIBLETEXT:
Of the sons of Harim: Eliezer, Isshijah, Malchijah, Shemaiah, Shimeon,


BIBLETEXT:
Of the sons of Hashum: Mattenai, Mattattah, Zabad, Eliphelet, Jeremai, Manasseh, and Shimei.


BIBLETEXT:
Of the sons of Bani: Maadai, Amram, Uel,


BIBLETEXT:
Of the sons of Nebo: Jeiel, Mattithiah, Zabad, Zebina, Jaddai, Joel, and Benaiah.


BIBLETEXT:
All these had married foreign women, and some of the women had even borne children.


BIBLETEXT:
The words of Nehemiah the son of Hacaliah. Now it happened in the month of Chislev, in the twentieth year, as I was in Susa the capital,


BIBLETEXT:
that Hanani, one of my brothers, came with certain men from Judah. And I asked them concerning the Jews who escaped, who had survived the exile, and concerning Jerusalem.


BIBLETEXT:
And they said to me, "The remnant there in the province who had survived the exile is in great trouble and shame. The wall of Jerusalem is broken down, and its gates are destroyed by fire."


BIBLETEXT:
As soon as I heard these words I sat down and wept and mourned for days, and I continued fasting and praying before the God of heaven.


BIBLETEXT:
And I said, "O LORD God of heaven, the great and awesome God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments,


BIBLETEXT:
let your ear be attentive and your eyes open, to hear the prayer of your servant that I now pray before you day and night for the people of Israel your servants, confessing the sins of the people of Israel, which we have sinned against you. Even I and my father's house have sinned.


BIBLETEXT:
We have acted very corruptly against you and have not kept the commandments, the statutes, and the rules that you commanded your servant Moses.


BIBLETEXT:
Remember the word that you commanded your servant Moses, saying, 'If you are unfaithful, I will scatter you among the peoples,


BIBLETEXT:
but if you return to me and keep my commandments and do them, though your outcasts are in the uttermost parts of heaven, from there I will gather them and bring them to the place that I have chosen, to make my name dwell there.'


BIBLETEXT:
They are your servants and your people, whom you have redeemed by your great power and by your strong hand.


BIBLETEXT:
O Lord, let your ear be attentive to the prayer of your servant, and to the prayer of your servants who delight to fear your name, and give success to your servant today, and grant him mercy in the sight of this man." Now I was cupbearer to the king.


BIBLETEXT:
In the month of Nisan, in the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes, when wine was before him, I took up the wine and gave it to the king. Now I had not been sad in his presence.


BIBLETEXT:
And the king said to me, "Why is your face sad, seeing you are not sick? This is nothing but sadness of the heart." Then I was very much afraid.


BIBLETEXT:
I said to the king, "Let the king live forever! Why should not my face be sad, when the city, the place of my fathers' graves, lies in ruins, and its gates have been destroyed by fire?"


BIBLETEXT:
Then the king said to me, "What are you requesting?" So I prayed to the God of heaven.


BIBLETEXT:
And I said to the king, "If it pleases the king, and if your servant has found favor in your sight, that you send me to Judah, to the city of my fathers' graves, that I may rebuild it."


BIBLETEXT:
And the king said to me (the queen sitting beside him), "How long will you be gone, and when will you return?" So it pleased the king to send me when I had given him a time.


BIBLETEXT:
And I said to the king, "If it pleases the king, let letters be given me to the governors of the province Beyond the River, that they may let me pass through until I come to Judah,


BIBLETEXT:
and a letter to Asaph, the keeper of the king's forest, that he may give me timber to make beams for the gates of the fortress of the temple, and for the wall of the city, and for the house that I shall occupy." And the king granted me what I asked, for the good hand of my God was upon me.


BIBLETEXT:
Then I came to the governors of the province Beyond the River and gave them the king's letters. Now the king had sent with me officers of the army and horsemen.


BIBLETEXT:
But when Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the Ammonite servant heard this, it displeased them greatly that someone had come to seek the welfare of the people of Israel.


BIBLETEXT:
So I went to Jerusalem and was there three days.


BIBLETEXT:
Then I arose in the night, I and a few men with me. And I told no one what my God had put into my heart to do for Jerusalem. There was no animal with me but the one on which I rode.


BIBLETEXT:
I went out by night by the Valley Gate to the Dragon Spring and to the Dung Gate, and I inspected the walls of Jerusalem that were broken down and its gates that had been destroyed by fire.


BIBLETEXT:
Then I went on to the Fountain Gate and to the King's Pool, but there was no room for the animal that was under me to pass.


BIBLETEXT:
Then I went up in the night by the valley and inspected the wall, and I turned back and entered by the Valley Gate, and so returned.


BIBLETEXT:
And the officials did not know where I had gone or what I was doing, and I had not yet told the Jews, the priests, the nobles, the officials, and the rest who were to do the work.


BIBLETEXT:
Then I said to them, "You see the trouble we are in, how Jerusalem lies in ruins with its gates burned. Come, let us build the wall of Jerusalem, that we may no longer suffer derision."


BIBLETEXT:
And I told them of the hand of my God that had been upon me for good, and also of the words that the king had spoken to me. And they said, "Let us rise up and build." So they strengthened their hands for the good work.


BIBLETEXT:
But when Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the Ammonite servant and Geshem the Arab heard of it, they jeered at us and despised us and said, "What is this thing that you are doing? Are you rebelling against the king?"


BIBLETEXT:
Then I replied to them, "The God of heaven will make us prosper, and we his servants will arise and build, but you have no portion or right or claim in Jerusalem."


BIBLETEXT:
Then Eliashib the high priest rose up with his brothers the priests, and they built the Sheep Gate. They consecrated it and set its doors. They consecrated it as far as the Tower of the Hundred, as far as the Tower of Hananel.


BIBLETEXT:
And next to him the men of Jericho built. And next to them Zaccur the son of Imri built.


BIBLETEXT:
The sons of Hassenaah built the Fish Gate. They laid its beams and set its doors, its bolts, and its bars.


BIBLETEXT:
And next to them Meremoth the son of Uriah, son of Hakkoz repaired. And next to them Meshullam the son of Berechiah, son of Meshezabel repaired. And next to them Zadok the son of Baana repaired.


BIBLETEXT:
And next to them the Tekoites repaired, but their nobles would not stoop to serve their Lord.


BIBLETEXT:
Joiada the son of Paseah and Meshullam the son of Besodeiah repaired the Gate of Yeshanah. They laid its beams and set its doors, its bolts, and its bars.


BIBLETEXT:
And next to them repaired Melatiah the Gibeonite and Jadon the Meronothite, the men of Gibeon and of Mizpah, the seat of the governor of the province Beyond the River.


BIBLETEXT:
Next to them Uzziel the son of Harhaiah, goldsmiths, repaired. Next to him Hananiah, one of the perfumers, repaired, and they restored Jerusalem as far as the Broad Wall.


BIBLETEXT:
Next to them Rephaiah the son of Hur, ruler of half the district of Jerusalem, repaired.


BIBLETEXT:
Next to them Jedaiah the son of Harumaph repaired opposite his house. And next to him Hattush the son of Hashabneiah repaired.


BIBLETEXT:
Malchijah the son of Harim and Hasshub the son of Pahath-moab repaired another section and the Tower of the Ovens.


BIBLETEXT:
Next to him Shallum the son of Hallohesh, ruler of half the district of Jerusalem, repaired, he and his daughters.


BIBLETEXT:
Hanun and the inhabitants of Zanoah repaired the Valley Gate. They rebuilt it and set its doors, its bolts, and its bars, and repaired a thousand cubits of the wall, as far as the Dung Gate.


BIBLETEXT:
Malchijah the son of Rechab, ruler of the district of Beth-haccherem, repaired the Dung Gate. He rebuilt it and set its doors, its bolts, and its bars.


BIBLETEXT:
And Shallum the son of Col-hozeh, ruler of the district of Mizpah, repaired the Fountain Gate. He rebuilt it and covered it and set its doors, its bolts, and its bars. And he built the wall of the Pool of Shelah of the king's garden, as far as the stairs that go down from the city of David.


BIBLETEXT:
After him Nehemiah the son of Azbuk, ruler of half the district of Beth-zur, repaired to a point opposite the tombs of David, as far as the artificial pool, and as far as the house of the mighty men.


BIBLETEXT:
After him the Levites repaired: Rehum the son of Bani. Next to him Hashabiah, ruler of half the district of Keilah, repaired for his district.


BIBLETEXT:
After him their brothers repaired: Bavvai the son of Henadad, ruler of half the district of Keilah.


BIBLETEXT:
Next to him Ezer the son of Jeshua, ruler of Mizpah, repaired another section opposite the ascent to the armory at the buttress.


BIBLETEXT:
After him Baruch the son of Zabbai repaired another section from the buttress to the door of the house of Eliashib the high priest.


BIBLETEXT:
After him Meremoth the son of Uriah, son of Hakkoz repaired another section from the door of the house of Eliashib to the end of the house of Eliashib.


BIBLETEXT:
After him the priests, the men of the surrounding area, repaired.


BIBLETEXT:
After them Benjamin and Hasshub repaired opposite their house. After them Azariah the son of Maaseiah, son of Ananiah repaired beside his own house.


BIBLETEXT:
After him Binnui the son of Henadad repaired another section, from the house of Azariah to the buttress


BIBLETEXT:
and to the corner. Palal the son of Uzai repaired opposite the buttress and the tower projecting from the upper house of the king at the court of the guard. After him Pedaiah the son of Parosh


BIBLETEXT:
and the temple servants living on Ophel repaired to a point opposite the Water Gate on the east and the projecting tower.


BIBLETEXT:
After him the Tekoites repaired another section opposite the great projecting tower as far as the wall of Ophel.


BIBLETEXT:
Above the Horse Gate the priests repaired, each one opposite his own house.


BIBLETEXT:
After them Zadok the son of Immer repaired opposite his own house. After him Shemaiah the son of Shecaniah, the keeper of the East Gate, repaired.


BIBLETEXT:
After him Hananiah the son of Shelemiah and Hanun the sixth son of Zalaph repaired another section. After him Meshullam the son of Berechiah repaired opposite his chamber.


BIBLETEXT:
After him Malchijah, one of the goldsmiths, repaired as far as the house of the temple servants and of the merchants, opposite the Muster Gate, and to the upper chamber of the corner.


BIBLETEXT:
And between the upper chamber of the corner and the Sheep Gate the goldsmiths and the merchants repaired.


BIBLETEXT:
Now when Sanballat heard that we were building the wall, he was angry and greatly enraged, and he jeered at the Jews.


BIBLETEXT:
And he said in the presence of his brothers and of the army of Samaria, "What are these feeble Jews doing? Will they restore it for themselves? Will they sacrifice? Will they finish up in a day? Will they revive the stones out of the heaps of rubbish, and burned ones at that?"


BIBLETEXT:
Tobiah the Ammonite was beside him, and he said, "Yes, what they are building--if a fox goes up on it he will break down their stone wall!"


BIBLETEXT:
Hear, O our God, for we are despised. Turn back their taunt on their own heads and give them up to be plundered in a land where they are captives.


BIBLETEXT:
Do not cover their guilt, and let not their sin be blotted out from your sight, for they have provoked you to anger in the presence of the builders.


BIBLETEXT:
So we built the wall. And all the wall was joined together to half its height, for the people had a mind to work.


BIBLETEXT:
But when Sanballat and Tobiah and the Arabs and the Ammonites and the Ashdodites heard that the repairing of the walls of Jerusalem was going forward and that the breaches were beginning to be closed, they were very angry.


BIBLETEXT:
And they all plotted together to come and fight against Jerusalem and to cause confusion in it.


BIBLETEXT:
And we prayed to our God and set a guard as a protection against them day and night.


BIBLETEXT:
In Judah it was said, "The strength of those who bear the burdens is failing. There is too much rubble. By ourselves we will not be able to rebuild the wall."


BIBLETEXT:
And our enemies said, "They will not know or see till we come among them and kill them and stop the work."


BIBLETEXT:
At that time the Jews who lived near them came from all directions and said to us ten times, "You must return to us."


BIBLETEXT:
So in the lowest parts of the space behind the wall, in open places, I stationed the people by their clans, with their swords, their spears, and their bows.


BIBLETEXT:
And I looked and arose and said to the nobles and to the officials and to the rest of the people, "Do not be afraid of them. Remember the Lord, who is great and awesome, and fight for your brothers, your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your homes."


BIBLETEXT:
When our enemies heard that it was known to us and that God had frustrated their plan, we all returned to the wall, each to his work.


BIBLETEXT:
From that day on, half of my servants worked on construction, and half held the spears, shields, bows, and coats of mail. And the leaders stood behind the whole house of Judah,


BIBLETEXT:
who were building on the wall. Those who carried burdens were loaded in such a way that each labored on the work with one hand and held his weapon with the other.


BIBLETEXT:
And each of the builders had his sword strapped at his side while he built. The man who sounded the trumpet was beside me.


BIBLETEXT:
And I said to the nobles and to the officials and to the rest of the people, "The work is great and widely spread, and we are separated on the wall, far from one another.


BIBLETEXT:
In the place where you hear the sound of the trumpet, rally to us there. Our God will fight for us."


BIBLETEXT:
So we labored at the work, and half of them held the spears from the break of dawn until the stars came out.


BIBLETEXT:
I also said to the people at that time, "Let every man and his servant pass the night within Jerusalem, that they may be a guard for us by night and may labor by day."


BIBLETEXT:
So neither I nor my brothers nor my servants nor the men of the guard who followed me, none of us took off our clothes; each kept his weapon at his right hand.


BIBLETEXT:
Now there arose a great outcry of the people and of their wives against their Jewish brothers.


BIBLETEXT:
For there were those who said, "With our sons and our daughters, we are many. So let us get grain, that we may eat and keep alive."


BIBLETEXT:
There were also those who said, "We are mortgaging our fields, our vineyards, and our houses to get grain because of the famine."


BIBLETEXT:
And there were those who said, "We have borrowed money for the king's tax on our fields and our vineyards.


BIBLETEXT:
Now our flesh is as the flesh of our brothers, our children are as their children. Yet we are forcing our sons and our daughters to be slaves, and some of our daughters have already been enslaved, but it is not in our power to help it, for other men have our fields and our vineyards."


BIBLETEXT:
I was very angry when I heard their outcry and these words.


BIBLETEXT:
I took counsel with myself, and I brought charges against the nobles and the officials. I said to them, "You are exacting interest, each from his brother." And I held a great assembly against them


BIBLETEXT:
and said to them, "We, as far as we are able, have bought back our Jewish brothers who have been sold to the nations, but you even sell your brothers that they may be sold to us!" They were silent and could not find a word to say.


BIBLETEXT:
So I said, "The thing that you are doing is not good. Ought you not to walk in the fear of our God to prevent the taunts of the nations our enemies?


BIBLETEXT:
Moreover, I and my brothers and my servants are lending them money and grain. Let us abandon this exacting of interest.


BIBLETEXT:
Return to them this very day their fields, their vineyards, their olive orchards, and their houses, and the percentage of money, grain, wine, and oil that you have been exacting from them."


BIBLETEXT:
Then they said, "We will restore these and require nothing from them. We will do as you say." And I called the priests and made them swear to do as they had promised.


BIBLETEXT:
I also shook out the fold of my garment and said, "So may God shake out every man from his house and from his labor who does not keep this promise. So may he be shaken out and emptied." And all the assembly said "Amen" and praised the LORD. And the people did as they had promised.


BIBLETEXT:
Moreover, from the time that I was appointed to be their governor in the land of Judah, from the twentieth year to the thirty-second year of Artaxerxes the king, twelve years, neither I nor my brothers ate the food allowance of the governor.


BIBLETEXT:
The former governors who were before me laid heavy burdens on the people and took from them for their daily ration forty shekels of silver. Even their servants lorded it over the people. But I did not do so, because of the fear of God.


BIBLETEXT:
I also persevered in the work on this wall, and we acquired no land, and all my servants were gathered there for the work.


BIBLETEXT:
Moreover, there were at my table 150 men, Jews and officials, besides those who came to us from the nations that were around us.


BIBLETEXT:
Now what was prepared at my expense for each day was one ox and six choice sheep and birds, and every ten days all kinds of wine in abundance. Yet for all this I did not demand the food allowance of the governor, because the service was too heavy on this people.


BIBLETEXT:
Remember for my good, O my God, all that I have done for this people.


BIBLETEXT:
Now when Sanballat and Tobiah and Geshem the Arab and the rest of our enemies heard that I had built the wall and that there was no breach left in it (although up to that time I had not set up the doors in the gates),


BIBLETEXT:
Sanballat and Geshem sent to me, saying, "Come and let us meet together at Hakkephirim in the plain of Ono." But they intended to do me harm.


BIBLETEXT:
And I sent messengers to them, saying, "I am doing a great work and I cannot come down. Why should the work stop while I leave it and come down to you?"


BIBLETEXT:
And they sent to me four times in this way, and I answered them in the same manner.


BIBLETEXT:
In the same way Sanballat for the fifth time sent his servant to me with an open letter in his hand.


BIBLETEXT:
In it was written, "It is reported among the nations, and Geshem also says it, that you and the Jews intend to rebel; that is why you are building the wall. And according to these reports you wish to become their king.


BIBLETEXT:
And you have also set up prophets to proclaim concerning you in Jerusalem, 'There is a king in Judah.' And now the king will hear of these reports. So now come and let us take counsel together."


BIBLETEXT:
Then I sent to him, saying, "No such things as you say have been done, for you are inventing them out of your own mind."


BIBLETEXT:
For they all wanted to frighten us, thinking, "Their hands will drop from the work, and it will not be done." But now, O God, strengthen my hands.


BIBLETEXT:
Now when I went into the house of Shemaiah the son of Delaiah, son of Mehetabel, who was confined to his home, he said, "Let us meet together in the house of God, within the temple. Let us close the doors of the temple, for they are coming to kill you. They are coming to kill you by night."


BIBLETEXT:
But I said, "Should such a man as I run away? And what man such as I could go into the temple and live? I will not go in."


BIBLETEXT:
And I understood and saw that God had not sent him, but he had pronounced the prophecy against me because Tobiah and Sanballat had hired him.


BIBLETEXT:
For this purpose he was hired, that I should be afraid and act in this way and sin, and so they could give me a bad name in order to taunt me.


BIBLETEXT:
Remember Tobiah and Sanballat, O my God, according to these things that they did, and also the prophetess Noadiah and the rest of the prophets who wanted to make me afraid.


BIBLETEXT:
So the wall was finished on the twenty-fifth day of the month Elul, in fifty-two days.


BIBLETEXT:
And when all our enemies heard of it, all the nations around us were afraid and fell greatly in their own esteem, for they perceived that this work had been accomplished with the help of our God.


BIBLETEXT:
Moreover, in those days the nobles of Judah sent many letters to Tobiah, and Tobiah's letters came to them.


BIBLETEXT:
For many in Judah were bound by oath to him, because he was the son-in-law of Shecaniah the son of Arah: and his son Jehohanan had taken the daughter of Meshullam the son of Berechiah as his wife.


BIBLETEXT:
Also they spoke of his good deeds in my presence and reported my words to him. And Tobiah sent letters to make me afraid.


BIBLETEXT:
Now when the wall had been built and I had set up the doors, and the gatekeepers, the singers, and the Levites had been appointed,


BIBLETEXT:
I gave my brother Hanani and Hananiah the governor of the castle charge over Jerusalem, for he was a more faithful and God-fearing man than many.


BIBLETEXT:
And I said to them, "Let not the gates of Jerusalem be opened until the sun is hot. And while they are still standing guard, let them shut and bar the doors. Appoint guards from among the inhabitants of Jerusalem, some at their guard posts and some in front of their own homes."


BIBLETEXT:
The city was wide and large, but the people within it were few, and no houses had been rebuilt.


BIBLETEXT:
Then my God put it into my heart to assemble the nobles and the officials and the people to be enrolled by genealogy. And I found the book of the genealogy of those who came up at the first, and I found written in it:


BIBLETEXT:
These were the people of the province who came up out of the captivity of those exiles whom Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon had carried into exile. They returned to Jerusalem and Judah, each to his town.


BIBLETEXT:
They came with Zerubbabel, Jeshua, Nehemiah, Azariah, Raamiah, Nahamani, Mordecai, Bilshan, Mispereth, Bigvai, Nehum, Baanah. The number of the men of the people of Israel:


BIBLETEXT:
The sons of Pahath-moab, namely the sons of Jeshua and Joab, 2,818.


BIBLETEXT:
The men of Kiriath-jearim, Chephirah, and Beeroth, 743.


BIBLETEXT:
The priests: the sons of Jedaiah, namely the house of Jeshua, 973.


BIBLETEXT:
The Levites: the sons of Jeshua, namely of Kadmiel of the sons of Hodevah, 74.


BIBLETEXT:
The gatekeepers: the sons of Shallum, the sons of Ater, the sons of Talmon, the sons of Akkub, the sons of Hatita, the sons of Shobai, 138.


BIBLETEXT:
the sons of Keros, the sons of Sia, the sons of Padon,


BIBLETEXT:
the sons of Lebana, the sons of Hagaba, the sons of Shalmai,


BIBLETEXT:
the sons of Hanan, the sons of Giddel, the sons of Gahar,


BIBLETEXT:
the sons of Reaiah, the sons of Rezin, the sons of Nekoda,


BIBLETEXT:
the sons of Gazzam, the sons of Uzza, the sons of Paseah,


BIBLETEXT:
the sons of Besai, the sons of Meunim, the sons of Nephushesim,


BIBLETEXT:
the sons of Bazlith, the sons of Mehida, the sons of Harsha,


BIBLETEXT:
the sons of Neziah, the sons of Hatipha.


BIBLETEXT:
The sons of Solomon's servants: the sons of Sotai, the sons of Sophereth, the sons of Perida,


BIBLETEXT:
the sons of Jaala, the sons of Darkon, the sons of Giddel,


BIBLETEXT:
the sons of Shephatiah, the sons of Hattil, the sons of Pochereth-hazzebaim, the sons of Amon.


BIBLETEXT:
The following were those who came up from Tel-melah, Tel-harsha, Cherub, Addon, and Immer, but they could not prove their fathers' houses nor their descent, whether they belonged to Israel:


BIBLETEXT:
the sons of Delaiah, the sons of Tobiah, the sons of Nekoda, 642.


BIBLETEXT:
Also, of the priests: the sons of Hobaiah, the sons of Hakkoz, the sons of Barzillai (who had taken a wife of the daughters of Barzillai the Gileadite and was called by their name).


BIBLETEXT:
These sought their registration among those enrolled in the genealogies, but it was not found there, so they were excluded from the priesthood as unclean.


BIBLETEXT:
The governor told them that they were not to partake of the most holy food until a priest with Urim and Thummim should arise.


BIBLETEXT:
besides their male and female servants, of whom there were 7,337. And they had 245 singers, male and female.


BIBLETEXT:
their camels 435, and their donkeys 6,720.


BIBLETEXT:
Now some of the heads of fathers' houses gave to the work. The governor gave to the treasury 1,000 darics of gold, 50 basins, 30 priests' garments and 500 minas of silver.


BIBLETEXT:
And some of the heads of fathers' houses gave into the treasury of the work 20,000 darics of gold and 2,200 minas of silver.


BIBLETEXT:
And what the rest of the people gave was 20,000 darics of gold, 2,000 minas of silver, and 67 priests' garments.


BIBLETEXT:
So the priests, the Levites, the gatekeepers, the singers, some of the people, the temple servants, and all Israel, lived in their towns. And when the seventh month had come, the people of Israel were in their towns.


BIBLETEXT:
And all the people gathered as one man into the square before the Water Gate. And they told Ezra the scribe to bring the Book of the Law of Moses that the LORD had commanded Israel.


BIBLETEXT:
So Ezra the priest brought the Law before the assembly, both men and women and all who could understand what they heard, on the first day of the seventh month.


BIBLETEXT:
And he read from it facing the square before the Water Gate from early morning until midday, in the presence of the men and the women and those who could understand. And the ears of all the people were attentive to the Book of the Law.


BIBLETEXT:
And Ezra the scribe stood on a wooden platform that they had made for the purpose. And beside him stood Mattithiah, Shema, Anaiah, Uriah, Hilkiah, and Maaseiah on his right hand, and Pedaiah, Mishael, Malchijah, Hashum, Hashbaddanah, Zechariah, and Meshullam on his left hand.


BIBLETEXT:
And Ezra opened the book in the sight of all the people, for he was above all the people, and as he opened it all the people stood.


BIBLETEXT:
And Ezra blessed the LORD, the great God, and all the people answered, "Amen, Amen," lifting up their hands. And they bowed their heads and worshiped the LORD with their faces to the ground.


BIBLETEXT:
Also Jeshua, Bani, Sherebiah, Jamin, Akkub, Shabbethai, Hodiah, Maaseiah, Kelita, Azariah, Jozabad, Hanan, Pelaiah, the Levites, helped the people to understand the Law, while the people remained in their places.


BIBLETEXT:
They read from the book, from the Law of God, clearly, and they gave the sense, so that the people understood the reading.


BIBLETEXT:
And Nehemiah, who was the governor, and Ezra the priest and scribe, and the Levites who taught the people said to all the people, "This day is holy to the LORD your God; do not mourn or weep." For all the people wept as they heard the words of the Law.


BIBLETEXT:
Then he said to them, "Go your way. Eat the fat and drink sweet wine and send portions to anyone who has nothing ready, for this day is holy to our Lord. And do not be grieved, for the joy of the LORD is your strength."


BIBLETEXT:
So the Levites calmed all the people, saying, "Be quiet, for this day is holy; do not be grieved."


BIBLETEXT:
And all the people went their way to eat and drink and to send portions and to make great rejoicing, because they had understood the words that were declared to them.


BIBLETEXT:
On the second day the heads of fathers' houses of all the people, with the priests and the Levites, came together to Ezra the scribe in order to study the words of the Law.


BIBLETEXT:
And they found it written in the Law that the LORD had commanded by Moses that the people of Israel should dwell in booths during the feast of the seventh month,


BIBLETEXT:
and that they should proclaim it and publish it in all their towns and in Jerusalem, "Go out to the hills and bring branches of olive, wild olive, myrtle, palm, and other leafy trees to make booths, as it is written."


BIBLETEXT:
So the people went out and brought them and made booths for themselves, each on his roof, and in their courts and in the courts of the house of God, and in the square at the Water Gate and in the square at the Gate of Ephraim.


BIBLETEXT:
And all the assembly of those who had returned from the captivity made booths and lived in the booths, for from the days of Jeshua the son of Nun to that day the people of Israel had not done so. And there was very great rejoicing.


BIBLETEXT:
And day by day, from the first day to the last day, he read from the Book of the Law of God. They kept the feast seven days, and on the eighth day there was a solemn assembly, according to the rule.


BIBLETEXT:
Now on the twenty-fourth day of this month the people of Israel were assembled with fasting and in sackcloth, and with earth on their heads.


BIBLETEXT:
And the Israelites separated themselves from all foreigners and stood and confessed their sins and the iniquities of their fathers.


BIBLETEXT:
And they stood up in their place and read from the Book of the Law of the LORD their God for a quarter of the day; for another quarter of it they made confession and worshiped the LORD their God.


BIBLETEXT:
On the stairs of the Levites stood Jeshua, Bani, Kadmiel, Shebaniah, Bunni, Sherebiah, Bani, and Chenani; and they cried with a loud voice to the LORD their God.


BIBLETEXT:
Then the Levites, Jeshua, Kadmiel, Bani, Hashabneiah, Sherebiah, Hodiah, Shebaniah, and Pethahiah, said, "Stand up and bless the LORD your God from everlasting to everlasting. Blessed be your glorious name, which is exalted above all blessing and praise.


BIBLETEXT:
"You are the LORD, you alone. You have made heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all their host, the earth and all that is on it, the seas and all that is in them; and you preserve all of them; and the host of heaven worships you.


BIBLETEXT:
You are the LORD, the God who chose Abram and brought him out of Ur of the Chaldeans and gave him the name Abraham.


BIBLETEXT:
You found his heart faithful before you, and made with him the covenant to give to his offspring the land of the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Amorite, the Perizzite, the Jebusite, and the Girgashite. And you have kept your promise, for you are righteous.


BIBLETEXT:
"And you saw the affliction of our fathers in Egypt and heard their cry at the Red Sea,


BIBLETEXT:
and performed signs and wonders against Pharaoh and all his servants and all the people of his land, for you knew that they acted arrogantly against our fathers. And you made a name for yourself, as it is to this day.


BIBLETEXT:
And you divided the sea before them, so that they went through the midst of the sea on dry land, and you cast their pursuers into the depths, as a stone into mighty waters.


BIBLETEXT:
By a pillar of cloud you led them in the day, and by a pillar of fire in the night to light for them the way in which they should go.


BIBLETEXT:
You came down on Mount Sinai and spoke with them from heaven and gave them right rules and true laws, good statutes and commandments,


BIBLETEXT:
and you made known to them your holy Sabbath and commanded them commandments and statutes and a law by Moses your servant.


BIBLETEXT:
You gave them bread from heaven for their hunger and brought water for them out of the rock for their thirst, and you told them to go in to possess the land that you had sworn to give them.


BIBLETEXT:
"But they and our fathers acted presumptuously and stiffened their neck and did not obey your commandments.


BIBLETEXT:
They refused to obey and were not mindful of the wonders that you performed among them, but they stiffened their neck and appointed a leader to return to their slavery in Egypt. But you are a God ready to forgive, gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and did not forsake them.


BIBLETEXT:
Even when they had made for themselves a golden calf and said, 'This is your God who brought you up out of Egypt,' and had committed great blasphemies,


BIBLETEXT:
you in your great mercies did not forsake them in the wilderness. The pillar of cloud to lead them in the way did not depart from them by day, nor the pillar of fire by night to light for them the way by which they should go.


BIBLETEXT:
You gave your good Spirit to instruct them and did not withhold your manna from their mouth and gave them water for their thirst.


BIBLETEXT:
Forty years you sustained them in the wilderness, and they lacked nothing. Their clothes did not wear out and their feet did not swell.


BIBLETEXT:
"And you gave them kingdoms and peoples and allotted to them every corner. So they took possession of the land of Sihon king of Heshbon and the land of Og king of Bashan.


BIBLETEXT:
You multiplied their children as the stars of heaven, and you brought them into the land that you had told their fathers to enter and possess.


BIBLETEXT:
So the descendants went in and possessed the land, and you subdued before them the inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites, and gave them into their hand, with their kings and the peoples of the land, that they might do with them as they would.


BIBLETEXT:
And they captured fortified cities and a rich land, and took possession of houses full of all good things, cisterns already hewn, vineyards, olive orchards and fruit trees in abundance. So they ate and were filled and became fat and delighted themselves in your great goodness.


BIBLETEXT:
"Nevertheless, they were disobedient and rebelled against you and cast your law behind their back and killed your prophets, who had warned them in order to turn them back to you, and they committed great blasphemies.


BIBLETEXT:
Therefore you gave them into the hand of their enemies, who made them suffer. And in the time of their suffering they cried out to you and you heard them from heaven, and according to your great mercies you gave them saviors who saved them from the hand of their enemies.


BIBLETEXT:
But after they had rest they did evil again before you, and you abandoned them to the hand of their enemies, so that they had dominion over them. Yet when they turned and cried to you, you heard from heaven, and many times you delivered them according to your mercies.


BIBLETEXT:
And you warned them in order to turn them back to your law. Yet they acted presumptuously and did not obey your commandments, but sinned against your rules, which if a person does them, he shall live by them, and they turned a stubborn shoulder and stiffened their neck and would not obey.


BIBLETEXT:
Many years you bore with them and warned them by your Spirit through your prophets. Yet they would not give ear. Therefore you gave them into the hand of the peoples of the lands.


BIBLETEXT:
Nevertheless, in your great mercies you did not make an end of them or forsake them, for you are a gracious and merciful God.


BIBLETEXT:
"Now, therefore, our God, the great, the mighty, and the awesome God, who keeps covenant and steadfast love, let not all the hardship seem little to you that has come upon us, upon our kings, our princes, our priests, our prophets, our fathers, and all your people, since the time of the kings of Assyria until this day.


BIBLETEXT:
Yet you have been righteous in all that has come upon us, for you have dealt faithfully and we have acted wickedly.


BIBLETEXT:
Our kings, our princes, our priests, and our fathers have not kept your law or paid attention to your commandments and your warnings that you gave them.


BIBLETEXT:
Even in their own kingdom, and amid your great goodness that you gave them, and in the large and rich land that you set before them, they did not serve you or turn from their wicked works.


BIBLETEXT:
Behold, we are slaves this day; in the land that you gave to our fathers to enjoy its fruit and its good gifts, behold, we are slaves.


BIBLETEXT:
And its rich yield goes to the kings whom you have set over us because of our sins. They rule over our bodies and over our livestock as they please, and we are in great distress.


BIBLETEXT:
"Because of all this we make a firm covenant in writing; on the sealed document are the names of our princes, our Levites, and our priests.


BIBLETEXT:
"On the seals are the names of Nehemiah the governor, the son of Hacaliah, Zedekiah,


BIBLETEXT:
Maaziah, Bilgai, Shemaiah; these are the priests.


BIBLETEXT:
And the Levites: Jeshua the son of Azaniah, Binnui of the sons of Henadad, Kadmiel;


BIBLETEXT:
and their brothers, Shebaniah, Hodiah, Kelita, Pelaiah, Hanan,


BIBLETEXT:
The chiefs of the people: Parosh, Pahath-moab, Elam, Zattu, Bani,


BIBLETEXT:
"The rest of the people, the priests, the Levites, the gatekeepers, the singers, the temple servants, and all who have separated themselves from the peoples of the lands to the Law of God, their wives, their sons, their daughters, all who have knowledge and understanding,


BIBLETEXT:
join with their brothers, their nobles, and enter into a curse and an oath to walk in God's Law that was given by Moses the servant of God, and to observe and do all the commandments of the LORD our Lord and his rules and his statutes.


BIBLETEXT:
We will not give our daughters to the peoples of the land or take their daughters for our sons.


BIBLETEXT:
And if the peoples of the land bring in goods or any grain on the Sabbath day to sell, we will not buy from them on the Sabbath or on a holy day. And we will forego the crops of the seventh year and the exaction of every debt.


BIBLETEXT:
"We also take on ourselves the obligation to give yearly a third part of a shekel for the service of the house of our God:


BIBLETEXT:
for the showbread, the regular grain offering, the regular burnt offering, the Sabbaths, the new moons, the appointed feasts, the holy things, and the sin offerings to make atonement for Israel, and for all the work of the house of our God.


BIBLETEXT:
We, the priests, the Levites, and the people, have likewise cast lots for the wood offering, to bring it into the house of our God, according to our fathers' houses, at times appointed, year by year, to burn on the altar of the LORD our God, as it is written in the Law.


BIBLETEXT:
We obligate ourselves to bring the firstfruits of our ground and the firstfruits of all fruit of every tree, year by year, to the house of the LORD;


BIBLETEXT:
also to bring to the house of our God, to the priests who minister in the house of our God, the firstborn of our sons and of our cattle, as it is written in the Law, and the firstborn of our herds and of our flocks;


BIBLETEXT:
and to bring the first of our dough, and our contributions, the fruit of every tree, the wine and the oil, to the priests, to the chambers of the house of our God; and to bring to the Levites the tithes from our ground, for it is the Levites who collect the tithes in all our towns where we labor.


BIBLETEXT:
And the priest, the son of Aaron, shall be with the Levites when the Levites receive the tithes. And the Levites shall bring up the tithe of the tithes to the house of our God, to the chambers of the storehouse.


BIBLETEXT:
For the people of Israel and the sons of Levi shall bring the contribution of grain, wine, and oil to the chambers, where the vessels of the sanctuary are, as well as the priests who minister, and the gatekeepers and the singers. We will not neglect the house of our God."


BIBLETEXT:
Now the leaders of the people lived in Jerusalem. And the rest of the people cast lots to bring one out of ten to live in Jerusalem the holy city, while nine out of ten remained in the other towns.


BIBLETEXT:
And the people blessed all the men who willingly offered to live in Jerusalem.


BIBLETEXT:
These are the chiefs of the province who lived in Jerusalem; but in the towns of Judah everyone lived on his property in their towns: Israel, the priests, the Levites, the temple servants, and the descendants of Solomon's servants.


BIBLETEXT:
And in Jerusalem lived certain of the sons of Judah and of the sons of Benjamin. Of the sons of Judah: Athaiah the son of Uzziah, son of Zechariah, son of Amariah, son of Shephatiah, son of Mahalalel, of the sons of Perez;


BIBLETEXT:
and Maaseiah the son of Baruch, son of Col-hozeh, son of Hazaiah, son of Adaiah, son of Joiarib, son of Zechariah, son of the Shilonite.


BIBLETEXT:
All the sons of Perez who lived in Jerusalem were 468 valiant men.


BIBLETEXT:
And these are the sons of Benjamin: Sallu the son of Meshullam, son of Joed, son of Pedaiah, son of Kolaiah, son of Maaseiah, son of Ithiel, son of Jeshaiah,


BIBLETEXT:
Joel the son of Zichri was their overseer; and Judah the son of Hassenuah was second over the city.


BIBLETEXT:
Of the priests: Jedaiah the son of Joiarib, Jachin,


BIBLETEXT:
Seraiah the son of Hilkiah, son of Meshullam, son of Zadok, son of Meraioth, son of Ahitub, ruler of the house of God,


BIBLETEXT:
and their brothers who did the work of the house, 822; and Adaiah the son of Jeroham, son of Pelaliah, son of Amzi, son of Zechariah, son of Pashhur, son of Malchijah,


BIBLETEXT:
and his brothers, heads of fathers' houses, 242; and Amashsai, the son of Azarel, son of Ahzai, son of Meshillemoth, son of Immer,


BIBLETEXT:
and their brothers, mighty men of valor, 128; their overseer was Zabdiel the son of Haggedolim.


BIBLETEXT:
And of the Levites: Shemaiah the son of Hasshub, son of Azrikam, son of Hashabiah, son of Bunni;


BIBLETEXT:
and Shabbethai and Jozabad, of the chiefs of the Levites, who were over the outside work of the house of God;


BIBLETEXT:
and Mattaniah the son of Mica, son of Zabdi, son of Asaph, who was the leader of the praise, who gave thanks, and Bakbukiah, the second among his brothers; and Abda the son of Shammua, son of Galal, son of Jeduthun.


BIBLETEXT:
All the Levites in the holy city were 284.


BIBLETEXT:
The gatekeepers, Akkub, Talmon and their brothers, who kept watch at the gates, were 172.


BIBLETEXT:
And the rest of Israel, and of the priests and the Levites, were in all the towns of Judah, every one in his inheritance.


BIBLETEXT:
But the temple servants lived on Ophel; and Ziha and Gishpa were over the temple servants.


BIBLETEXT:
The overseer of the Levites in Jerusalem was Uzzi the son of Bani, son of Hashabiah, son of Mattaniah, son of Mica, of the sons of Asaph, the singers, over the work of the house of God.


BIBLETEXT:
For there was a command from the king concerning them, and a fixed provision for the singers, as every day required.


BIBLETEXT:
And Pethahiah the son of Meshezabel, of the sons of Zerah the son of Judah, was at the king's side in all matters concerning the people.


BIBLETEXT:
And as for the villages, with their fields, some of the people of Judah lived in Kiriath-arba and its villages, and in Dibon and its villages, and in Jekabzeel and its villages,


BIBLETEXT:
and in Jeshua and in Moladah and Beth-pelet,


BIBLETEXT:
in Hazar-shual, in Beersheba and its villages,


BIBLETEXT:
Zanoah, Adullam, and their villages, Lachish and its fields, and Azekah and its villages. So they encamped from Beersheba to the Valley of Hinnom.


BIBLETEXT:
The people of Benjamin also lived from Geba onward, at Michmash, Aija, Bethel and its villages,


BIBLETEXT:
And certain divisions of the Levites in Judah were assigned to Benjamin.


BIBLETEXT:
These are the priests and the Levites who came up with Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and Jeshua: Seraiah, Jeremiah, Ezra,


BIBLETEXT:
Sallu, Amok, Hilkiah, Jedaiah. These were the chiefs of the priests and of their brothers in the days of Jeshua.


BIBLETEXT:
And the Levites: Jeshua, Binnui, Kadmiel, Sherebiah, Judah, and Mattaniah, who with his brothers was in charge of the songs of thanksgiving.


BIBLETEXT:
And Bakbukiah and Unni and their brothers stood opposite them in the service.


BIBLETEXT:
And Jeshua was the father of Joiakim, Joiakim the father of Eliashib, Eliashib the father of Joiada,


BIBLETEXT:
Joiada the father of Jonathan, and Jonathan the father of Jaddua.


BIBLETEXT:
And in the days of Joiakim were priests, heads of fathers' houses: of Seraiah, Meraiah; of Jeremiah, Hananiah;


BIBLETEXT:
of Ezra, Meshullam; of Amariah, Jehohanan;


BIBLETEXT:
of Malluchi, Jonathan; of Shebaniah, Joseph;


BIBLETEXT:
of Iddo, Zechariah; of Ginnethon, Meshullam;


BIBLETEXT:
of Abijah, Zichri; of Miniamin, of Moadiah, Piltai;


BIBLETEXT:
of Bilgah, Shammua; of Shemaiah, Jehonathan;


BIBLETEXT:
of Hilkiah, Hashabiah; of Jedaiah, Nethanel.


BIBLETEXT:
In the days of Eliashib, Joiada, Johanan, and Jaddua, the Levites were recorded as heads of fathers' houses; so too were the priests in the reign of Darius the Persian.


BIBLETEXT:
As for the sons of Levi, their heads of fathers' houses were written in the Book of the Chronicles until the days of Johanan the son of Eliashib.


BIBLETEXT:
And the chiefs of the Levites: Hashabiah, Sherebiah, and Jeshua the son of Kadmiel, with their brothers who stood opposite them, to praise and to give thanks, according to the commandment of David the man of God, watch by watch.


BIBLETEXT:
Mattaniah, Bakbukiah, Obadiah, Meshullam, Talmon, and Akkub were gatekeepers standing guard at the storehouses of the gates.


BIBLETEXT:
These were in the days of Joiakim the son of Jeshua son of Jozadak, and in the days of Nehemiah the governor and of Ezra, the priest and scribe.


BIBLETEXT:
And at the dedication of the wall of Jerusalem they sought the Levites in all their places, to bring them to Jerusalem to celebrate the dedication with gladness, with thanksgivings and with singing, with cymbals, harps, and lyres.


BIBLETEXT:
And the sons of the singers gathered together from the district surrounding Jerusalem and from the villages of the Netophathites;


BIBLETEXT:
also from Beth-gilgal and from the region of Geba and Azmaveth, for the singers had built for themselves villages around Jerusalem.


BIBLETEXT:
And the priests and the Levites purified themselves, and they purified the people and the gates and the wall.


BIBLETEXT:
Then I brought the leaders of Judah up onto the wall and appointed two great choirs that gave thanks. One went to the south on the wall to the Dung Gate.


BIBLETEXT:
And after them went Hoshaiah and half of the leaders of Judah,


BIBLETEXT:
Judah, Benjamin, Shemaiah, and Jeremiah,


BIBLETEXT:
and certain of the priests' sons with trumpets: Zechariah the son of Jonathan, son of Shemaiah, son of Mattaniah, son of Micaiah, son of Zaccur, son of Asaph;


BIBLETEXT:
and his relatives, Shemaiah, Azarel, Milalai, Gilalai, Maai, Nethanel, Judah, and Hanani, with the musical instruments of David the man of God. And Ezra the scribe went before them.


BIBLETEXT:
At the Fountain Gate they went up straight before them by the stairs of the city of David, at the ascent of the wall, above the house of David, to the Water Gate on the east.


BIBLETEXT:
The other choir of those who gave thanks went to the north, and I followed them with half of the people, on the wall, above the Tower of the Ovens, to the Broad Wall,


BIBLETEXT:
and above the Gate of Ephraim, and by the Gate of Yeshanah, and by the Fish Gate and the Tower of Hananel and the Tower of the Hundred, to the Sheep Gate; and they came to a halt at the Gate of the Guard.


BIBLETEXT:
So both choirs of those who gave thanks stood in the house of God, and I and half of the officials with me;


BIBLETEXT:
and the priests Eliakim, Maaseiah, Miniamin, Micaiah, Elioenai, Zechariah, and Hananiah, with trumpets;


BIBLETEXT:
and Maaseiah, Shemaiah, Eleazar, Uzzi, Jehohanan, Malchijah, Elam, and Ezer. And the singers sang with Jezrahiah as their leader.


BIBLETEXT:
And they offered great sacrifices that day and rejoiced, for God had made them rejoice with great joy; the women and children also rejoiced. And the joy of Jerusalem was heard far away.


BIBLETEXT:
On that day men were appointed over the storerooms, the contributions, the firstfruits, and the tithes, to gather into them the portions required by the Law for the priests and for the Levites according to the fields of the towns, for Judah rejoiced over the priests and the Levites who ministered.


BIBLETEXT:
And they performed the service of their God and the service of purification, as did the singers and the gatekeepers, according to the command of David and his son Solomon.


BIBLETEXT:
For long ago in the days of David and Asaph there were directors of the singers, and there were songs of praise and thanksgiving to God.


BIBLETEXT:
And all Israel in the days of Zerubbabel and in the days of Nehemiah gave the daily portions for the singers and the gatekeepers; and they set apart that which was for the Levites; and the Levites set apart that which was for the sons of Aaron.


BIBLETEXT:
On that day they read from the Book of Moses in the hearing of the people. And in it was found written that no Ammonite or Moabite should ever enter the assembly of God,


BIBLETEXT:
for they did not meet the people of Israel with bread and water, but hired Balaam against them to curse them--yet our God turned the curse into a blessing.


BIBLETEXT:
As soon as the people heard the law, they separated from Israel all those of foreign descent.


BIBLETEXT:
Now before this, Eliashib the priest, who was appointed over the chambers of the house of our God, and who was related to Tobiah,


BIBLETEXT:
prepared for Tobiah a large chamber where they had previously put the grain offering, the frankincense, the vessels, and the tithes of grain, wine, and oil, which were given by commandment to the Levites, singers, and gatekeepers, and the contributions for the priests.


BIBLETEXT:
While this was taking place, I was not in Jerusalem, for in the thirty-second year of Artaxerxes king of Babylon I went to the king. And after some time I asked leave of the king


BIBLETEXT:
and came to Jerusalem, and I then discovered the evil that Eliashib had done for Tobiah, preparing for him a chamber in the courts of the house of God.


BIBLETEXT:
And I was very angry, and I threw all the household furniture of Tobiah out of the chamber.


BIBLETEXT:
Then I gave orders, and they cleansed the chambers, and I brought back there the vessels of the house of God, with the grain offering and the frankincense.


BIBLETEXT:
I also found out that the portions of the Levites had not been given to them, so that the Levites and the singers, who did the work, had fled each to his field.


BIBLETEXT:
So I confronted the officials and said, "Why is the house of God forsaken?" And I gathered them together and set them in their stations.


BIBLETEXT:
Then all Judah brought the tithe of the grain, wine, and oil into the storehouses.


BIBLETEXT:
And I appointed as treasurers over the storehouses Shelemiah the priest, Zadok the scribe, and Pedaiah of the Levites, and as their assistant Hanan the son of Zaccur, son of Mattaniah, for they were considered reliable, and their duty was to distribute to their brothers.


BIBLETEXT:
Remember me, O my God, concerning this, and do not wipe out my good deeds that I have done for the house of my God and for his service.


BIBLETEXT:
In those days I saw in Judah people treading winepresses on the Sabbath, and bringing in heaps of grain and loading them on donkeys, and also wine, grapes, figs, and all kinds of loads, which they brought into Jerusalem on the Sabbath day. And I warned them on the day when they sold food.


BIBLETEXT:
Tyrians also, who lived in the city, brought in fish and all kinds of goods and sold them on the Sabbath to the people of Judah, in Jerusalem itself!


BIBLETEXT:
Then I confronted the nobles of Judah and said to them, "What is this evil thing that you are doing, profaning the Sabbath day?


BIBLETEXT:
Did not your fathers act in this way, and did not our God bring all this disaster on us and on this city? Now you are bringing more wrath on Israel by profaning the Sabbath."


BIBLETEXT:
As soon as it began to grow dark at the gates of Jerusalem before the Sabbath, I commanded that the doors should be shut and gave orders that they should not be opened until after the Sabbath. And I stationed some of my servants at the gates, that no load might be brought in on the Sabbath day.


BIBLETEXT:
Then the merchants and sellers of all kinds of wares lodged outside Jerusalem once or twice.


BIBLETEXT:
But I warned them and said to them, "Why do you lodge outside the wall? If you do so again, I will lay hands on you." From that time on they did not come on the Sabbath.


BIBLETEXT:
Then I commanded the Levites that they should purify themselves and come and guard the gates, to keep the Sabbath day holy. Remember this also in my favor, O my God, and spare me according to the greatness of your steadfast love.


BIBLETEXT:
In those days also I saw the Jews who had married women of Ashdod, Ammon, and Moab.


BIBLETEXT:
And half of their children spoke the language of Ashdod, and they could not speak the language of Judah, but only the language of each people.


BIBLETEXT:
And I confronted them and cursed them and beat some of them and pulled out their hair. And I made them take oath in the name of God, saying, "You shall not give your daughters to their sons, or take their daughters for your sons or for yourselves.


BIBLETEXT:
Did not Solomon king of Israel sin on account of such women? Among the many nations there was no king like him, and he was beloved by his God, and God made him king over all Israel. Nevertheless, foreign women made even him to sin.


BIBLETEXT:
Shall we then listen to you and do all this great evil and act treacherously against our God by marrying foreign women?"


BIBLETEXT:
And one of the sons of Jehoiada, the son of Eliashib the high priest, was the son-in-law of Sanballat the Horonite. Therefore I chased him from me.


BIBLETEXT:
Remember them, O my God, because they have desecrated the priesthood and the covenant of the priesthood and the Levites.


BIBLETEXT:
Thus I cleansed them from everything foreign, and I established the duties of the priests and Levites, each in his work;


BIBLETEXT:
and I provided for the wood offering at appointed times, and for the firstfruits. Remember me, O my God, for good.


BIBLETEXT:
Now in the days of Ahasuerus, the Ahasuerus who reigned from India to Ethiopia over 127 provinces,


BIBLETEXT:
in those days when King Ahasuerus sat on his royal throne in Susa, the capital,


BIBLETEXT:
in the third year of his reign he gave a feast for all his officials and servants. The army of Persia and Media and the nobles and governors of the provinces were before him,


BIBLETEXT:
while he showed the riches of his royal glory and the splendor and pomp of his greatness for many days, 180 days.


BIBLETEXT:
And when these days were completed, the king gave for all the people present in Susa, the citadel, both great and small, a feast lasting for seven days in the court of the garden of the king's palace.


BIBLETEXT:
There were white cotton curtains and violet hangings fastened with cords of fine linen and purple to silver rods and marble pillars, and also couches of gold and silver on a mosaic pavement of porphyry, marble, mother-of-pearl and precious stones.


BIBLETEXT:
Drinks were served in golden vessels, vessels of different kinds, and the royal wine was lavished according to the bounty of the king.


BIBLETEXT:
And drinking was according to this edict: "There is no compulsion." For the king had given orders to all the staff of his palace to do as each man desired.


BIBLETEXT:
Queen Vashti also gave a feast for the women in the palace that belonged to King Ahasuerus.


BIBLETEXT:
On the seventh day, when the heart of the king was merry with wine, he commanded Mehuman, Biztha, Harbona, Bigtha and Abagtha, Zethar and Carkas, the seven eunuchs who served in the presence of King Ahasuerus,


BIBLETEXT:
to bring Queen Vashti before the king with her royal crown, in order to show the peoples and the princes her beauty, for she was lovely to look at.


BIBLETEXT:
But Queen Vashti refused to come at the king's command delivered by the eunuchs. At this the king became enraged, and his anger burned within him.


BIBLETEXT:
Then the king said to the wise men who knew the times (for this was the king's procedure toward all who were versed in law and judgment,


BIBLETEXT:
the men next to him being Carshena, Shethar, Admatha, Tarshish, Meres, Marsena, and Memucan, the seven princes of Persia and Media, who saw the king's face, and sat first in the kingdom):


BIBLETEXT:
"According to the law, what is to be done to Queen Vashti, because she has not performed the command of King Ahasuerus delivered by the eunuchs?"


BIBLETEXT:
Then Memucan said in the presence of the king and the officials, "Not only against the king has Queen Vashti done wrong, but also against all the officials and all the peoples who are in all the provinces of King Ahasuerus.


BIBLETEXT:
For the queen's behavior will be made known to all women, causing them to look at their husbands with contempt, since they will say, 'King Ahasuerus commanded Queen Vashti to be brought before him, and she did not come.'


BIBLETEXT:
This very day the noble women of Persia and Media who have heard of the queen's behavior will say the same to all the king's officials, and there will be contempt and wrath in plenty.


BIBLETEXT:
If it please the king, let a royal order go out from him, and let it be written among the laws of the Persians and the Medes so that it may not be repealed, that Vashti is never again to come before King Ahasuerus. And let the king give her royal position to another who is better than she.


BIBLETEXT:
So when the decree made by the king is proclaimed throughout all his kingdom, for it is vast, all women will give honor to their husbands, high and low alike."


BIBLETEXT:
This advice pleased the king and the princes, and the king did as Memucan proposed.


BIBLETEXT:
He sent letters to all the royal provinces, to every province in its own script and to every people in its own language, that every man be master in his own household and speak according to the language of his people.


BIBLETEXT:
After these things, when the anger of King Ahasuerus had abated, he remembered Vashti and what she had done and what had been decreed against her.


BIBLETEXT:
Then the king's young men who attended him said, "Let beautiful young virgins be sought out for the king.


BIBLETEXT:
And let the king appoint officers in all the provinces of his kingdom to gather all the beautiful young virgins to the harem in Susa the capital, under custody of Hegai, the king's eunuch, who is in charge of the women. Let their cosmetics be given them.


BIBLETEXT:
And let the young woman who pleases the king be queen instead of Vashti." This pleased the king, and he did so.


BIBLETEXT:
Now there was a Jew in Susa the citadel whose name was Mordecai, the son of Jair, son of Shimei, son of Kish, a Benjaminite,


BIBLETEXT:
who had been carried away from Jerusalem among the captives carried away with Jeconiah king of Judah, whom Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had carried away.


BIBLETEXT:
He was bringing up Hadassah, that is Esther, the daughter of his uncle, for she had neither father nor mother. The young woman had a beautiful figure and was lovely to look at, and when her father and her mother died, Mordecai took her as his own daughter.


BIBLETEXT:
So when the king's order and his edict were proclaimed, and when many young women were gathered in Susa the citadel in custody of Hegai, Esther also was taken into the king's palace and put in custody of Hegai, who had charge of the women.


BIBLETEXT:
And the young woman pleased him and won his favor. And he quickly provided her with her cosmetics and her portion of food, and with seven chosen young women from the king's palace, and advanced her and her young women to the best place in the harem.


BIBLETEXT:
Esther had not made known her people or kindred, for Mordecai had commanded her not to make it known.


BIBLETEXT:
And every day Mordecai walked in front of the court of the harem to learn how Esther was and what was happening to her.


BIBLETEXT:
Now when the turn came for each young woman to go in to King Ahasuerus, after being twelve months under the regulations for the women, since this was the regular period of their beautifying, six months with oil of myrrh and six months with spices and ointments for women--


BIBLETEXT:
when the young woman went in to the king in this way, she was given whatever she desired to take with her from the harem to the king's palace.


BIBLETEXT:
In the evening she would go in, and in the morning she would return to the second harem in custody of Shaashgaz, the king's eunuch, who was in charge of the concubines. She would not go in to the king again, unless the king delighted in her and she was summoned by name.


BIBLETEXT:
When the turn came for Esther the daughter of Abihail the uncle of Mordecai, who had taken her as his own daughter, to go in to the king, she asked for nothing except what Hegai the king's eunuch, who had charge of the women, advised. Now Esther was winning favor in the eyes of all who saw her.


BIBLETEXT:
And when Esther was taken to King Ahasuerus, into his royal palace, in the tenth month, which is the month of Tebeth, in the seventh year of his reign,


BIBLETEXT:
the king loved Esther more than all the women, and she won grace and favor in his sight more than all the virgins, so that he set the royal crown on her head and made her queen instead of Vashti.


BIBLETEXT:
Then the king gave a great feast for all his officials and servants; it was Esther's feast. He also granted a remission of taxes to the provinces and gave gifts with royal generosity.


BIBLETEXT:
Now when the virgins were gathered together the second time, Mordecai was sitting at the king's gate.


BIBLETEXT:
Esther had not made known her kindred or her people, as Mordecai had commanded her, for Esther obeyed Mordecai just as when she was brought up by him.


BIBLETEXT:
In those days, as Mordecai was sitting at the king's gate, Bigthan and Teresh, two of the king's eunuchs, who guarded the threshold, became angry and sought to lay hands on King Ahasuerus.


BIBLETEXT:
And this came to the knowledge of Mordecai, and he told it to Queen Esther, and Esther told the king in the name of Mordecai.


BIBLETEXT:
When the affair was investigated and found to be so, the men were both hanged on the gallows. And it was recorded in the book of the chronicles in the presence of the king.


BIBLETEXT:
After these things King Ahasuerus promoted Haman the Agagite, the son of Hammedatha, and advanced him and set his throne above all the officials who were with him.


BIBLETEXT:
And all the king's servants who were at the king's gate bowed down and paid homage to Haman, for the king had so commanded concerning him. But Mordecai did not bow down or pay homage.


BIBLETEXT:
Then the king's servants who were at the king's gate said to Mordecai, "Why do you transgress the king's command?"


BIBLETEXT:
And when they spoke to him day after day and he would not listen to them, they told Haman, in order to see whether Mordecai's words would stand, for he had told them that he was a Jew.


BIBLETEXT:
And when Haman saw that Mordecai did not bow down or pay homage to him, Haman was filled with fury.


BIBLETEXT:
But he disdained to lay hands on Mordecai alone. So, as they had made known to him the people of Mordecai, Haman sought to destroy all the Jews, the people of Mordecai, throughout the whole kingdom of Ahasuerus.


BIBLETEXT:
In the first month, which is the month of Nisan, in the twelfth year of King Ahasuerus, they cast Pur (that is, they cast lots) before Haman day after day; and they cast it month after month till the twelfth month, which is the month of Adar.


BIBLETEXT:
Then Haman said to King Ahasuerus, "There is a certain people scattered abroad and dispersed among the peoples in all the provinces of your kingdom. Their laws are different from those of every other people, and they do not keep the king's laws, so that it is not to the king's profit to tolerate them.


BIBLETEXT:
If it please the king, let it be decreed that they be destroyed, and I will pay 10,000 talents of silver into the hands of those who have charge of the king's business, that they may put it into the king's treasuries."


BIBLETEXT:
So the king took his signet ring from his hand and gave it to Haman the Agagite, the son of Hammedatha, the enemy of the Jews.


BIBLETEXT:
And the king said to Haman, "The money is given to you, the people also, to do with them as it seems good to you."


BIBLETEXT:
Then the king's scribes were summoned on the thirteenth day of the first month, and an edict, according to all that Haman commanded, was written to the king's satraps and to the governors over all the provinces and to the officials of all the peoples, to every province in its own script and every people in its own language. It was written in the name of King Ahasuerus and sealed with the king's signet ring.


BIBLETEXT:
Letters were sent by couriers to all the king's provinces with instruction to destroy, to kill, and to annihilate all Jews, young and old, women and children, in one day, the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, which is the month of Adar, and to plunder their goods.


BIBLETEXT:
A copy of the document was to be issued as a decree in every province by proclamation to all the peoples to be ready for that day.


BIBLETEXT:
The couriers went out hurriedly by order of the king, and the decree was issued in Susa the citadel. And the king and Haman sat down to drink, but the city of Susa was thrown into confusion.


BIBLETEXT:
When Mordecai learned all that had been done, Mordecai tore his clothes and put on sackcloth and ashes, and went out into the midst of the city, and he cried out with a loud and bitter cry.


BIBLETEXT:
He went up to the entrance of the king's gate, for no one was allowed to enter the king's gate clothed in sackcloth.


BIBLETEXT:
And in every province, wherever the king's command and his decree reached, there was great mourning among the Jews, with fasting and weeping and lamenting, and many of them lay in sackcloth and ashes.


BIBLETEXT:
When Esther's young women and her eunuchs came and told her, the queen was deeply distressed. She sent garments to clothe Mordecai, so that he might take off his sackcloth, but he would not accept them.


BIBLETEXT:
Then Esther called for Hathach, one of the king's eunuchs, who had been appointed to attend her, and ordered him to go to Mordecai to learn what this was and why it was.


BIBLETEXT:
Hathach went out to Mordecai in the open square of the city in front of the king's gate,


BIBLETEXT:
and Mordecai told him all that had happened to him, and the exact sum of money that Haman had promised to pay into the king's treasuries for the destruction of the Jews.


BIBLETEXT:
Mordecai also gave him a copy of the written decree issued in Susa for their destruction, that he might show it to Esther and explain it to her and command her to go to the king to beg his favor and plead with him on behalf of her people.


BIBLETEXT:
And Hathach went and told Esther what Mordecai had said.


BIBLETEXT:
Then Esther spoke to Hathach and commanded him to go to Mordecai and say,


BIBLETEXT:
"All the king's servants and the people of the king's provinces know that if any man or woman goes to the king inside the inner court without being called, there is but one law--to be put to death, except the one to whom the king holds out the golden scepter so that he may live. But as for me, I have not been called to come in to the king these thirty days."


BIBLETEXT:
And they told Mordecai what Esther had said.


BIBLETEXT:
Then Mordecai told them to reply to Esther, "Do not think to yourself that in the king's palace you will escape any more than all the other Jews.


BIBLETEXT:
For if you keep silent at this time, relief and deliverance will rise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father's house will perish. And who knows whether you have not come to the kingdom for such a time as this?"


BIBLETEXT:
Then Esther told them to reply to Mordecai,


BIBLETEXT:
"Go, gather all the Jews to be found in Susa, and hold a fast on my behalf, and do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. I and my young women will also fast as you do. Then I will go to the king, though it is against the law, and if I perish, I perish."


BIBLETEXT:
Mordecai then went away and did everything as Esther had ordered him.


BIBLETEXT:
On the third day Esther put on her royal robes and stood in the inner court of the king's palace, in front of the king's quarters, while the king was sitting on his royal throne inside the throne room opposite the entrance to the palace.


BIBLETEXT:
And when the king saw Queen Esther standing in the court, she won favor in his sight, and he held out to Esther the golden scepter that was in his hand. Then Esther approached and touched the tip of the scepter.


BIBLETEXT:
And the king said to her, "What is it, Queen Esther? What is your request? It shall be given you, even to the half of my kingdom."


BIBLETEXT:
And Esther said, "If it please the king, let the king and Haman come today to a feast that I have prepared for the king."


BIBLETEXT:
Then the king said, "Bring Haman quickly, so that we may do as Esther has asked." So the king and Haman came to the feast that Esther had prepared.


BIBLETEXT:
And as they were drinking wine after the feast, the king said to Esther, "What is your wish? It shall be granted you. And what is your request? Even to the half of my kingdom, it shall be fulfilled."


BIBLETEXT:
Then Esther answered, "My wish and my request is:


BIBLETEXT:
If I have found favor in the sight of the king, and if it please the king to grant my wish and fulfill my request, let the king and Haman come to the feast that I will prepare for them, and tomorrow I will do as the king has said."


BIBLETEXT:
And Haman went out that day joyful and glad of heart. But when Haman saw Mordecai in the king's gate, that he neither rose nor trembled before him, he was filled with wrath against Mordecai.


BIBLETEXT:
Nevertheless, Haman restrained himself and went home, and he sent and brought his friends and his wife Zeresh.


BIBLETEXT:
And Haman recounted to them the splendor of his riches, the number of his sons, all the promotions with which the king had honored him, and how he had advanced him above the officials and the servants of the king.


BIBLETEXT:
Then Haman said, "Even Queen Esther let no one but me come with the king to the feast she prepared. And tomorrow also I am invited by her together with the king.


BIBLETEXT:
Yet all this is worth nothing to me, so long as I see Mordecai the Jew sitting at the king's gate."


BIBLETEXT:
Then his wife Zeresh and all his friends said to him, "Let a gallows fifty cubits high be made, and in the morning tell the king to have Mordecai hanged upon it. Then go joyfully with the king to the feast." This idea pleased Haman, and he had the gallows made.


BIBLETEXT:
On that night the king could not sleep. And he gave orders to bring the book of memorable deeds, the chronicles, and they were read before the king.


BIBLETEXT:
And it was found written how Mordecai had told about Bigthana and Teresh, two of the king's eunuchs, who guarded the threshold, and who had sought to lay hands on King Ahasuerus.


BIBLETEXT:
And the king said, "What honor or distinction has been bestowed on Mordecai for this?" The king's young men who attended him said, "Nothing has been done for him."


BIBLETEXT:
And the king said, "Who is in the court?" Now Haman had just entered the outer court of the king's palace to speak to the king about having Mordecai hanged on the gallows that he had prepared for him.


BIBLETEXT:
And the king's young men told him, "Haman is there, standing in the court." And the king said, "Let him come in."


BIBLETEXT:
So Haman came in, and the king said to him, "What should be done to the man whom the king delights to honor?" And Haman said to himself, "Whom would the king delight to honor more than me?"


BIBLETEXT:
And Haman said to the king, "For the man whom the king delights to honor,


BIBLETEXT:
let royal robes be brought, which the king has worn, and the horse that the king has ridden, and on whose head a royal crown is set.


BIBLETEXT:
And let the robes and the horse be handed over to one of the king's most noble officials. Let them dress the man whom the king delights to honor, and let them lead him on the horse through the square of the city, proclaiming before him: 'Thus shall it be done to the man whom the king delights to honor.'"


BIBLETEXT:
Then the king said to Haman, "Hurry; take the robes and the horse, as you have said, and do so to Mordecai the Jew, who sits at the king's gate. Leave out nothing that you have mentioned."


BIBLETEXT:
So Haman took the robes and the horse, and he dressed Mordecai and led him through the square of the city, proclaiming before him, "Thus shall it be done to the man whom the king delights to honor."


BIBLETEXT:
Then Mordecai returned to the king's gate. But Haman hurried to his house, mourning and with his head covered.


BIBLETEXT:
And Haman told his wife Zeresh and all his friends everything that had happened to him. Then his wise men and his wife Zeresh said to him, "If Mordecai, before whom you have begun to fall, is of the Jewish people, you will not overcome him but will surely fall before him."


BIBLETEXT:
While they were yet talking with him, the king's eunuchs arrived and hurried to bring Haman to the feast that Esther had prepared.


BIBLETEXT:
So the king and Haman went in to feast with Queen Esther.


BIBLETEXT:
And on the second day, as they were drinking wine after the feast, the king again said to Esther, "What is your wish, Queen Esther? It shall be granted you. And what is your request? Even to the half of my kingdom, it shall be fulfilled."


BIBLETEXT:
Then Queen Esther answered, "If I have found favor in your sight, O king, and if it please the king, let my life be granted me for my wish, and my people for my request.


BIBLETEXT:
For we have been sold, I and my people, to be destroyed, to be killed, and to be annihilated. If we had been sold merely as slaves, men and women, I would have been silent, for our affliction is not to be compared with the loss to the king."


BIBLETEXT:
Then King Ahasuerus said to Queen Esther, "Who is he, and where is he, who has dared to do this?"


BIBLETEXT:
And Esther said, "A foe and enemy! This wicked Haman!" Then Haman was terrified before the king and the queen.


BIBLETEXT:
And the king arose in his wrath from the wine-drinking and went into the palace garden, but Haman stayed to beg for his life from Queen Esther, for he saw that harm was determined against him by the king.


BIBLETEXT:
And the king returned from the palace garden to the place where they were drinking wine, as Haman was falling on the couch where Esther was. And the king said, "Will he even assault the queen in my presence, in my own house?" As the word left the mouth of the king, they covered Haman's face.


BIBLETEXT:
Then Harbona, one of the eunuchs in attendance on the king, said, "Moreover, the gallows that Haman has prepared for Mordecai, whose word saved the king, is standing at Haman's house, fifty cubits high."


BIBLETEXT:
And the king said, "Hang him on that." So they hanged Haman on the gallows that he had prepared for Mordecai. Then the wrath of the king abated.


BIBLETEXT:
On that day King Ahasuerus gave to Queen Esther the house of Haman, the enemy of the Jews. And Mordecai came before the king, for Esther had told what he was to her.


BIBLETEXT:
And the king took off his signet ring, which he had taken from Haman, and gave it to Mordecai. And Esther set Mordecai over the house of Haman.


BIBLETEXT:
Then Esther spoke again to the king. She fell at his feet and wept and pleaded with him to avert the evil plan of Haman the Agagite and the plot that he had devised against the Jews.


BIBLETEXT:
When the king held out the golden scepter to Esther,


BIBLETEXT:
Esther rose and stood before the king. And she said, "If it please the king, and if I have found favor in his sight, and if the thing seems right before the king, and I am pleasing in his eyes, let an order be written to revoke the letters devised by Haman the Agagite, the son of Hammedatha, which he wrote to destroy the Jews who are in all the provinces of the king.


BIBLETEXT:
For how can I bear to see the calamity that is coming to my people? Or how can I bear to see the destruction of my kindred?"


BIBLETEXT:
Then King Ahasuerus said to Queen Esther and to Mordecai the Jew, "Behold, I have given Esther the house of Haman, and they have hanged him on the gallows, because he intended to lay hands on the Jews.


BIBLETEXT:
But you may write as you please with regard to the Jews, in the name of the king, and seal it with the king's ring, for an edict written in the name of the king and sealed with the king's ring cannot be revoked."


BIBLETEXT:
The king's scribes were summoned at that time, in the third month, which is the month of Sivan, on the twenty-third day. And an edict was written, according to all that Mordecai commanded concerning the Jews, to the satraps and the governors and the officials of the provinces from India to Ethiopia, 127 provinces, to each province in its own script and to each people in its own language, and also to the Jews in their script and their language.


BIBLETEXT:
And he wrote in the name of King Ahasuerus and sealed it with the king's signet ring. Then he sent the letters by mounted couriers riding on swift horses that were used in the king's service, bred from the royal stud,


BIBLETEXT:
saying that the king allowed the Jews who were in every city to gather and defend their lives, to destroy, to kill, and to annihilate any armed force of any people or province that might attack them, children and women included, and to plunder their goods,


BIBLETEXT:
on one day throughout all the provinces of King Ahasuerus, on the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, which is the month of Adar.


BIBLETEXT:
A copy of what was written was to be issued as a decree in every province, being publicly displayed to all peoples, and the Jews were to be ready on that day to take vengeance on their enemies.


BIBLETEXT:
So the couriers, mounted on their swift horses that were used in the king's service, rode out hurriedly, urged by the king's command. And the decree was issued in Susa the citadel.


BIBLETEXT:
Then Mordecai went out from the presence of the king in royal robes of blue and white, with a great golden crown and a robe of fine linen and purple, and the city of Susa shouted and rejoiced.


BIBLETEXT:
The Jews had light and gladness and joy and honor.


BIBLETEXT:
And in every province and in every city, wherever the king's command and his edict reached, there was gladness and joy among the Jews, a feast and a holiday. And many from the peoples of the country declared themselves Jews, for fear of the Jews had fallen on them.


BIBLETEXT:
Now in the twelfth month, which is the month of Adar, on the thirteenth day of the same, when the king's command and edict were about to be carried out, on the very day when the enemies of the Jews hoped to gain the mastery over them, the reverse occurred: the Jews gained mastery over those who hated them.


BIBLETEXT:
The Jews gathered in their cities throughout all the provinces of King Ahasuerus to lay hands on those who sought their harm. And no one could stand against them, for the fear of them had fallen on all peoples.


BIBLETEXT:
All the officials of the provinces and the satraps and the governors and the royal agents also helped the Jews, for the fear of Mordecai had fallen on them.


BIBLETEXT:
For Mordecai was great in the king's house, and his fame spread throughout all the provinces, for the man Mordecai grew more and more powerful.


BIBLETEXT:
The Jews struck all their enemies with the sword, killing and destroying them, and did as they pleased to those who hated them.


BIBLETEXT:
In Susa the citadel itself the Jews killed and destroyed 500 men,


BIBLETEXT:
and also killed Parshandatha and Dalphon and Aspatha


BIBLETEXT:
and Parmashta and Arisai and Aridai and Vaizatha,


BIBLETEXT:
the ten sons of Haman the son of Hammedatha, the enemy of the Jews, but they laid no hand on the plunder.


BIBLETEXT:
That very day the number of those killed in Susa the citadel was reported to the king.


BIBLETEXT:
And the king said to Queen Esther, "In Susa the citadel the Jews have killed and destroyed 500 men and also the ten sons of Haman. What then have they done in the rest of the king's provinces! Now what is your wish? It shall be granted you. And what further is your request? It shall be fulfilled."


BIBLETEXT:
And Esther said, "If it please the king, let the Jews who are in Susa be allowed tomorrow also to do according to this day's edict. And let the ten sons of Haman be hanged on the gallows."


BIBLETEXT:
So the king commanded this to be done. A decree was issued in Susa, and the ten sons of Haman were hanged.


BIBLETEXT:
The Jews who were in Susa gathered also on the fourteenth day of the month of Adar and they killed 300 men in Susa, but they laid no hands on the plunder.


BIBLETEXT:
Now the rest of the Jews who were in the king's provinces also gathered to defend their lives, and got relief from their enemies and killed 75,000 of those who hated them, but they laid no hands on the plunder.


BIBLETEXT:
This was on the thirteenth day of the month of Adar, and on the fourteenth day they rested and made that a day of feasting and gladness.


BIBLETEXT:
But the Jews who were in Susa gathered on the thirteenth day and on the fourteenth, and rested on the fifteenth day, making that a day of feasting and gladness.


BIBLETEXT:
Therefore the Jews of the villages, who live in the rural towns, hold the fourteenth day of the month of Adar as a day for gladness and feasting, as a holiday, and as a day on which they send gifts of food to one another.


BIBLETEXT:
And Mordecai recorded these things and sent letters to all the Jews who were in all the provinces of King Ahasuerus, both near and far,


BIBLETEXT:
obliging them to keep the fourteenth day of the month Adar and also the fifteenth day of the same, year by year,


BIBLETEXT:
as the days on which the Jews got relief from their enemies, and as the month that had been turned for them from sorrow into gladness and from mourning into a holiday; that they should make them days of feasting and gladness, days for sending gifts of food to one another and gifts to the poor.


BIBLETEXT:
So the Jews accepted what they had started to do, and what Mordecai had written to them.


BIBLETEXT:
For Haman the Agagite, the son of Hammedatha, the enemy of all the Jews, had plotted against the Jews to destroy them, and had cast Pur (that is, cast lots), to crush and to destroy them.


BIBLETEXT:
But when it came before the king, he gave orders in writing that his evil plan that he had devised against the Jews should return on his own head, and that he and his sons should be hanged on the gallows.


BIBLETEXT:
Therefore they called these days Purim, after the term Pur. Therefore, because of all that was written in this letter, and of what they had faced in this matter, and of what had happened to them,


BIBLETEXT:
the Jews firmly obligated themselves and their offspring and all who joined them, that without fail they would keep these two days according to what was written and at the time appointed every year,


BIBLETEXT:
that these days should be remembered and kept throughout every generation, in every clan, province, and city, and that these days of Purim should never fall into disuse among the Jews, nor should the commemoration of these days cease among their descendants.


BIBLETEXT:
Then Queen Esther, the daughter of Abihail, and Mordecai the Jew gave full written authority, confirming this second letter about Purim.


BIBLETEXT:
Letters were sent to all the Jews, to the 127 provinces of the kingdom of Ahasuerus, in words of peace and truth,


BIBLETEXT:
that these days of Purim should be observed at their appointed seasons, as Mordecai the Jew and Queen Esther obligated them, and as they had obligated themselves and their offspring, with regard to their fasts and their lamenting.


BIBLETEXT:
The command of Queen Esther confirmed these practices of Purim, and it was recorded in writing.


BIBLETEXT:
King Ahasuerus imposed tax on the land and on the coastlands of the sea.


BIBLETEXT:
And all the acts of his power and might, and the full account of the high honor of Mordecai, to which the king advanced him, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the kings of Media and Persia?


BIBLETEXT:
For Mordecai the Jew was second in rank to King Ahasuerus, and he was great among the Jews and popular with the multitude of his brothers, for he sought the welfare of his people and spoke peace to all his people.


BIBLETEXT:
There was a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job, and that man was blameless and upright, one who feared God and turned away from evil.


BIBLETEXT:
There were born to him seven sons and three daughters.


BIBLETEXT:
He possessed 7,000 sheep, 3,000 camels, 500 yoke of oxen, and 500 female donkeys, and very many servants, so that this man was the greatest of all the people of the east.


BIBLETEXT:
His sons used to go and hold a feast in the house of each one on his day, and they would send and invite their three sisters to eat and drink with them.


BIBLETEXT:
And when the days of the feast had run their course, Job would send and consecrate them, and he would rise early in the morning and offer burnt offerings according to the number of them all. For Job said, "It may be that my children have sinned, and cursed God in their hearts." Thus Job did continually.


BIBLETEXT:
Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan also came among them.


BIBLETEXT:
The LORD said to Satan, "From where have you come?" Satan answered the LORD and said, "From going to and fro on the earth, and from walking up and down on it."


BIBLETEXT:
And the LORD said to Satan, "Have you considered my servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, who fears God and turns away from evil?"


BIBLETEXT:
Then Satan answered the LORD and said, "Does Job fear God for no reason?


BIBLETEXT:
Have you not put a hedge around him and his house and all that he has, on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land.


BIBLETEXT:
But stretch out your hand and touch all that he has, and he will curse you to your face."


BIBLETEXT:
And the LORD said to Satan, "Behold, all that he has is in your hand. Only against him do not stretch out your hand." So Satan went out from the presence of the LORD.


BIBLETEXT:
Now there was a day when his sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother's house,


BIBLETEXT:
and there came a messenger to Job and said, "The oxen were plowing and the donkeys feeding beside them,


BIBLETEXT:
and the Sabeans fell upon them and took them and struck down the servants with the edge of the sword, and I alone have escaped to tell you."


BIBLETEXT:
While he was yet speaking, there came another and said, "The fire of God fell from heaven and burned up the sheep and the servants and consumed them, and I alone have escaped to tell you."


BIBLETEXT:
While he was yet speaking, there came another and said, "The Chaldeans formed three groups and made a raid on the camels and took them and struck down the servants with the edge of the sword, and I alone have escaped to tell you."


BIBLETEXT:
While he was yet speaking, there came another and said, "Your sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother's house,


BIBLETEXT:
and behold, a great wind came across the wilderness and struck the four corners of the house, and it fell upon the young people, and they are dead, and I alone have escaped to tell you."


BIBLETEXT:
Then Job arose and tore his robe and shaved his head and fell on the ground and worshiped.


BIBLETEXT:
And he said, "Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked shall I return. The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD."


BIBLETEXT:
In all this Job did not sin or charge God with wrong.


BIBLETEXT:
Again there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan also came among them to present himself before the LORD.


BIBLETEXT:
And the LORD said to Satan, "From where have you come?" Satan answered the LORD and said, "From going to and fro on the earth, and from walking up and down on it."


BIBLETEXT:
And the LORD said to Satan, "Have you considered my servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, who fears God and turns away from evil? He still holds fast his integrity, although you incited me against him to destroy him without reason."


BIBLETEXT:
Then Satan answered the LORD and said, "Skin for skin! All that a man has he will give for his life.


BIBLETEXT:
But stretch out your hand and touch his bone and his flesh, and he will curse you to your face."


BIBLETEXT:
And the LORD said to Satan, "Behold, he is in your hand; only spare his life."


BIBLETEXT:
So Satan went out from the presence of the LORD and struck Job with loathsome sores from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head.


BIBLETEXT:
And he took a piece of broken pottery with which to scrape himself while he sat in the ashes.


BIBLETEXT:
Then his wife said to him, "Do you still hold fast your integrity? Curse God and die."


BIBLETEXT:
But he said to her, "You speak as one of the foolish women would speak. Shall we receive good from God, and shall we not receive evil?" In all this Job did not sin with his lips.


BIBLETEXT:
Now when Job's three friends heard of all this evil that had come upon him, they came each from his own place, Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite. They made an appointment together to come to show him sympathy and comfort him.


BIBLETEXT:
And when they saw him from a distance, they did not recognize him. And they raised their voices and wept, and they tore their robes and sprinkled dust on their heads toward heaven.


BIBLETEXT:
And they sat with him on the ground seven days and seven nights, and no one spoke a word to him, for they saw that his suffering was very great.


BIBLETEXT:
After this Job opened his mouth and cursed the day of his birth.


BIBLETEXT:
"Let the day perish on which I was born, and the night that said, 'A man is conceived.'


BIBLETEXT:
Let that day be darkness! May God above not seek it, nor light shine upon it.


BIBLETEXT:
Let gloom and deep darkness claim it. Let clouds dwell upon it; let the blackness of the day terrify it.


BIBLETEXT:
That night--let thick darkness seize it! Let it not rejoice among the days of the year; let it not come into the number of the months.


BIBLETEXT:
Behold, let that night be barren; let no joyful cry enter it.


BIBLETEXT:
Let those curse it who curse the day, who are ready to rouse up Leviathan.


BIBLETEXT:
Let the stars of its dawn be dark; let it hope for light, but have none, nor see the eyelids of the morning,


BIBLETEXT:
because it did not shut the doors of my mother's womb, nor hide trouble from my eyes.


BIBLETEXT:
"Why did I not die at birth, come out from the womb and expire?


BIBLETEXT:
Why did the knees receive me? Or why the breasts, that I should nurse?


BIBLETEXT:
For then I would have lain down and been quiet; I would have slept; then I would have been at rest,


BIBLETEXT:
with kings and counselors of the earth who rebuilt ruins for themselves,


BIBLETEXT:
or with princes who had gold, who filled their houses with silver.


BIBLETEXT:
Or why was I not as a hidden stillborn child, as infants who never see the light?


BIBLETEXT:
There the wicked cease from troubling, and there the weary are at rest.


BIBLETEXT:
There the prisoners are at ease together; they hear not the voice of the taskmaster.


BIBLETEXT:
The small and the great are there, and the slave is free from his master.


BIBLETEXT:
"Why is light given to him who is in misery, and life to the bitter in soul,


BIBLETEXT:
who long for death, but it comes not, and dig for it more than for hidden treasures,


BIBLETEXT:
who rejoice exceedingly and are glad when they find the grave?


BIBLETEXT:
Why is light given to a man whose way is hidden, whom God has hedged in?


BIBLETEXT:
For my sighing comes instead of my bread, and my groanings are poured out like water.


BIBLETEXT:
For the thing that I fear comes upon me, and what I dread befalls me.


BIBLETEXT:
I am not at ease, nor am I quiet; I have no rest, but trouble comes."


BIBLETEXT:
Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered and said:


BIBLETEXT:
"If one ventures a word with you, will you be impatient? Yet who can keep from speaking?


BIBLETEXT:
Behold, you have instructed many, and you have strengthened the weak hands.


BIBLETEXT:
Your words have upheld him who was stumbling, and you have made firm the feeble knees.


BIBLETEXT:
But now it has come to you, and you are impatient; it touches you, and you are dismayed.


BIBLETEXT:
Is not your fear of God your confidence, and the integrity of your ways your hope?


BIBLETEXT:
"Remember: who that was innocent ever perished? Or where were the upright cut off?


BIBLETEXT:
As I have seen, those who plow iniquity and sow trouble reap the same.


BIBLETEXT:
By the breath of God they perish, and by the blast of his anger they are consumed.


BIBLETEXT:
The roar of the lion, the voice of the fierce lion, the teeth of the young lions are broken.


BIBLETEXT:
The strong lion perishes for lack of prey, and the cubs of the lioness are scattered.


BIBLETEXT:
"Now a word was brought to me stealthily; my ear received the whisper of it.


BIBLETEXT:
Amid thoughts from visions of the night, when deep sleep falls on men,


BIBLETEXT:
dread came upon me, and trembling, which made all my bones shake.


BIBLETEXT:
A spirit glided past my face; the hair of my flesh stood up.


BIBLETEXT:
It stood still, but I could not discern its appearance. A form was before my eyes; there was silence, then I heard a voice:


BIBLETEXT:
'Can mortal man be in the right before God? Can a man be pure before his Maker?


BIBLETEXT:
Even in his servants he puts no trust, and his angels he charges with error;


BIBLETEXT:
how much more those who dwell in houses of clay, whose foundation is in the dust, who are crushed like the moth.


BIBLETEXT:
Between morning and evening they are beaten to pieces; they perish forever without anyone regarding it.


BIBLETEXT:
Is not their tent-cord plucked up within them, do they not die, and that without wisdom?'


BIBLETEXT:
"Call now; is there anyone who will answer you? To which of the holy ones will you turn?


BIBLETEXT:
Surely vexation kills the fool, and jealousy slays the simple.


BIBLETEXT:
I have seen the fool taking root, but suddenly I cursed his dwelling.


BIBLETEXT:
His children are far from safety; they are crushed in the gate, and there is no one to deliver them.


BIBLETEXT:
The hungry eat his harvest, and he takes it even out of thorns, and the thirsty pant after his wealth.


BIBLETEXT:
For affliction does not come from the dust, nor does trouble sprout from the ground,


BIBLETEXT:
but man is born to trouble as the sparks fly upward.


BIBLETEXT:
"As for me, I would seek God, and to God would I commit my cause,


BIBLETEXT:
who does great things and unsearchable, marvelous things without number:


BIBLETEXT:
he gives rain on the earth and sends waters on the fields;


BIBLETEXT:
he sets on high those who are lowly, and those who mourn are lifted to safety.


BIBLETEXT:
He frustrates the devices of the crafty, so that their hands achieve no success.


BIBLETEXT:
He catches the wise in their own craftiness, and the schemes of the wily are brought to a quick end.


BIBLETEXT:
They meet with darkness in the daytime and grope at noonday as in the night.


BIBLETEXT:
But he saves the needy from the sword of their mouth and from the hand of the mighty.


BIBLETEXT:
So the poor have hope, and injustice shuts her mouth.


BIBLETEXT:
"Behold, blessed is the one whom God reproves; therefore despise not the discipline of the Almighty.


BIBLETEXT:
For he wounds, but he binds up; he shatters, but his hands heal.


BIBLETEXT:
He will deliver you from six troubles; in seven no evil shall touch you.


BIBLETEXT:
In famine he will redeem you from death, and in war from the power of the sword.


BIBLETEXT:
You shall be hidden from the lash of the tongue, and shall not fear destruction when it comes.


BIBLETEXT:
At destruction and famine you shall laugh, and shall not fear the beasts of the earth.


BIBLETEXT:
For you shall be in league with the stones of the field, and the beasts of the field shall be at peace with you.


BIBLETEXT:
You shall know that your tent is at peace, and you shall inspect your fold and miss nothing.


BIBLETEXT:
You shall know also that your offspring shall be many, and your descendants as the grass of the earth.


BIBLETEXT:
You shall come to your grave in ripe old age, like a sheaf gathered up in its season.


BIBLETEXT:
Behold, this we have searched out; it is true. Hear, and know it for your good."


BIBLETEXT:
"Oh that my vexation were weighed, and all my calamity laid in the balances!


BIBLETEXT:
For then it would be heavier than the sand of the sea; therefore my words have been rash.


BIBLETEXT:
For the arrows of the Almighty are in me; my spirit drinks their poison; the terrors of God are arrayed against me.


BIBLETEXT:
Does the wild donkey bray when he has grass, or the ox low over his fodder?


BIBLETEXT:
Can that which is tasteless be eaten without salt, or is there any taste in the juice of the mallow?


BIBLETEXT:
My appetite refuses to touch them; they are as food that is loathsome to me.


BIBLETEXT:
"Oh that I might have my request, and that God would fulfill my hope,


BIBLETEXT:
that it would please God to crush me, that he would let loose his hand and cut me off!


BIBLETEXT:
This would be my comfort; I would even exult in pain unsparing, for I have not denied the words of the Holy One.


BIBLETEXT:
What is my strength, that I should wait? And what is my end, that I should be patient?


BIBLETEXT:
Is my strength the strength of stones, or is my flesh bronze?


BIBLETEXT:
Have I any help in me, when resource is driven from me?


BIBLETEXT:
"He who withholds kindness from a friend forsakes the fear of the Almighty.


BIBLETEXT:
My brothers are treacherous as a torrent-bed, as torrential streams that pass away,


BIBLETEXT:
which are dark with ice, and where the snow hides itself.


BIBLETEXT:
When they melt, they disappear; when it is hot, they vanish from their place.


BIBLETEXT:
The caravans turn aside from their course; they go up into the waste and perish.


BIBLETEXT:
The caravans of Tema look, the travelers of Sheba hope.


BIBLETEXT:
They are ashamed because they were confident; they come there and are disappointed.


BIBLETEXT:
For you have now become nothing; you see my calamity and are afraid.


BIBLETEXT:
Have I said, 'Make me a gift'? Or, 'From your wealth offer a bribe for me'?


BIBLETEXT:
Or, 'Deliver me from the adversary's hand'? Or, 'Redeem me from the hand of the ruthless'?


BIBLETEXT:
"Teach me, and I will be silent; make me understand how I have gone astray.


BIBLETEXT:
How forceful are upright words! But what does reproof from you reprove?


BIBLETEXT:
Do you think that you can reprove words, when the speech of a despairing man is wind?


BIBLETEXT:
You would even cast lots over the fatherless, and bargain over your friend.


BIBLETEXT:
"But now, be pleased to look at me, for I will not lie to your face.


BIBLETEXT:
Please turn; let no injustice be done. Turn now; my vindication is at stake.


BIBLETEXT:
Is there any injustice on my tongue? Cannot my palate discern the cause of calamity?


BIBLETEXT:
"Has not man a hard service on earth, and are not his days like the days of a hired hand?


BIBLETEXT:
Like a slave who longs for the shadow, and like a hired hand who looks for his wages,


BIBLETEXT:
so I am allotted months of emptiness, and nights of misery are apportioned to me.


BIBLETEXT:
When I lie down I say, 'When shall I arise?' But the night is long, and I am full of tossing till the dawn.


BIBLETEXT:
My flesh is clothed with worms and dirt; my skin hardens, then breaks out afresh.


BIBLETEXT:
My days are swifter than a weaver's shuttle and come to their end without hope.


BIBLETEXT:
"Remember that my life is a breath; my eye will never again see good.


BIBLETEXT:
The eye of him who sees me will behold me no more; while your eyes are on me, I shall be gone.


BIBLETEXT:
As the cloud fades and vanishes, so he who goes down to Sheol does not come up;


BIBLETEXT:
he returns no more to his house, nor does his place know him anymore.


BIBLETEXT:
"Therefore I will not restrain my mouth; I will speak in the anguish of my spirit; I will complain in the bitterness of my soul.


BIBLETEXT:
Am I the sea, or a sea monster, that you set a guard over me?


BIBLETEXT:
When I say, 'My bed will comfort me, my couch will ease my complaint,'


BIBLETEXT:
then you scare me with dreams and terrify me with visions,


BIBLETEXT:
so that I would choose strangling and death rather than my bones.


BIBLETEXT:
I loathe my life; I would not live forever. Leave me alone, for my days are a breath.


BIBLETEXT:
What is man, that you make so much of him, and that you set your heart on him,


BIBLETEXT:
visit him every morning and test him every moment?


BIBLETEXT:
How long will you not look away from me, nor leave me alone till I swallow my spit?


BIBLETEXT:
If I sin, what do I do to you, you watcher of mankind? Why have you made me your mark? Why have I become a burden to you?


BIBLETEXT:
Why do you not pardon my transgression and take away my iniquity? For now I shall lie in the earth; you will seek me, but I shall not be."


BIBLETEXT:
Then Bildad the Shuhite answered and said:


BIBLETEXT:
"How long will you say these things, and the words of your mouth be a great wind?


BIBLETEXT:
Does God pervert justice? Or does the Almighty pervert the right?


BIBLETEXT:
If your children have sinned against him, he has delivered them into the hand of their transgression.


BIBLETEXT:
If you will seek God and plead with the Almighty for mercy,


BIBLETEXT:
if you are pure and upright, surely then he will rouse himself for you and restore your rightful habitation.


BIBLETEXT:
And though your beginning was small, your latter days will be very great.


BIBLETEXT:
"For inquire, please, of bygone ages, and consider what the fathers have searched out.


BIBLETEXT:
For we are but of yesterday and know nothing, for our days on earth are a shadow.


BIBLETEXT:
Will they not teach you and tell you and utter words out of their understanding?


BIBLETEXT:
"Can papyrus grow where there is no marsh? Can reeds flourish where there is no water?


BIBLETEXT:
While yet in flower and not cut down, they wither before any other plant.


BIBLETEXT:
Such are the paths of all who forget God; the hope of the godless shall perish.


BIBLETEXT:
His confidence is severed, and his trust is a spider's web.


BIBLETEXT:
He leans against his house, but it does not stand; he lays hold of it, but it does not endure.


BIBLETEXT:
He is a lush plant before the sun, and his shoots spread over his garden.


BIBLETEXT:
His roots entwine the stone heap; he looks upon a house of stones.


BIBLETEXT:
If he is destroyed from his place, then it will deny him, saying, 'I have never seen you.'


BIBLETEXT:
Behold, this is the joy of his way, and out of the soil others will spring.


BIBLETEXT:
"Behold, God will not reject a blameless man, nor take the hand of evildoers.


BIBLETEXT:
He has inscribed a circle on the face of the waters at the boundary between light and darkness.


BIBLETEXT:
The pillars of heaven tremble and are astounded at his rebuke.


BIBLETEXT:
By his power he stilled the sea; by his understanding he shattered Rahab.


BIBLETEXT:
By his wind the heavens were made fair; his hand pierced the fleeing serpent.


BIBLETEXT:
Behold, these are but the outskirts of his ways, and how small a whisper do we hear of him! But the thunder of his power who can understand?"


BIBLETEXT:
And Job again took up his discourse, and said:


BIBLETEXT:
"As God lives, who has taken away my right, and the Almighty, who has made my soul bitter,


BIBLETEXT:
as long as my breath is in me, and the spirit of God is in my nostrils,


BIBLETEXT:
my lips will not speak falsehood, and my tongue will not utter deceit.


BIBLETEXT:
Far be it from me to say that you are right; till I die I will not put away my integrity from me.


BIBLETEXT:
I hold fast my righteousness and will not let it go; my heart does not reproach me for any of my days.


BIBLETEXT:
"Let my enemy be as the wicked, and let him who rises up against me be as the unrighteous.


BIBLETEXT:
For what is the hope of the godless when God cuts him off, when God takes away his life?


BIBLETEXT:
Will God hear his cry when distress comes upon him?


BIBLETEXT:
Will he take delight in the Almighty? Will he call upon God at all times?


BIBLETEXT:
I will teach you concerning the hand of God; what is with the Almighty I will not conceal.


BIBLETEXT:
Behold, all of you have seen it yourselves; why then have you become altogether vain?


BIBLETEXT:
"This is the portion of a wicked man with God, and the heritage that oppressors receive from the Almighty:


BIBLETEXT:
If his children are multiplied, it is for the sword, and his descendants have not enough bread.


BIBLETEXT:
Those who survive him the pestilence buries, and his widows do not weep.


BIBLETEXT:
Though he heap up silver like dust, and pile up clothing like clay,


BIBLETEXT:
he may pile it up, but the righteous will wear it, and the innocent will divide the silver.


BIBLETEXT:
He builds his house like a moth's, like a booth that a watchman makes.


BIBLETEXT:
He goes to bed rich, but will do so no more; he opens his eyes, and his wealth is gone.


BIBLETEXT:
Terrors overtake him like a flood; in the night a whirlwind carries him off.


BIBLETEXT:
The east wind lifts him up and he is gone; it sweeps him out of his place.


BIBLETEXT:
It hurls at him without pity; he flees from its power in headlong flight.


BIBLETEXT:
It claps its hands at him and hisses at him from its place.


BIBLETEXT:
"Surely there is a mine for silver, and a place for gold that they refine.


BIBLETEXT:
Iron is taken out of the earth, and copper is smelted from the ore.


BIBLETEXT:
Man puts an end to darkness and searches out to the farthest limit the ore in gloom and deep darkness.


BIBLETEXT:
He opens shafts in a valley away from where anyone lives; they are forgotten by travelers; they hang in the air, far away from mankind; they swing to and fro.


BIBLETEXT:
As for the earth, out of it comes bread, but underneath it is turned up as by fire.


BIBLETEXT:
Its stones are the place of sapphires, and it has dust of gold.


BIBLETEXT:
"That path no bird of prey knows, and the falcon's eye has not seen it.


BIBLETEXT:
The proud beasts have not trodden it; the lion has not passed over it.


BIBLETEXT:
"Man puts his hand to the flinty rock and overturns mountains by the roots.


BIBLETEXT:
He cuts out channels in the rocks, and his eye sees every precious thing.


BIBLETEXT:
He dams up the streams so that they do not trickle, and the thing that is hidden he brings out to light.


BIBLETEXT:
"But where shall wisdom be found? And where is the place of understanding?


BIBLETEXT:
Man does not know its worth, and it is not found in the land of the living.


BIBLETEXT:
The deep says, 'It is not in me,' and the sea says, 'It is not with me.'


BIBLETEXT:
It cannot be bought for gold, and silver cannot be weighed as its price.


BIBLETEXT:
It cannot be valued in the gold of Ophir, in precious onyx or sapphire.


BIBLETEXT:
Gold and glass cannot equal it, nor can it be exchanged for jewels of fine gold.


BIBLETEXT:
No mention shall be made of coral or of crystal; the price of wisdom is above pearls.


BIBLETEXT:
The topaz of Ethiopia cannot equal it, nor can it be valued in pure gold.


BIBLETEXT:
"From where, then, does wisdom come? And where is the place of understanding?


BIBLETEXT:
It is hidden from the eyes of all living and concealed from the birds of the air.


BIBLETEXT:
Abaddon and Death say, 'We have heard a rumor of it with our ears.'


BIBLETEXT:
"God understands the way to it, and he knows its place.


BIBLETEXT:
For he looks to the ends of the earth and sees everything under the heavens.


BIBLETEXT:
When he gave to the wind its weight and apportioned the waters by measure,


BIBLETEXT:
when he made a decree for the rain and a way for the lightning of the thunder,


BIBLETEXT:
then he saw it and declared it; he established it, and searched it out.


BIBLETEXT:
And he said to man, 'Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom, and to turn away from evil is understanding.'"


BIBLETEXT:
"Oh, that I were as in the months of old, as in the days when God watched over me,


BIBLETEXT:
when his lamp shone upon my head, and by his light I walked through darkness,


BIBLETEXT:
as I was in my prime, when the friendship of God was upon my tent,


BIBLETEXT:
when the Almighty was yet with me, when my children were all around me,


BIBLETEXT:
when my steps were washed with butter, and the rock poured out for me streams of oil!


BIBLETEXT:
When I went out to the gate of the city, when I prepared my seat in the square,


BIBLETEXT:
the young men saw me and withdrew, and the aged rose and stood;


BIBLETEXT:
the princes refrained from talking and laid their hand on their mouth;


BIBLETEXT:
the voice of the nobles was hushed, and their tongue stuck to the roof of their mouth.


BIBLETEXT:
When the ear heard, it called me blessed, and when the eye saw, it approved,


BIBLETEXT:
because I delivered the poor who cried for help, and the fatherless who had none to help him.


BIBLETEXT:
The blessing of him who was about to perish came upon me, and I caused the widow's heart to sing for joy.


BIBLETEXT:
I put on righteousness, and it clothed me; my justice was like a robe and a turban.


BIBLETEXT:
I was eyes to the blind and feet to the lame.


BIBLETEXT:
I was a father to the needy, and I searched out the cause of him whom I did not know.


BIBLETEXT:
I broke the fangs of the unrighteous and made him drop his prey from his teeth.


BIBLETEXT:
Then I thought, 'I shall die in my nest, and I shall multiply my days as the sand,


BIBLETEXT:
my roots spread out to the waters, with the dew all night on my branches,


BIBLETEXT:
my glory fresh with me, and my bow ever new in my hand.'


BIBLETEXT:
"Men listened to me and waited and kept silence for my counsel.


BIBLETEXT:
After I spoke they did not speak again, and my word dropped upon them.


BIBLETEXT:
They waited for me as for the rain, and they opened their mouths as for the spring rain.


BIBLETEXT:
I smiled on them when they had no confidence, and the light of my face they did not cast down.


BIBLETEXT:
I chose their way and sat as chief, and I lived like a king among his troops, like one who comforts mourners.


BIBLETEXT:
"But now they laugh at me, men who are younger than I, whose fathers I would have disdained to set with the dogs of my flock.


BIBLETEXT:
What could I gain from the strength of their hands, men whose vigor is gone?


BIBLETEXT:
Through want and hard hunger they gnaw the dry ground by night in waste and desolation;


BIBLETEXT:
they pick saltwort and the leaves of bushes, and the roots of the broom tree for their food.


BIBLETEXT:
They are driven out from human company; they shout after them as after a thief.


BIBLETEXT:
He will yet fill your mouth with laughter, and your lips with shouting.


BIBLETEXT:
Those who hate you will be clothed with shame, and the tent of the wicked will be no more."


BIBLETEXT:
"Truly I know that it is so: But how can a man be in the right before God?


BIBLETEXT:
If one wished to contend with him, one could not answer him once in a thousand times.


BIBLETEXT:
He is wise in heart and mighty in strength --who has hardened himself against him, and succeeded?--


BIBLETEXT:
he who removes mountains, and they know it not, when he overturns them in his anger,


BIBLETEXT:
who shakes the earth out of its place, and its pillars tremble;


BIBLETEXT:
who commands the sun, and it does not rise; who seals up the stars;


BIBLETEXT:
who alone stretched out the heavens and trampled the waves of the sea;


BIBLETEXT:
who made the Bear and Orion, the Pleiades and the chambers of the south;


BIBLETEXT:
who does great things beyond searching out, and marvelous things beyond number.


BIBLETEXT:
Behold, he passes by me, and I see him not; he moves on, but I do not perceive him.


BIBLETEXT:
Behold, he snatches away; who can turn him back? Who will say to him, 'What are you doing?'


BIBLETEXT:
"God will not turn back his anger; beneath him bowed the helpers of Rahab.


BIBLETEXT:
How then can I answer him, choosing my words with him?


BIBLETEXT:
Though I am in the right, I cannot answer him; I must appeal for mercy to my accuser.


BIBLETEXT:
If I summoned him and he answered me, I would not believe that he was listening to my voice.


BIBLETEXT:
For he crushes me with a tempest and multiplies my wounds without cause;


BIBLETEXT:
he will not let me get my breath, but fills me with bitterness.


BIBLETEXT:
If it is a contest of strength, behold, he is mighty! If it is a matter of justice, who can summon him?


BIBLETEXT:
Though I am in the right, my own mouth would condemn me; though I am blameless, he would prove me perverse.


BIBLETEXT:
I am blameless; I regard not myself; I loathe my life.


BIBLETEXT:
It is all one; therefore I say, He destroys both the blameless and the wicked.


BIBLETEXT:
When disaster brings sudden death, he mocks at the calamity of the innocent.


BIBLETEXT:
The earth is given into the hand of the wicked; he covers the faces of its judges-- if it is not he, who then is it?


BIBLETEXT:
"My days are swifter than a runner; they flee away; they see no good.


BIBLETEXT:
They go by like skiffs of reed, like an eagle swooping on the prey.


BIBLETEXT:
If I say, 'I will forget my complaint, I will put off my sad face, and be of good cheer,'


BIBLETEXT:
I become afraid of all my suffering, for I know you will not hold me innocent.


BIBLETEXT:
I shall be condemned; why then do I labor in vain?


BIBLETEXT:
If I wash myself with snow and cleanse my hands with lye,


BIBLETEXT:
yet you will plunge me into a pit, and my own clothes will abhor me.


BIBLETEXT:
For he is not a man, as I am, that I might answer him, that we should come to trial together.


BIBLETEXT:
There is no arbiter between us, who might lay his hand on us both.


BIBLETEXT:
Let him take his rod away from me, and let not dread of him terrify me.


BIBLETEXT:
Then I would speak without fear of him, for I am not so in myself.


BIBLETEXT:
"I loathe my life; I will give free utterance to my complaint; I will speak in the bitterness of my soul.


BIBLETEXT:
I will say to God, Do not condemn me; let me know why you contend against me.


BIBLETEXT:
Does it seem good to you to oppress, to despise the work of your hands and favor the designs of the wicked?


BIBLETEXT:
Have you eyes of flesh? Do you see as man sees?


BIBLETEXT:
Are your days as the days of man, or your years as a man's years,


BIBLETEXT:
that you seek out my iniquity and search for my sin,


BIBLETEXT:
although you know that I am not guilty, and there is none to deliver out of your hand?


BIBLETEXT:
Your hands fashioned and made me, and now you have destroyed me altogether.


BIBLETEXT:
Remember that you have made me like clay; and will you return me to the dust?


BIBLETEXT:
Did you not pour me out like milk and curdle me like cheese?


BIBLETEXT:
You clothed me with skin and flesh, and knit me together with bones and sinews.


BIBLETEXT:
You have granted me life and steadfast love, and your care has preserved my spirit.


BIBLETEXT:
Yet these things you hid in your heart; I know that this was your purpose.


BIBLETEXT:
If I sin, you watch me and do not acquit me of my iniquity.


BIBLETEXT:
If I am guilty, woe to me! If I am in the right, I cannot lift up my head, for I am filled with disgrace and look on my affliction.


BIBLETEXT:
And were my head lifted up, you would hunt me like a lion and again work wonders against me.


BIBLETEXT:
You renew your witnesses against me and increase your vexation toward me; you bring fresh troops against me.


BIBLETEXT:
"Why did you bring me out from the womb? Would that I had died before any eye had seen me


BIBLETEXT:
and were as though I had not been, carried from the womb to the grave.


BIBLETEXT:
Are not my days few? Then cease, and leave me alone, that I may find a little cheer


BIBLETEXT:
before I go--and I shall not return-- to the land of darkness and deep shadow,


BIBLETEXT:
the land of gloom like thick darkness, like deep shadow without any order, where light is as thick darkness."


BIBLETEXT:
Then Zophar the Naamathite answered and said:


BIBLETEXT:
"Should a multitude of words go unanswered, and a man full of talk be judged right?


BIBLETEXT:
Should your babble silence men, and when you mock, shall no one shame you?


BIBLETEXT:
For you say, 'My doctrine is pure, and I am clean in God's eyes.'


BIBLETEXT:
But oh, that God would speak and open his lips to you,


BIBLETEXT:
and that he would tell you the secrets of wisdom! For he is manifold in understanding. Know then that God exacts of you less than your guilt deserves.


BIBLETEXT:
"Can you find out the deep things of God? Can you find out the limit of the Almighty?


BIBLETEXT:
It is higher than heaven--what can you do? Deeper than Sheol--what can you know?


BIBLETEXT:
Its measure is longer than the earth and broader than the sea.


BIBLETEXT:
If he passes through and imprisons and summons the court, who can turn him back?


BIBLETEXT:
For he knows worthless men; when he sees iniquity, will he not consider it?


BIBLETEXT:
But a stupid man will get understanding when a wild donkey's colt is born a man!


BIBLETEXT:
"If you prepare your heart, you will stretch out your hands toward him.


BIBLETEXT:
If iniquity is in your hand, put it far away, and let not injustice dwell in your tents.


BIBLETEXT:
Surely then you will lift up your face without blemish; you will be secure and will not fear.


BIBLETEXT:
You will forget your misery; you will remember it as waters that have passed away.


BIBLETEXT:
And your life will be brighter than the noonday; its darkness will be like the morning.


BIBLETEXT:
And you will feel secure, because there is hope; you will look around and take your rest in security.


BIBLETEXT:
You will lie down, and none will make you afraid; many will court your favor.


BIBLETEXT:
But the eyes of the wicked will fail; all way of escape will be lost to them, and their hope is to breathe their last."


BIBLETEXT:
"No doubt you are the people, and wisdom will die with you.


BIBLETEXT:
But I have understanding as well as you; I am not inferior to you. Who does not know such things as these?


BIBLETEXT:
I am a laughingstock to my friends; I, who called to God and he answered me, a just and blameless man, am a laughingstock.


BIBLETEXT:
In the thought of one who is at ease there is contempt for misfortune; it is ready for those whose feet slip.


BIBLETEXT:
The tents of robbers are at peace, and those who provoke God are secure, who bring their god in their hand.


BIBLETEXT:
"But ask the beasts, and they will teach you; the birds of the heavens, and they will tell you;


BIBLETEXT:
or the bushes of the earth, and they will teach you; and the fish of the sea will declare to you.


BIBLETEXT:
Who among all these does not know that the hand of the LORD has done this?


BIBLETEXT:
In his hand is the life of every living thing and the breath of all mankind.


BIBLETEXT:
Does not the ear test words as the palate tastes food?


BIBLETEXT:
Wisdom is with the aged, and understanding in length of days.


BIBLETEXT:
"With God are wisdom and might; he has counsel and understanding.


BIBLETEXT:
If he tears down, none can rebuild; if he shuts a man in, none can open.


BIBLETEXT:
If he withholds the waters, they dry up; if he sends them out, they overwhelm the land.


BIBLETEXT:
With him are strength and sound wisdom; the deceived and the deceiver are his.


BIBLETEXT:
He leads counselors away stripped, and judges he makes fools.


BIBLETEXT:
He looses the bonds of kings and binds a waistcloth on their hips.


BIBLETEXT:
He leads priests away stripped and overthrows the mighty.


BIBLETEXT:
He deprives of speech those who are trusted and takes away the discernment of the elders.


BIBLETEXT:
He pours contempt on princes and loosens the belt of the strong.


BIBLETEXT:
He uncovers the deeps out of darkness and brings deep darkness to light.


BIBLETEXT:
He makes nations great, and he destroys them; he enlarges nations, and leads them away.


BIBLETEXT:
He takes away understanding from the chiefs of the people of the earth and makes them wander in a pathless waste.


BIBLETEXT:
They grope in the dark without light, and he makes them stagger like a drunken man.


BIBLETEXT:
"Behold, my eye has seen all this, my ear has heard and understood it.


BIBLETEXT:
What you know, I also know; I am not inferior to you.


BIBLETEXT:
But I would speak to the Almighty, and I desire to argue my case with God.


BIBLETEXT:
As for you, you whitewash with lies; worthless physicians are you all.


BIBLETEXT:
Oh that you would keep silent, and it would be your wisdom!


BIBLETEXT:
Hear now my argument and listen to the pleadings of my lips.


BIBLETEXT:
Will you speak falsely for God and speak deceitfully for him?


BIBLETEXT:
Will you show partiality toward him? Will you plead the case for God?


BIBLETEXT:
Will it be well with you when he searches you out? Or can you deceive him, as one deceives a man?


BIBLETEXT:
He will surely rebuke you if in secret you show partiality.


BIBLETEXT:
Will not his majesty terrify you, and the dread of him fall upon you?


BIBLETEXT:
Your maxims are proverbs of ashes; your defenses are defenses of clay.


BIBLETEXT:
"Let me have silence, and I will speak, and let come on me what may.


BIBLETEXT:
Why should I take my flesh in my teeth and put my life in my hand?


BIBLETEXT:
Though he slay me, I will hope in him; yet I will argue my ways to his face.


BIBLETEXT:
This will be my salvation, that the godless shall not come before him.


BIBLETEXT:
Keep listening to my words, and let my declaration be in your ears.


BIBLETEXT:
Behold, I have prepared my case; I know that I shall be in the right.


BIBLETEXT:
Who is there who will contend with me? For then I would be silent and die.


BIBLETEXT:
Only grant me two things, then I will not hide myself from your face:


BIBLETEXT:
withdraw your hand far from me, and let not dread of you terrify me.


BIBLETEXT:
Then call, and I will answer; or let me speak, and you reply to me.


BIBLETEXT:
How many are my iniquities and my sins? Make me know my transgression and my sin.


BIBLETEXT:
Why do you hide your face and count me as your enemy?


BIBLETEXT:
Will you frighten a driven leaf and pursue dry chaff?


BIBLETEXT:
For you write bitter things against me and make me inherit the iniquities of my youth.


BIBLETEXT:
You put my feet in the stocks and watch all my paths; you set a limit for the soles of my feet.


BIBLETEXT:
Man wastes away like a rotten thing, like a garment that is moth-eaten.


BIBLETEXT:
"Man who is born of a woman is few of days and full of trouble.


BIBLETEXT:
He comes out like a flower and withers; he flees like a shadow and continues not.


BIBLETEXT:
And do you open your eyes on such a one and bring me into judgment with you?


BIBLETEXT:
Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? There is not one.


BIBLETEXT:
Since his days are determined, and the number of his months is with you, and you have appointed his limits that he cannot pass,


BIBLETEXT:
look away from him and leave him alone, that he may enjoy, like a hired hand, his day.


BIBLETEXT:
"For there is hope for a tree, if it be cut down, that it will sprout again, and that its shoots will not cease.


BIBLETEXT:
Though its root grow old in the earth, and its stump die in the soil,


BIBLETEXT:
yet at the scent of water it will bud and put out branches like a young plant.


BIBLETEXT:
But a man dies and is laid low; man breathes his last, and where is he?


BIBLETEXT:
As waters fail from a lake and a river wastes away and dries up,


BIBLETEXT:
so a man lies down and rises not again; till the heavens are no more he will not awake or be roused out of his sleep.


BIBLETEXT:
Oh that you would hide me in Sheol, that you would conceal me until your wrath be past, that you would appoint me a set time, and remember me!


BIBLETEXT:
If a man dies, shall he live again? All the days of my service I would wait, till my renewal should come.


BIBLETEXT:
You would call, and I would answer you; you would long for the work of your hands.


BIBLETEXT:
For then you would number my steps; you would not keep watch over my sin;


BIBLETEXT:
my transgression would be sealed up in a bag, and you would cover over my iniquity.


BIBLETEXT:
"But the mountain falls and crumbles away, and the rock is removed from its place;


BIBLETEXT:
the waters wear away the stones; the torrents wash away the soil of the earth; so you destroy the hope of man.


BIBLETEXT:
You prevail forever against him, and he passes; you change his countenance, and send him away.


BIBLETEXT:
His sons come to honor, and he does not know it; they are brought low, and he perceives it not.


BIBLETEXT:
He feels only the pain of his own body, and he mourns only for himself."


BIBLETEXT:
"Should a wise man answer with windy knowledge, and fill his belly with the east wind?


BIBLETEXT:
Should he argue in unprofitable talk, or in words with which he can do no good?


BIBLETEXT:
But you are doing away with the fear of God and hindering meditation before God.


BIBLETEXT:
For your iniquity teaches your mouth, and you choose the tongue of the crafty.


BIBLETEXT:
Your own mouth condemns you, and not I; your own lips testify against you.


BIBLETEXT:
"Are you the first man who was born? Or were you brought forth before the hills?


BIBLETEXT:
Have you listened in the council of God? And do you limit wisdom to yourself?


BIBLETEXT:
What do you know that we do not know? What do you understand that is not clear to us?


BIBLETEXT:
Both the gray-haired and the aged are among us, older than your father.


BIBLETEXT:
Are the comforts of God too small for you, or the word that deals gently with you?


BIBLETEXT:
Why does your heart carry you away, and why do your eyes flash,


BIBLETEXT:
that you turn your spirit against God and bring such words out of your mouth?


BIBLETEXT:
What is man, that he can be pure? Or he who is born of a woman, that he can be righteous?


BIBLETEXT:
Behold, God puts no trust in his holy ones, and the heavens are not pure in his sight;


BIBLETEXT:
how much less one who is abominable and corrupt, a man who drinks injustice like water!


BIBLETEXT:
"I will show you; hear me, and what I have seen I will declare


BIBLETEXT:
(what wise men have told, without hiding it from their fathers,


BIBLETEXT:
to whom alone the land was given, and no stranger passed among them).


BIBLETEXT:
The wicked man writhes in pain all his days, through all the years that are laid up for the ruthless.


BIBLETEXT:
Dreadful sounds are in his ears; in prosperity the destroyer will come upon him.


BIBLETEXT:
He does not believe that he will return out of darkness, and he is marked for the sword.


BIBLETEXT:
He wanders abroad for bread, saying, 'Where is it?' He knows that a day of darkness is ready at his hand;


BIBLETEXT:
distress and anguish terrify him; they prevail against him, like a king ready for battle.


BIBLETEXT:
Because he has stretched out his hand against God and defies the Almighty,


BIBLETEXT:
running stubbornly against him with a thickly bossed shield;


BIBLETEXT:
because he has covered his face with his fat and gathered fat upon his waist


BIBLETEXT:
and has lived in desolate cities, in houses that none should inhabit, which were ready to become heaps of ruins;


BIBLETEXT:
he will not be rich, and his wealth will not endure, nor will his possessions spread over the earth;


BIBLETEXT:
he will not depart from darkness; the flame will dry up his shoots, and by the breath of his mouth he will depart.


BIBLETEXT:
Let him not trust in emptiness, deceiving himself, for emptiness will be his payment.


BIBLETEXT:
It will be paid in full before his time, and his branch will not be green.


BIBLETEXT:
He will shake off his unripe grape like the vine, and cast off his blossom like the olive tree.


BIBLETEXT:
For the company of the godless is barren, and fire consumes the tents of bribery.


BIBLETEXT:
They conceive trouble and give birth to evil, and their womb prepares deceit."


BIBLETEXT:
"I have heard many such things; miserable comforters are you all.


BIBLETEXT:
Shall windy words have an end? Or what provokes you that you answer?


BIBLETEXT:
I also could speak as you do, if you were in my place; I could join words together against you and shake my head at you.


BIBLETEXT:
I could strengthen you with my mouth, and the solace of my lips would assuage your pain.


BIBLETEXT:
"If I speak, my pain is not assuaged, and if I forbear, how much of it leaves me?


BIBLETEXT:
Surely now God has worn me out; he has made desolate all my company.


BIBLETEXT:
And he has shriveled me up, which is a witness against me, and my leanness has risen up against me; it testifies to my face.


BIBLETEXT:
He has torn me in his wrath and hated me; he has gnashed his teeth at me; my adversary sharpens his eyes against me.


BIBLETEXT:
Men have gaped at me with their mouth; they have struck me insolently on the cheek; they mass themselves together against me.


BIBLETEXT:
God gives me up to the ungodly and casts me into the hands of the wicked.


BIBLETEXT:
I was at ease, and he broke me apart; he seized me by the neck and dashed me to pieces; he set me up as his target;


BIBLETEXT:
his archers surround me. He slashes open my kidneys and does not spare; he pours out my gall on the ground.


BIBLETEXT:
He breaks me with breach upon breach; he runs upon me like a warrior.


BIBLETEXT:
I have sewed sackcloth upon my skin and have laid my strength in the dust.


BIBLETEXT:
My face is red with weeping, and on my eyelids is deep darkness,


BIBLETEXT:
although there is no violence in my hands, and my prayer is pure.


BIBLETEXT:
"O earth, cover not my blood, and let my cry find no resting place.


BIBLETEXT:
Even now, behold, my witness is in heaven, and he who testifies for me is on high.


BIBLETEXT:
My friends scorn me; my eye pours out tears to God,


BIBLETEXT:
that he would argue the case of a man with God, as a son of man does with his neighbor.


BIBLETEXT:
For when a few years have come I shall go the way from which I shall not return.


BIBLETEXT:
"My spirit is broken; my days are extinct; the graveyard is ready for me.


BIBLETEXT:
Surely there are mockers about me, and my eye dwells on their provocation.


BIBLETEXT:
"Lay down a pledge for me with yourself; who is there who will put up security for me?


BIBLETEXT:
Since you have closed their hearts to understanding, therefore you will not let them triumph.


BIBLETEXT:
He who informs against his friends to get a share of their property-- the eyes of his children will fail.


BIBLETEXT:
"He has made me a byword of the peoples, and I am one before whom men spit.


BIBLETEXT:
My eye has grown dim from vexation, and all my members are like a shadow.


BIBLETEXT:
The upright are appalled at this, and the innocent stirs himself up against the godless.


BIBLETEXT:
Yet the righteous holds to his way, and he who has clean hands grows stronger and stronger.


BIBLETEXT:
But you, come on again, all of you, and I shall not find a wise man among you.


BIBLETEXT:
My days are past; my plans are broken off, the desires of my heart.


BIBLETEXT:
They make night into day: 'The light,' they say, 'is near to the darkness.'


BIBLETEXT:
If I hope for Sheol as my house, if I make my bed in darkness,


BIBLETEXT:
if I say to the pit, 'You are my father,' and to the worm, 'My mother,' or 'My sister,'


BIBLETEXT:
where then is my hope? Who will see my hope?


BIBLETEXT:
Will it go down to the bars of Sheol? Shall we descend together into the dust?"


BIBLETEXT:
"How long will you hunt for words? Consider, and then we will speak.


BIBLETEXT:
Why are we counted as cattle? Why are we stupid in your sight?


BIBLETEXT:
You who tear yourself in your anger, shall the earth be forsaken for you, or the rock be removed out of its place?


BIBLETEXT:
"Indeed, the light of the wicked is put out, and the flame of his fire does not shine.


BIBLETEXT:
The light is dark in his tent, and his lamp above him is put out.


BIBLETEXT:
His strong steps are shortened, and his own schemes throw him down.


BIBLETEXT:
For he is cast into a net by his own feet, and he walks on its mesh.


BIBLETEXT:
A trap seizes him by the heel; a snare lays hold of him.


BIBLETEXT:
A rope is hidden for him in the ground, a trap for him in the path.


BIBLETEXT:
Terrors frighten him on every side, and chase him at his heels.


BIBLETEXT:
His strength is famished, and calamity is ready for his stumbling.


BIBLETEXT:
It consumes the parts of his skin; the firstborn of death consumes his limbs.


BIBLETEXT:
He is torn from the tent in which he trusted and is brought to the king of terrors.


BIBLETEXT:
In his tent dwells that which is none of his; sulfur is scattered over his habitation.


BIBLETEXT:
His roots dry up beneath, and his branches wither above.


BIBLETEXT:
His memory perishes from the earth, and he has no name in the street.


BIBLETEXT:
He is thrust from light into darkness, and driven out of the world.


BIBLETEXT:
He has no posterity or progeny among his people, and no survivor where he used to live.


BIBLETEXT:
They of the west are appalled at his day, and horror seizes them of the east.


BIBLETEXT:
Surely such are the dwellings of the unrighteous, such is the place of him who knows not God."


BIBLETEXT:
"How long will you torment me and break me in pieces with words?


BIBLETEXT:
These ten times you have cast reproach upon me; are you not ashamed to wrong me?


BIBLETEXT:
And even if it be true that I have erred, my error remains with myself.


BIBLETEXT:
If indeed you magnify yourselves against me and make my disgrace an argument against me,


BIBLETEXT:
know then that God has put me in the wrong and closed his net about me.


BIBLETEXT:
Behold, I cry out, 'Violence!' but I am not answered; I call for help, but there is no justice.


BIBLETEXT:
He has walled up my way, so that I cannot pass, and he has set darkness upon my paths.


BIBLETEXT:
He has stripped from me my glory and taken the crown from my head.


BIBLETEXT:
He breaks me down on every side, and I am gone, and my hope has he pulled up like a tree.


BIBLETEXT:
He has kindled his wrath against me and counts me as his adversary.


BIBLETEXT:
His troops come on together; they have cast up their siege ramp against me and encamp around my tent.


BIBLETEXT:
"He has put my brothers far from me, and those who knew me are wholly estranged from me.


BIBLETEXT:
My relatives have failed me, my close friends have forgotten me.


BIBLETEXT:
The guests in my house and my maidservants count me as a stranger; I have become a foreigner in their eyes.


BIBLETEXT:
I call to my servant, but he gives me no answer; I must plead with him with my mouth for mercy.


BIBLETEXT:
My breath is strange to my wife, and I am a stench to the children of my own mother.


BIBLETEXT:
Even young children despise me; when I rise they talk against me.


BIBLETEXT:
All my intimate friends abhor me, and those whom I loved have turned against me.


BIBLETEXT:
My bones stick to my skin and to my flesh, and I have escaped by the skin of my teeth.


BIBLETEXT:
Have mercy on me, have mercy on me, O you my friends, for the hand of God has touched me!


BIBLETEXT:
Why do you, like God, pursue me? Why are you not satisfied with my flesh?


BIBLETEXT:
"Oh that my words were written! Oh that they were inscribed in a book!


BIBLETEXT:
Oh that with an iron pen and lead they were engraved in the rock forever!


BIBLETEXT:
For I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the last he will stand upon the earth.


BIBLETEXT:
And after my skin has been thus destroyed, yet in my flesh I shall see God,


BIBLETEXT:
whom I shall see for myself, and my eyes shall behold, and not another. My heart faints within me!


BIBLETEXT:
If you say, 'How we will pursue him!' and, 'The root of the matter is found in him,'


BIBLETEXT:
be afraid of the sword, for wrath brings the punishment of the sword, that you may know there is a judgment."


BIBLETEXT:
"Therefore my thoughts answer me, because of my haste within me.


BIBLETEXT:
I hear censure that insults me, and out of my understanding a spirit answers me.


BIBLETEXT:
Do you not know this from of old, since man was placed on earth,


BIBLETEXT:
that the exulting of the wicked is short, and the joy of the godless but for a moment?


BIBLETEXT:
Though his height mount up to the heavens, and his head reach to the clouds,


BIBLETEXT:
he will perish forever like his own dung; those who have seen him will say, 'Where is he?'


BIBLETEXT:
He will fly away like a dream and not be found; he will be chased away like a vision of the night.


BIBLETEXT:
The eye that saw him will see him no more, nor will his place any more behold him.


BIBLETEXT:
His children will seek the favor of the poor, and his hands will give back his wealth.


BIBLETEXT:
His bones are full of his youthful vigor, but it will lie down with him in the dust.


BIBLETEXT:
"Though evil is sweet in his mouth, though he hides it under his tongue,


BIBLETEXT:
though he is loath to let it go and holds it in his mouth,


BIBLETEXT:
yet his food is turned in his stomach; it is the venom of cobras within him.


BIBLETEXT:
He swallows down riches and vomits them up again; God casts them out of his belly.


BIBLETEXT:
He will suck the poison of cobras; the tongue of a viper will kill him.


BIBLETEXT:
He will not look upon the rivers, the streams flowing with honey and curds.


BIBLETEXT:
He will give back the fruit of his toil and will not swallow it down; from the profit of his trading he will get no enjoyment.


BIBLETEXT:
For he has crushed and abandoned the poor; he has seized a house that he did not build.


BIBLETEXT:
"Because he knew no contentment in his belly, he will not let anything in which he delights escape him.


BIBLETEXT:
There was nothing left after he had eaten; therefore his prosperity will not endure.


BIBLETEXT:
In the fullness of his sufficiency he will be in distress; the hand of everyone in misery will come against him.


BIBLETEXT:
To fill his belly to the full, God will send his burning anger against him and rain it upon him into his body.


BIBLETEXT:
He will flee from an iron weapon; a bronze arrow will strike him through.


BIBLETEXT:
It is drawn forth and comes out of his body; the glittering point comes out of his gallbladder; terrors come upon him.


BIBLETEXT:
Utter darkness is laid up for his treasures; a fire not fanned will devour him; what is left in his tent will be consumed.


BIBLETEXT:
The heavens will reveal his iniquity, and the earth will rise up against him.


BIBLETEXT:
The possessions of his house will be carried away, dragged off in the day of God's wrath.


BIBLETEXT:
This is the wicked man's portion from God, the heritage decreed for him by God."


BIBLETEXT:
"Keep listening to my words, and let this be your comfort.


BIBLETEXT:
Bear with me, and I will speak, and after I have spoken, mock on.


BIBLETEXT:
As for me, is my complaint against man? Why should I not be impatient?


BIBLETEXT:
Look at me and be appalled, and lay your hand over your mouth.


BIBLETEXT:
When I remember, I am dismayed, and shuddering seizes my flesh.


BIBLETEXT:
Why do the wicked live, reach old age, and grow mighty in power?


BIBLETEXT:
Their offspring are established in their presence, and their descendants before their eyes.


BIBLETEXT:
Their houses are safe from fear, and no rod of God is upon them.


BIBLETEXT:
Their bull breeds without fail; their cow calves and does not miscarry.


BIBLETEXT:
They send out their little boys like a flock, and their children dance.


BIBLETEXT:
They sing to the tambourine and the lyre and rejoice to the sound of the pipe.


BIBLETEXT:
They spend their days in prosperity, and in peace they go down to Sheol.


BIBLETEXT:
They say to God, 'Depart from us! We do not desire the knowledge of your ways.


BIBLETEXT:
What is the Almighty, that we should serve him? And what profit do we get if we pray to him?'


BIBLETEXT:
Behold, is not their prosperity in their hand? The counsel of the wicked is far from me.


BIBLETEXT:
"How often is it that the lamp of the wicked is put out? That their calamity comes upon them? That God distributes pains in his anger?


BIBLETEXT:
That they are like straw before the wind, and like chaff that the storm carries away?


BIBLETEXT:
You say, 'God stores up their iniquity for their children.' Let him pay it out to them, that they may know it.


BIBLETEXT:
Let their own eyes see their destruction, and let them drink of the wrath of the Almighty.


BIBLETEXT:
For what do they care for their houses after them, when the number of their months is cut off?


BIBLETEXT:
Will any teach God knowledge, seeing that he judges those who are on high?


BIBLETEXT:
One dies in his full vigor, being wholly at ease and secure,


BIBLETEXT:
his pails full of milk and the marrow of his bones moist.


BIBLETEXT:
Another dies in bitterness of soul, never having tasted of prosperity.


BIBLETEXT:
They lie down alike in the dust, and the worms cover them.


BIBLETEXT:
"Behold, I know your thoughts and your schemes to wrong me.


BIBLETEXT:
For you say, 'Where is the house of the prince? Where is the tent in which the wicked lived?'


BIBLETEXT:
Have you not asked those who travel the roads, and do you not accept their testimony


BIBLETEXT:
that the evil man is spared in the day of calamity, that he is rescued in the day of wrath?


BIBLETEXT:
Who declares his way to his face, and who repays him for what he has done?


BIBLETEXT:
When he is carried to the grave, watch is kept over his tomb.


BIBLETEXT:
The clods of the valley are sweet to him; all mankind follows after him, and those who go before him are innumerable.


BIBLETEXT:
How then will you comfort me with empty nothings? There is nothing left of your answers but falsehood."


BIBLETEXT:
"Can a man be profitable to God? Surely he who is wise is profitable to himself.


BIBLETEXT:
Is it any pleasure to the Almighty if you are in the right, or is it gain to him if you make your ways blameless?


BIBLETEXT:
Is it for your fear of him that he reproves you and enters into judgment with you?


BIBLETEXT:
Is not your evil abundant? There is no end to your iniquities.


BIBLETEXT:
For you have exacted pledges of your brothers for nothing and stripped the naked of their clothing.


BIBLETEXT:
You have given no water to the weary to drink, and you have withheld bread from the hungry.


BIBLETEXT:
The man with power possessed the land, and the favored man lived in it.


BIBLETEXT:
You have sent widows away empty, and the arms of the fatherless were crushed.


BIBLETEXT:
Therefore snares are all around you, and sudden terror overwhelms you,


BIBLETEXT:
or darkness, so that you cannot see, and a flood of water covers you.


BIBLETEXT:
"Is not God high in the heavens? See the highest stars, how lofty they are!


BIBLETEXT:
But you say, 'What does God know? Can he judge through the deep darkness?


BIBLETEXT:
Thick clouds veil him, so that he does not see, and he walks on the vault of heaven.'


BIBLETEXT:
Will you keep to the old way that wicked men have trod?


BIBLETEXT:
They were snatched away before their time; their foundation was washed away.


BIBLETEXT:
They said to God, 'Depart from us,' and 'What can the Almighty do to us?'


BIBLETEXT:
Yet he filled their houses with good things-- but the counsel of the wicked is far from me.


BIBLETEXT:
The righteous see it and are glad; the innocent one mocks at them,


BIBLETEXT:
saying, 'Surely our adversaries are cut off, and what they left the fire has consumed.'


BIBLETEXT:
"Agree with God, and be at peace; thereby good will come to you.


BIBLETEXT:
Receive instruction from his mouth, and lay up his words in your heart.


BIBLETEXT:
If you return to the Almighty you will be built up; if you remove injustice far from your tents,


BIBLETEXT:
if you lay gold in the dust, and gold of Ophir among the stones of the torrent-bed,


BIBLETEXT:
then the Almighty will be your gold and your precious silver.


BIBLETEXT:
For then you will delight yourself in the Almighty and lift up your face to God.


BIBLETEXT:
You will make your prayer to him, and he will hear you, and you will pay your vows.


BIBLETEXT:
You will decide on a matter, and it will be established for you, and light will shine on your ways.


BIBLETEXT:
For when they are humbled you say, 'It is because of pride'; but he saves the lowly.


BIBLETEXT:
He delivers even the one who is not innocent, who will be delivered through the cleanness of your hands."


BIBLETEXT:
"Today also my complaint is bitter; my hand is heavy on account of my groaning.


BIBLETEXT:
Oh, that I knew where I might find him, that I might come even to his seat!


BIBLETEXT:
I would lay my case before him and fill my mouth with arguments.


BIBLETEXT:
I would know what he would answer me and understand what he would say to me.


BIBLETEXT:
Would he contend with me in the greatness of his power? No; he would pay attention to me.


BIBLETEXT:
There an upright man could argue with him, and I would be acquitted forever by my judge.


BIBLETEXT:
"Behold, I go forward, but he is not there, and backward, but I do not perceive him;


BIBLETEXT:
on the left hand when he is working, I do not behold him; he turns to the right hand, but I do not see him.


BIBLETEXT:
But he knows the way that I take; when he has tried me, I shall come out as gold.


BIBLETEXT:
My foot has held fast to his steps; I have kept his way and have not turned aside.


BIBLETEXT:
I have not departed from the commandment of his lips; I have treasured the words of his mouth more than my portion of food.


BIBLETEXT:
But he is unchangeable, and who can turn him back? What he desires, that he does.


BIBLETEXT:
For he will complete what he appoints for me, and many such things are in his mind.


BIBLETEXT:
Therefore I am terrified at his presence; when I consider, I am in dread of him.


BIBLETEXT:
God has made my heart faint; the Almighty has terrified me;


BIBLETEXT:
yet I am not silenced because of the darkness, nor because thick darkness covers my face.


BIBLETEXT:
"Why are not times of judgment kept by the Almighty, and why do those who know him never see his days?


BIBLETEXT:
Some move landmarks; they seize flocks and pasture them.


BIBLETEXT:
They drive away the donkey of the fatherless; they take the widow's ox for a pledge.


BIBLETEXT:
They thrust the poor off the road; the poor of the earth all hide themselves.


BIBLETEXT:
Behold, like wild donkeys in the desert the poor go out to their toil, seeking game; the wasteland yields food for their children.


BIBLETEXT:
They gather their fodder in the field, and they glean the vineyard of the wicked man.


BIBLETEXT:
They lie all night naked, without clothing, and have no covering in the cold.


BIBLETEXT:
They are wet with the rain of the mountains and cling to the rock for lack of shelter.


BIBLETEXT:
(There are those who snatch the fatherless child from the breast, and they take a pledge against the poor.)


BIBLETEXT:
They go about naked, without clothing; hungry, they carry the sheaves;


BIBLETEXT:
among the olive rows of the wicked they make oil; they tread the winepresses, but suffer thirst.


BIBLETEXT:
From out of the city the dying groan, and the soul of the wounded cries for help; yet God charges no one with wrong.


BIBLETEXT:
"There are those who rebel against the light, who are not acquainted with its ways, and do not stay in its paths.


BIBLETEXT:
The murderer rises before it is light, that he may kill the poor and needy, and in the night he is like a thief.


BIBLETEXT:
The eye of the adulterer also waits for the twilight, saying, 'No eye will see me'; and he veils his face.


BIBLETEXT:
In the dark they dig through houses; by day they shut themselves up; they do not know the light.


BIBLETEXT:
For deep darkness is morning to all of them; for they are friends with the terrors of deep darkness.


BIBLETEXT:
"You say, 'Swift are they on the face of the waters; their portion is cursed in the land; no treader turns toward their vineyards.


BIBLETEXT:
Drought and heat snatch away the snow waters; so does Sheol those who have sinned.


BIBLETEXT:
The womb forgets them; the worm finds them sweet; they are no longer remembered, so wickedness is broken like a tree.'


BIBLETEXT:
"They wrong the barren, childless woman, and do no good to the widow.


BIBLETEXT:
Yet God prolongs the life of the mighty by his power; they rise up when they despair of life.


BIBLETEXT:
He gives them security, and they are supported, and his eyes are upon their ways.


BIBLETEXT:
They are exalted a little while, and then are gone; they are brought low and gathered up like all others; they are cut off like the heads of grain.


BIBLETEXT:
If it is not so, who will prove me a liar and show that there is nothing in what I say?"


BIBLETEXT:
"Dominion and fear are with God; he makes peace in his high heaven.


BIBLETEXT:
Is there any number to his armies? Upon whom does his light not arise?


BIBLETEXT:
How then can man be in the right before God? How can he who is born of woman be pure?


BIBLETEXT:
Behold, even the moon is not bright, and the stars are not pure in his eyes;


BIBLETEXT:
how much less man, who is a maggot, and the son of man, who is a worm!"


BIBLETEXT:
"How you have helped him who has no power! How you have saved the arm that has no strength!


BIBLETEXT:
How you have counseled him who has no wisdom, and plentifully declared sound knowledge!


BIBLETEXT:
With whose help have you uttered words, and whose breath has come out from you?


BIBLETEXT:
The dead tremble under the waters and their inhabitants.


BIBLETEXT:
Sheol is naked before God, and Abaddon has no covering.


BIBLETEXT:
He stretches out the north over the void and hangs the earth on nothing.


BIBLETEXT:
He binds up the waters in his thick clouds, and the cloud is not split open under them.


BIBLETEXT:
He covers the face of the full moon and spreads over it his cloud.


BIBLETEXT:
In the gullies of the torrents they must dwell, in holes of the earth and of the rocks.


BIBLETEXT:
Among the bushes they bray; under the nettles they huddle together.


BIBLETEXT:
A senseless, a nameless brood, they have been whipped out of the land.


BIBLETEXT:
"And now I have become their song; I am a byword to them.


BIBLETEXT:
They abhor me; they keep aloof from me; they do not hesitate to spit at the sight of me.


BIBLETEXT:
Because God has loosed my cord and humbled me, they have cast off restraint in my presence.


BIBLETEXT:
On my right hand the rabble rise; they push away my feet; they cast up against me their ways of destruction.


BIBLETEXT:
They break up my path; they promote my calamity; they need no one to help them.


BIBLETEXT:
As through a wide breach they come; amid the crash they roll on.


BIBLETEXT:
Terrors are turned upon me; my honor is pursued as by the wind, and my prosperity has passed away like a cloud.


BIBLETEXT:
"And now my soul is poured out within me; days of affliction have taken hold of me.


BIBLETEXT:
The night racks my bones, and the pain that gnaws me takes no rest.


BIBLETEXT:
With great force my garment is disfigured; it binds me about like the collar of my tunic.


BIBLETEXT:
God has cast me into the mire, and I have become like dust and ashes.


BIBLETEXT:
I cry to you for help and you do not answer me; I stand, and you only look at me.


BIBLETEXT:
You have turned cruel to me; with the might of your hand you persecute me.


BIBLETEXT:
You lift me up on the wind; you make me ride on it, and you toss me about in the roar of the storm.


BIBLETEXT:
For I know that you will bring me to death and to the house appointed for all living.


BIBLETEXT:
"Yet does not one in a heap of ruins stretch out his hand, and in his disaster cry for help?


BIBLETEXT:
Did not I weep for him whose day was hard? Was not my soul grieved for the needy?


BIBLETEXT:
But when I hoped for good, evil came, and when I waited for light, darkness came.


BIBLETEXT:
My inward parts are in turmoil and never still; days of affliction come to meet me.


BIBLETEXT:
I go about darkened, but not by the sun; I stand up in the assembly and cry for help.


BIBLETEXT:
I am a brother of jackals and a companion of ostriches.


BIBLETEXT:
My skin turns black and falls from me, and my bones burn with heat.


BIBLETEXT:
My lyre is turned to mourning, and my pipe to the voice of those who weep.


BIBLETEXT:
"I have made a covenant with my eyes; how then could I gaze at a virgin?


BIBLETEXT:
What would be my portion from God above and my heritage from the Almighty on high?


BIBLETEXT:
Is not calamity for the unrighteous, and disaster for the workers of iniquity?


BIBLETEXT:
Does not he see my ways and number all my steps?


BIBLETEXT:
"If I have walked with falsehood and my foot has hastened to deceit;


BIBLETEXT:
(Let me be weighed in a just balance, and let God know my integrity!)


BIBLETEXT:
if my step has turned aside from the way and my heart has gone after my eyes, and if any spot has stuck to my hands,


BIBLETEXT:
then let me sow, and another eat, and let what grows for me be rooted out.


BIBLETEXT:
"If my heart has been enticed toward a woman, and I have lain in wait at my neighbor's door,


BIBLETEXT:
then let my wife grind for another, and let others bow down on her.


BIBLETEXT:
For that would be a heinous crime; that would be an iniquity to be punished by the judges;


BIBLETEXT:
for that would be a fire that consumes as far as Abaddon, and it would burn to the root all my increase.


BIBLETEXT:
"If I have rejected the cause of my manservant or my maidservant, when they brought a complaint against me,


BIBLETEXT:
what then shall I do when God rises up? When he makes inquiry, what shall I answer him?


BIBLETEXT:
Did not he who made me in the womb make him? And did not one fashion us in the womb?


BIBLETEXT:
"If I have withheld anything that the poor desired, or have caused the eyes of the widow to fail,


BIBLETEXT:
or have eaten my morsel alone, and the fatherless has not eaten of it


BIBLETEXT:
(for from my youth the fatherless grew up with me as with a father, and from my mother's womb I guided the widow),


BIBLETEXT:
if I have seen anyone perish for lack of clothing, or the needy without covering,


BIBLETEXT:
if his body has not blessed me, and if he was not warmed with the fleece of my sheep,


BIBLETEXT:
if I have raised my hand against the fatherless, because I saw my help in the gate,


BIBLETEXT:
then let my shoulder blade fall from my shoulder, and let my arm be broken from its socket.


BIBLETEXT:
For I was in terror of calamity from God, and I could not have faced his majesty.


BIBLETEXT:
"If I have made gold my trust or called fine gold my confidence,


BIBLETEXT:
if I have rejoiced because my wealth was abundant or because my hand had found much,


BIBLETEXT:
if I have looked at the sun when it shone, or the moon moving in splendor,


BIBLETEXT:
and my heart has been secretly enticed, and my mouth has kissed my hand,


BIBLETEXT:
this also would be an iniquity to be punished by the judges, for I would have been false to God above.


BIBLETEXT:
"If I have rejoiced at the ruin of him who hated me, or exulted when evil overtook him


BIBLETEXT:
(I have not let my mouth sin by asking for his life with a curse),


BIBLETEXT:
if the men of my tent have not said, 'Who is there that has not been filled with his meat?'


BIBLETEXT:
(the sojourner has not lodged in the street; I have opened my doors to the traveler),


BIBLETEXT:
if I have concealed my transgressions as others do by hiding my iniquity in my bosom,


BIBLETEXT:
because I stood in great fear of the multitude, and the contempt of families terrified me, so that I kept silence, and did not go out of doors--


BIBLETEXT:
Oh, that I had one to hear me! (Here is my signature! Let the Almighty answer me!) Oh, that I had the indictment written by my adversary!


BIBLETEXT:
Surely I would carry it on my shoulder; I would bind it on me as a crown;


BIBLETEXT:
I would give him an account of all my steps; like a prince I would approach him.


BIBLETEXT:
"If my land has cried out against me and its furrows have wept together,


BIBLETEXT:
if I have eaten its yield without payment and made its owners breathe their last,


BIBLETEXT:
let thorns grow instead of wheat, and foul weeds instead of barley." The words of Job are ended.


BIBLETEXT:
So these three men ceased to answer Job, because he was righteous in his own eyes.


BIBLETEXT:
Then Elihu the son of Barachel the Buzite, of the family of Ram, burned with anger. He burned with anger at Job because he justified himself rather than God.


BIBLETEXT:
He burned with anger also at Job's three friends because they had found no answer, although they had declared Job to be in the wrong.


BIBLETEXT:
Now Elihu had waited to speak to Job because they were older than he.


BIBLETEXT:
And when Elihu saw that there was no answer in the mouth of these three men, he burned with anger.


BIBLETEXT:
And Elihu the son of Barachel the Buzite answered and said: "I am young in years, and you are aged; therefore I was timid and afraid to declare my opinion to you.


BIBLETEXT:
I said, 'Let days speak, and many years teach wisdom.'


BIBLETEXT:
But it is the spirit in man, the breath of the Almighty, that makes him understand.


BIBLETEXT:
It is not the old who are wise, nor the aged who understand what is right.


BIBLETEXT:
Therefore I say, 'Listen to me; let me also declare my opinion.'


BIBLETEXT:
"Behold, I waited for your words, I listened for your wise sayings, while you searched out what to say.


BIBLETEXT:
I gave you my attention, and, behold, there was none among you who refuted Job or who answered his words.


BIBLETEXT:
Beware lest you say, 'We have found wisdom; God may vanquish him, not a man.'


BIBLETEXT:
He has not directed his words against me, and I will not answer him with your speeches.


BIBLETEXT:
"They are dismayed; they answer no more; they have not a word to say.


BIBLETEXT:
And shall I wait, because they do not speak, because they stand there, and answer no more?


BIBLETEXT:
I also will answer with my share; I also will declare my opinion.


BIBLETEXT:
For I am full of words; the spirit within me constrains me.


BIBLETEXT:
Behold, my belly is like wine that has no vent; like new wineskins ready to burst.


BIBLETEXT:
I must speak, that I may find relief; I must open my lips and answer.


BIBLETEXT:
lest my enemy say, "I have prevailed over him," lest my foes rejoice because I am shaken.


BIBLETEXT:
But I have trusted in your steadfast love; my heart shall rejoice in your salvation.


BIBLETEXT:
I will sing to the LORD, because he has dealt bountifully with me.


BIBLETEXT:
To the choirmaster. Of David. The fool says in his heart, "There is no God." They are corrupt, they do abominable deeds, there is none who does good.


BIBLETEXT:
The LORD looks down from heaven on the children of man, to see if there are any who understand, who seek after God.


BIBLETEXT:
They have all turned aside; together they have become corrupt; there is none who does good, not even one.


BIBLETEXT:
Have they no knowledge, all the evildoers who eat up my people as they eat bread and do not call upon the LORD?


BIBLETEXT:
There they are in great terror, for God is with the generation of the righteous.


BIBLETEXT:
You would shame the plans of the poor, but the LORD is his refuge.


BIBLETEXT:
Oh, that salvation for Israel would come out of Zion! When the LORD restores the fortunes of his people, let Jacob rejoice, let Israel be glad.


BIBLETEXT:
A Psalm of David. O LORD, who shall sojourn in your tent? Who shall dwell on your holy hill?


BIBLETEXT:
He who walks blamelessly and does what is right and speaks truth in his heart;


BIBLETEXT:
who does not slander with his tongue and does no evil to his neighbor, nor takes up a reproach against his friend;


BIBLETEXT:
in whose eyes a vile person is despised, but who honors those who fear the LORD; who swears to his own hurt and does not change;


BIBLETEXT:
who does not put out his money at interest and does not take a bribe against the innocent. He who does these things shall never be moved.


BIBLETEXT:
A Miktam of David. Preserve me, O God, for in you I take refuge.


BIBLETEXT:
I say to the LORD, "You are my Lord; I have no good apart from you."


BIBLETEXT:
As for the saints in the land, they are the excellent ones, in whom is all my delight.


BIBLETEXT:
The sorrows of those who run after another god shall multiply; their drink offerings of blood I will not pour out or take their names on my lips.


BIBLETEXT:
The LORD is my chosen portion and my cup; you hold my lot.


BIBLETEXT:
The lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; indeed, I have a beautiful inheritance.


BIBLETEXT:
I bless the LORD who gives me counsel; in the night also my heart instructs me.


BIBLETEXT:
I have set the LORD always before me; because he is at my right hand, I shall not be shaken.


BIBLETEXT:
Therefore my heart is glad, and my whole being rejoices; my flesh also dwells secure.


BIBLETEXT:
For you will not abandon my soul to Sheol, or let your holy one see corruption.


BIBLETEXT:
You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.


BIBLETEXT:
A Prayer of David. Hear a just cause, O LORD; attend to my cry! Give ear to my prayer from lips free of deceit!


BIBLETEXT:
From your presence let my vindication come! Let your eyes behold the right!


BIBLETEXT:
You have tried my heart, you have visited me by night, you have tested me, and you will find nothing; I have purposed that my mouth will not transgress.


BIBLETEXT:
With regard to the works of man, by the word of your lips I have avoided the ways of the violent.


BIBLETEXT:
My steps have held fast to your paths; my feet have not slipped.


BIBLETEXT:
I call upon you, for you will answer me, O God; incline your ear to me; hear my words.


BIBLETEXT:
Wondrously show your steadfast love, O Savior of those who seek refuge from their adversaries at your right hand.


BIBLETEXT:
Keep me as the apple of your eye; hide me in the shadow of your wings,


BIBLETEXT:
from the wicked who do me violence, my deadly enemies who surround me.


BIBLETEXT:
They close their hearts to pity; with their mouths they speak arrogantly.


BIBLETEXT:
They have now surrounded our steps; they set their eyes to cast us to the ground.


BIBLETEXT:
He is like a lion eager to tear, as a young lion lurking in ambush.


BIBLETEXT:
Arise, O LORD! Confront him, subdue him! Deliver my soul from the wicked by your sword,


BIBLETEXT:
from men by your hand, O LORD, from men of the world whose portion is in this life. You fill their womb with treasure; they are satisfied with children, and they leave their abundance to their infants.


BIBLETEXT:
As for me, I shall behold your face in righteousness; when I awake, I shall be satisfied with your likeness.


BIBLETEXT:
To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David, the servant of the LORD, who addressed the words of this song to the LORD on the day when the LORD rescued him from the hand of all his enemies, and from the hand of Saul. He said: I love you, O LORD, my strength.


BIBLETEXT:
The LORD is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.


BIBLETEXT:
The cords of death encompassed me; the torrents of destruction assailed me;


BIBLETEXT:
In my distress I called upon the LORD; to my God I cried for help. From his temple he heard my voice, and my cry to him reached his ears.


BIBLETEXT:
Then the earth reeled and rocked; the foundations also of the mountains trembled and quaked, because he was angry.


BIBLETEXT:
He rode on a cherub and flew; he came swiftly on the wings of the wind.


BIBLETEXT:
He made darkness his covering, his canopy around him, thick clouds dark with water.


BIBLETEXT:
Out of the brightness before him hailstones and coals of fire broke through his clouds.


BIBLETEXT:
The LORD also thundered in the heavens, and the Most High uttered his voice, hailstones and coals of fire.


BIBLETEXT:
And he sent out his arrows and scattered them; he flashed forth lightnings and routed them.


BIBLETEXT:
Then the channels of the sea were seen, and the foundations of the world were laid bare at your rebuke, O LORD, at the blast of the breath of your nostrils.


BIBLETEXT:
He sent from on high, he took me; he drew me out of many waters.


BIBLETEXT:
He rescued me from my strong enemy and from those who hated me, for they were too mighty for me.


BIBLETEXT:
The LORD dealt with me according to my righteousness; according to the cleanness of my hands he rewarded me.


