1 After Ach'av's death Mo'av rebelled against Isra'el.
2 When Achazyah fell through a latticed window of his upper room in Shomron and lay injured, he sent messengers and said to them, 'Go, consult Ba'al-Z'vuv the god of 'Ekron, and ask whether I will recover from this injury.'
3 But an angel of ADONAI said to Eliyahu from Tishbe, 'Get up, and intercept the messengers of the king of Shomron, and ask them, 'Is it because there's no God in Isra'el that you're on your way to consult Ba'al-Z'vuv the god of 'Ekron?
4 Therefore ADONAI says, 'You will never leave the bed you are lying on; you will certainly die.''' Then Eliyahu left.
5 The messengers returned to Achazyah, and he asked them, 'Why have you come back?'
6 They answered him, 'A man came to meet us. He told us to go and return to the king who sent us, and tell him, 'Here is what ADONAI says: 'Is it because there's no God in Isra'el that you're sending to consult Ba'al-Z'vuv the god of 'Ekron? Therefore you will never leave the bed you are lying on; you will certainly die.'''
7 He asked them, 'The man who came to meet you and told you these things, what kind of a man was he?'
8 'He was a hairy man,' they answered him, 'with a leather belt around his waist.' He said, 'It was Eliyahu from Tishbe.'
9 Then the king sent a commander of fifty to Eliyahu, together with his fifty men. Eliyahu was sitting at the top of a hill. The commander climbed up to him and said, 'Man of God, the king says to come down.'
10 Eliyahu answered the commander of fifty, 'If I am in fact a man of God, let fire come down from heaven and burn you up, along with your fifty men.' Fire came down from heaven, and it burned up him and his fifty men.
11 The king sent him another commander of fifty, together with his fifty men. He said to him, 'Man of God, the king says, 'Come down immediately!''
12 Eliyahu answered them, 'If I am in fact a man of God, let fire come down from heaven and burn you up, along with your fifty men.' Fire came down from heaven, and it burned up him and his fifty men.
13 The king sent a third commander of fifty, with his fifty men. The third commander of fifty climbed up, approached Eliyahu and fell on his knees before him. He pleaded with him: 'Man of God, please! Have some regard for my life and the lives of these fifty servants of yours!
14 I know that fire came down from heaven and burned up the two other commanders with their fifty men; but now, have some regard for my life.'
15 The angel of ADONAI said to Eliyahu, 'Go down with him; don't be afraid of him.' So he got up and went down with him to the king.
16 Eliyahu said to the king, 'Here is what ADONAI says: 'You sent messengers to consult Ba'al-Z'vuv the god of 'Ekron. Is it because there's no God in Isra'el you can consult? Therefore, you will never leave the bed you are lying on; you will certainly die.''
17 So he died, in keeping with the word of ADONAI spoken through Eliyahu. Y'horam began to rule in place of him during the second year of Y'horam the son of Y'hoshafat king of Y'hudah, because he had no son.
18 Other activities of Achazyah are recorded in the Annals of the Kings of Isra'el.
1 The time came for ADONAI to take Eliyahu up into heaven in a whirlwind. Eliyahu and Elisha were on their way from Gilgal,
2 when Eliyahu said to Elisha, 'Please wait here, because ADONAI has sent me all the way to Beit-El.' But Elisha said, 'As ADONAI lives, and as you live, I will not leave you.' So they went down to Beit-El.
3 The guild prophets of Beit-El came out to Elisha and said to him, 'Do you know that ADONAI is taking your master away from you today?' 'Yes, I know,' he answered; 'say no more.'
4 Eliyahu said to him, 'Elisha, please wait here, because ADONAI has sent me to Yericho.' He replied, 'As ADONAI lives, and as you live, I will not leave you.' So they came to Yericho.
5 The guild prophets of Yericho approached Elisha and said to him, 'Do you know that ADONAI is taking your master away from you today?' 'Yes, I know,' he answered; 'say no more.'
6 Eliyahu said to him, 'Please wait here, because ADONAI has sent me to the Yarden.' He replied, 'As ADONAI lives, and as you live, I will not leave you.' So the two of them went on.
7 Fifty of the guild prophets went and stood watching them from a distance, while they stood by the Yarden.
8 Then Eliyahu took his cloak, rolled it up and struck the water with it; and the water divided itself to the left and to the right; so that they crossed on dry ground.
9 After they had crossed, Eliyahu said to Elisha, 'Tell me what I can do for you before I am taken away from you.' Elisha said, 'Please! Let a double share of your spirit be on me!'
10 He replied, 'You have requested a hard thing. Nevertheless, if you see me when I am taken from you, you will get what you asked for; but if not, you won't.'
11 Suddenly, as they were walking on and talking, there appeared a fiery chariot with horses of fire; and as it separated the two of them from each other, Eliyahu went up into heaven in a whirlwind.
12 Elisha saw it and cried out, 'My father! My father! The chariots and horsemen of Isra'el!' Then he lost sight of him. Seizing his clothes, he tore them in half.
13 Then he picked up Eliyahu's cloak, which had fallen off him. Standing on the bank of the Yarden,
14 he took the cloak that had fallen off Eliyahu, struck the water and said, 'Where is ADONAI, the God of Eliyahu?' But when he actually did strike the water, it divided itself to the left and to the right; then Elisha crossed over.
15 When the guild prophets of Yericho saw him in the distance, they said, 'The spirit of Eliyahu does rest on Elisha.' Advancing to meet him, they prostrated themselves on the ground before him
16 and said to him, 'Here now, your servants include fifty strong men. Please let them go and look for your master, in the event that the Spirit of ADONAI has taken him up and set him down on some mountain or in some valley.' He answered, 'Don't send them.'
17 But they kept pressing him until finally, embarrassed, he said to send them. So they sent fifty men. For three days they searched, but they didn't find him.
18 On returning to him where he was waiting in Yericho, he said to them, 'I told you not to go, didn't I?'
19 The men of the city said to Elisha, 'My lord can see that this is a pleasant city to live in; but the water is bad, so that the ground is causing miscarriages.'
20 'Bring me a new jug,' he said, 'and put salt in it.' They brought it to him.
21 He went out to the source of the water, threw salt into it and said, 'This is what ADONAI says: 'I have healed this water; it will no longer cause death or miscarrying.''
22 The water was healed and has remained healed to this day, in keeping with Elisha's spoken word.
23 Elisha left to go up to Beit-El. As he was on his way up the road, some boys came out of the town and began making fun of him. 'Go on up, baldy! Go on up, baldy!'
24 He looked behind him, saw them and put a curse on them in the name of ADONAI; whereupon two female bears came out of the woods and mauled forty-two of the boys.
25 He went on from there to Mount Karmel and then returned to Shomron.
1 Y'horam the son of Ach'av began his reign over Isra'el in Shomron during the eighteenth year of Y'hoshafat king of Y'hudah, and he ruled for twelve years.
2 He did what was evil from ADONAI's perspective; but he was not as bad as his father and mother, because he got rid of Ba'al's standing-stone which his father had made.
3 Nevertheless, he clung to the sins of Yarov'am the son of N'vat, with which he had led Isra'el into sin; he never turned away from them.
4 Mesha king of Mo'av was a sheep-breeder, and he used to send the king of Isra'el the wool of 100,000 lambs and of 100,000 rams as tribute.
5 But after Ach'av died, the king of Mo'av rebelled against the king of Isra'el.
6 Y'horam left Shomron and mustered all Isra'el.
7 He also went and sent this word to Y'hoshafat king of Y'hudah: 'The king of Mo'av has rebelled against me. Will you join me in attacking Mo'av?' He answered, 'I will join in the attack - I'm with you all the way; think of my people and horses as yours.
8 Which route should we take?' he added. 'The road through the desert of Edom,' answered Y'horam.
9 So the king of Isra'el set out, along with the king of Y'hudah and the king of Edom. After a roundabout journey of seven days, there was no water for either the army or the animals following them.
10 'This is terrible!' exclaimed the king of Isra'el. 'Has ADONAI called these three kings together only to hand them over to Mo'av?'
11 But Y'hoshafat said, 'Isn't there a prophet of ADONAI here through whom we can consult ADONAI?' One of the servants of the king of Isra'el answered, 'Elisha the son of Shafat is here, the one who used to pour water on Eliyahu's hands.'
12 Y'hoshafat said, 'The word of ADONAI is with him.' So the king of Isra'el, Y'hoshafat and the king of Edom went down to consult him.
13 Elisha said to the king of Isra'el, 'What do you and I have in common? Go, consult your father's prophets and your mother's prophets!' But the king of Isra'el answered him, 'No, because ADONAI has called these three kings together to hand them over to Mo'av.'
14 Elisha said, 'As ADONAI-Tzva'ot lives, before whom I stand, if I didn't respect the fact that Y'hoshafat the king of Y'hudah is here, I wouldn't even look in your direction or take notice of you.
15 But now, bring me a musician.' As the musician played, the hand of ADONAI fell on Elisha;
16 and he said, 'ADONAI says to dig until this valley is full of trenches.
17 For here is what ADONAI says: 'You won't see wind, and you won't see rain. Nevertheless the valley will be filled with water; and you will drink - you, your cattle and your other animals.
18 That's an easy thing to do, from ADONAI's perspective. He will also hand Mo'av over to you.
19 You will conquer every fortified city and every choice town, you will chop down every good tree, stop up every well and ruin every good field with stones.'
20 The next morning, around the time for making the offering, water came from the direction of Edom, and the countryside was filled with water.
21 When all Mo'av heard that the kings had come up to attack them, every man was summoned, from the youngest capable of bearing arms to older ones, and stationed on the border.
22 They rose early in the morning, when the sun was shining on the water. Mo'av, when they saw the water in the distance looking as red as blood,
23 said, 'That's blood! The kings must have quarreled, and their soldiers killed each other. Mo'av! To the plunder!'
24 When they arrived at the camp of Isra'el, Isra'el launched an attack, so that Mo'av fled before them. But they advanced on Mo'av and struck it.
25 They made ruins of the cities. Each man threw his stone on every good field, covering it. They stopped up all the wells. They chopped down all the good trees. Finally, all that remained was Kir-Hareset behind its stone wall, with the slingers surrounding and attacking it.
26 When the king of Mo'av saw that the fighting was too much for him, he took with him 700 men armed with swords and tried to break through to the king of Edom; but they couldn't do it.
27 Then he took his firstborn son, who was to have succeeded him as king, and offered him as a burnt offering on the wall. Following this, such great anger came upon Isra'el that they left him and went back to their own land.
1 The wife of one of the guild prophets complained to Elisha. 'Your servant my husband died,' she said, 'and you know that he feared ADONAI. Now a creditor has come to take my two children as his slaves.'
2 Elisha asked her, 'What should I do for you? Tell me, what do you have in the house?' She answered, 'Your servant has nothing in the house but a flask of oil.'
3 Then he said, 'Go, and borrow containers from all your neighbors, empty containers; and don't borrow just a few!
4 Then go in; shut the door, with you and your sons inside; and pour oil into all those containers; and as they are filled, put them aside.'
5 So she left him and shut the door on herself and her sons. They brought her the containers while she poured.
6 When the containers were full, she said to her son, 'Bring me another container'; but he answered, 'There isn't another container.' Then the oil stopped flowing.
7 She came and told the man of God; and he said, 'Go, sell the oil, and pay your debt; then you and your sons can live on what's left.'
8 One day Elisha visited Shunem, and a well-to-do woman living there pressed him to stay and eat a meal. After this, whenever he came through, he stopped there for a meal.
9 She said to her husband, 'I can see that this is a holy man of God who keeps stopping at our place.
10 Please, let's build him a little room on the roof. We'll put a bed and a table in it for him, and a stool and a candlestick. Then, whenever he comes to visit us, he can stay there.'
11 One day Elisha came to visit there, and he went into the upper room to lie down.
12 He said to Geichazi his servant, 'Call this Shunamit.' He called her; and when she arrived,
13 he said to him, 'Tell her this: 'You have shown us so much hospitality! What can I do to show my appreciation? Do you want me to say anything to the king for you? or to the commander of the army?' She answered, 'I'm happy living as I do, among my own people.'
14 He said, 'What, then, is to be done for her?' Geichazi answered, 'There's one thing - she doesn't have a son; and her husband is old.
15 Elisha said, 'Call her.' After he called her, she stood in the doorway.
16 He said, 'Next year, when the season comes around, you will be holding a son.' 'No, my lord,' she answered. 'Man of God, don't lie to your servant!'
17 But the woman conceived and gave birth to a son the following year when the season came around, just as Elisha had said to her.
18 When the child was old enough, he went out one day to be with his father, who was with the reapers.
19 Suddenly he cried out to his father, 'My head! My head hurts!' He said to his servant, 'Carry him back to his mother.'
20 When he had taken him and brought him to his mother, he lay on her lap until noon; and then he died.
21 She went up and laid him on the bed of the man of God, shut the door on him and went out.
22 She called to her husband and said, 'Please send me one of the servants with a donkey. I must get to the man of God as fast as I can; I'll come straight back.'
23 He asked, 'Why are you going to him today? It isn't Rosh-Hodesh and it isn't Shabbat.' She said, 'It's all right.'
24 Then she saddled the donkey and ordered her servant, 'Drive as fast as you can; don't slow down for me unless I say so.'
25 She set out and came to the man of God on Mount Karmel. When the man of God saw her in the distance, he said to Geichazi his servant, 'Look, here comes that Shunamit.
26 Run now to meet her, and ask her, 'Is everything all right with you? with your husband? with the child?' She answered, 'Everything is all right.'
27 But when she reached the man of God on the hill, she grabbed his feet. Geichazi came up to push her away, but the man of God said, 'Leave her alone. She is in great distress, but ADONAI has hidden from me what it is, he hasn't told me.'
28 Then she said, 'Did I ask my lord for a son? Didn't I say not to deceive me?'
29 Then Elisha said to Geichazi, 'Get dressed for action, take my staff in your hand, and be on your way. If you meet anyone, don't greet him; if anyone greets you, don't answer; and lay my staff on the child's face.'
30 The mother of the child said, 'As ADONAI lives, and as you live, I will not leave you. He got up and followed her.
31 Geichazi went on ahead of them and laid the staff on the child's face, but there was no sound or sign of life. So he went back to Elisha and told him, 'The child didn't wake up.'
32 When Elisha reached the house, there the child was, dead and laid on the bed.
33 He went in, shut the door on the two of them and prayed to ADONAI.
34 Then he got up on the bed and lay on top of the child, putting his mouth on his mouth, his eyes on his eyes and his hands on his hands. As he stretched himself out on the child, its flesh began to grow warm.
35 Then he went down, walked around in the house awhile, went back up and stretched himself out on the child again. The child sneezed seven times, then opened his eyes.
36 Elisha called Geichazi and said, 'Call this Shunamit.' So he called her; and when she came in to him, he said, 'Pick up your son.'
37 She entered, fell at his feet and prostrated herself on the floor. Then she picked up her son and went out.
38 Elisha went back to Gilgal. At the time, there was a famine in the land. The guild prophets were sitting before him, and he said to his servant, 'Put the big pot on the fire, and boil some soup for the prophets.'
39 One of them went out to the field to gather vegetables and came upon a wild vine, from which he filled the front of his cloak with wild squash. On returning he cut them up and put them into the stew; they didn't know what they were.
40 Then they poured it out for the men to eat; but on tasting it, they cried, 'Man of God! There's death in that pot!' And they couldn't eat it.
41 But he said, 'Bring some flour.' He threw it in the pot, then said, 'Pour it out for the people to eat.' This time there was nothing harmful in the pot.
42 A man came from Ba'al-Shalishah bringing the man of God twenty loaves of bread made from the barley firstfruits and fresh ears of grain in his sack. Elisha said, 'Give this to the people to eat.'
43 His servant said, 'How am I to serve this to a hundred men?' But he said, 'Give it to the people to eat; for ADONAI says that they will eat and have some left over.'
44 So he served them, and they ate and had some left over, as ADONAI had said.
1 Na'aman, commander of the king of Aram's army, was highly respected and esteemed by his master; because through him ADONAI had brought victory to Aram. But although he was a brave warrior, he also suffered from tzara'at.
2 Now on one of their raids into Isra'el's territory, Aram carried away captive a little girl, who became a servant for Na'aman's wife.
3 She said to her mistress, 'I wish my lord could go to the prophet in Shomron! He could heal his tzara'at.'
4 Na'aman went in and told his lord, 'The girl from the land of Isra'el said such-and-such.'
5 The king of Aram said, 'Go now, and I will send a letter to the king of Isra'el.' He set out, taking with him 660 pounds of silver,
6 ,000 pieces of gold and ten changes of clothes. 6 He brought the king of Isra'el the letter, which said, 'When this letter reaches you, you will see that I have sent my servant Na'aman to you, so that you can heal his tzara'at.'
7 When the king of Isra'el finished reading the letter, he tore his clothes. 'Am I God, able to kill and make alive,' he asked, 'so that he sends me a man to heal of tzara'at? You can see that he is only seeking an excuse to quarrel with me.'
8 But when Elisha the man of God heard that the king of Isra'el had torn his clothes, he sent a message to the king: 'Why did you tear your clothes? Just have him come to me, and he will know that there is a prophet in Isra'el.'
9 So Na'aman came with his horses and chariots and stood at the door of Elisha's house.
10 Elisha sent a messenger to him, who said, 'Go, and bathe in the Yarden seven times. Your skin will become as it was, and you will be clean.'
11 But Na'aman became angry and left, saying, 'Here now! I thought for certain that he would come out personally, that he would stand, call on the name of ADONAI his God and wave his hand over the diseased place and thus heal the person with tzara'at.
12 Aren't Amanah and Parpar, the rivers of Dammesek, better than all the water in Isra'el? Why can't I bathe in them and be clean?' So he turned and went off in a rage.
13 But his servants approached him and said, 'My father! If the prophet had asked you to do something really difficult, wouldn't you have done it? So, doesn't it make even more sense to do what he says, when it's only, 'Bathe, and be clean'?'
14 So he went down and immersed himself seven times in the Yarden, as the man of God had said to do; and his skin was restored and became like the skin of a child; and he became clean.
15 Then, with his whole retinue, he returned to the man of God, went and stood before him, and said, 'Well, I've learned that there is no God in all the earth except in Isra'el; therefore, please accept a present from your servant.'
16 But Elisha answered, 'As ADONAI lives, before whom I stand, I will not accept it.' And despite his urging him to take it, he refused.
17 So Na'aman said, 'If you won't take it, then please let your servant be given as much earth as two mules can carry; because from now on, your servant will offer neither burnt offerings nor sacrifices to other gods, but only to ADONAI.
18 Except this, and may ADONAI forgive your servant for it: when my master goes into the temple of Rimmon to worship there, and he leans on my hand, and I bow down in the temple of Rimmon - when I bow down, may ADONAI forgive your servant for this.'
19 Elisha said to him, 'Go in peace.' Na'aman had gone only a short distance from him,
20 when Geichazi, the servant of Elisha the man of God, said to himself, 'Here, my master has made it easy on this Arami Na'aman by not accepting from him what he brought. As ADONAI lives, I'll run after him and get at least something from him.'
21 So Geichazi hurried off after Na'aman. When Na'aman saw someone running after him, he got down from his chariot to meet him and asked, 'Is everything all right?'
22 'Yes,' he replied. 'My master sent me with this message: 'Two young men have just now come to me, guild prophets from the hills of Efrayim. Would you be kind enough to give them a talent of silver [sixty-six pounds] and two changes of clothes?'
23 'By all means, take two talents!' said Na'aman, pressing him. He tied up the two talents of silver in two bags and gave them, with the two changes of clothes, to two of his servants, who carried them ahead of Geichazi.
24 On reaching the hill, he took the bags from them and put them away in the house. Then he let the men go, and they left.
25 He went in and stood before his master. Elisha asked, 'Where have you been, Geichazi?' 'Your servant hasn't gone anywhere,' he said.
26 Elisha said to him, 'Wasn't my heart there with you when the man left his chariot to meet you? Is this a time to receive silver and clothing - and olive groves and vineyards and sheep and oxen and male and female slaves?
27 Therefore Na'aman's tzara'at will cling to you and your descendants forever.' He left Elisha's presence with tzara'at as white as snow.
1 The guild prophets said to Elisha, 'As you can see, the place where we are living in order to be with you is too small for us.
2 Please allow us to go to the Yarden; each of us will collect a log there, and we'll build a place there for us to live.' He answered, 'Go ahead.'
3 But one of them said, 'Please, won't you come with your servants?' He answered, 'All right, I will';
4 so he went with them. When they arrived at the Yarden, they cut down trees;
5 but as one was felling a tree trunk, the head of his axe fell in the water. 'Oh, no!' he cried. 'My master, it was a borrowed one!'
6 The man of God asked, 'Where did it fall?' He showed him the place. Then Elisha cut a stick, threw it in there, and the iron axe-head floated to the surface.
7 'Lift it out,' he said. So he put out his hand and took it.
8 Now the king of Aram went to war against Isra'el; and in consulting his servants he said, 'I'll set up my ambush camp in such-and-such a place.'
9 The man of God sent this message to the king of Isra'el: 'Be careful not to go past such-and-such a place, because Aram will attack there.'
10 So the king of Isra'el sent men to the place the man of God had told him and warned him about, and he took special precautions there. This happened more than once or twice,
11 and it greatly upset the king of Aram. He called his servants and said to them, 'Tell me which of you is betraying us to the king of Isra'el?'
12 One of his servants replied, 'It's not that, my lord, king. Rather, Elisha, the prophet who is in Isra'el, tells the king of Isra'el the words you speak privately in your own bedroom!'
13 He said, 'Go and see where he is, so that I can send and bring him here.' They told him, 'He's in Dotan.'
14 So he sent horses, chariots and a large army there; they came by night and surrounded the city.
15 The servant of the man of God got up early in the morning; on going outside, he saw an army with horses and chariots surrounding the city. His servant said to him, 'Oh, my master, this is terrible! What are we going to do?'
16 He answered, 'Don't be afraid - those who are with us outnumber those who are with them!'
17 Elisha prayed, 'ADONAI, I ask you to open his eyes, so that he can see.' Then ADONAI opened the young man's eyes, and he saw: there before him, all around Elisha, the mountain was covered with horses and fiery chariots.
18 When they came down to him, Elisha prayed to ADONAI, 'Please strike these people blind'; and he struck them blind, as Elisha had asked.
19 Next, Elisha told them, 'You've lost your way, and this isn't even the right city. Follow me, and I'll take you to the man you're looking for.' Then he led them to Shomron.
20 On their arrival in Shomron, Elisha said, 'ADONAI, open the eyes of these men, so that they can see.' ADONAI opened their eyes, and they saw: there they were, in the middle of Shomron.
21 When the king of Isra'el saw them, he asked Elisha, 'My father, should I attack them? Should I attack them?'
22 He answered, 'Don't attack them! You wouldn't even attack prisoners you had captured with your own sword and bow, would you? So give them food to eat and water to drink, and let them return to their master.'
23 So he provided well for them; and after they had eaten and drunk, he sent them away; and they returned to their master. After that, no more raiding parties entered the land of Isra'el from Aram.
24 But some time afterwards, Ben-Hadad king of Aram gathered all his army, went up and laid siege to Shomron.
25 At the time, there was a severe famine in Shomron; and they maintained their siege until a donkey's head sold for eighty pieces of silver and half a pint of doves' dung for five pieces of silver.
26 As the king of Isra'el was passing by on the wall, a woman cried out to him, 'Help, my lord, king!'
27 He said, 'If ADONAI isn't helping you, how do you expect me to help you? There isn't any grain, and there isn't any wine.'
28 Then the king asked her, 'What's troubling you?' She answered, 'This woman said to me, 'Give me your son, so that we can eat him today; and we'll eat my son tomorrow.'
29 So we boiled my son and ate him. The next day I said to her, 'Give your son, so that we can eat him,' but she has hidden her son.'
30 When the king heard what the woman said, he tore his clothes. At the time, he was passing by on the wall; and when the people looked, they saw him there with sackcloth against his skin.
31 Then he said, 'May God do terrible things to me, and worse ones too, if the head of Elisha the son of Shafat remains on his body by day's end.'
32 Elisha was sitting in his house, and the leaders were sitting there with him. The king sent a messenger ahead, but before he arrived, Elisha said to the leaders, 'Do you see how this son of a murderer has sent someone to remove my head? Look, when the messenger comes, close the door and keep it shut against him. You can hear his master's footsteps following right behind him!'
33 While he was still speaking, the messenger arrived with this message from the king: 'Here, this evil is from ADONAI. Why should I wait for ADONAI any longer?'
1 Elisha answered, 'Listen to the word of ADONAI. Here is what ADONAI says: 'Tomorrow, by this time, six quarts of fine flour will sell for only a shekel, and half a bushel of barley for a shekel [in the market] at the gate to Shomron.'
2 The servant on whose arm the king was leaning answered the man of God: 'Why, this couldn't happen even if ADONAI made windows in heaven!' Elisha answered, 'All right, you yourself will see it with your own eyes; but you won't eat any of it!'
3 Now there were four men with tzara'at at the entrance to the city gate, and they said to each other, 'Why should we sit here till we die?
4 If we say, 'We'll enter the city, then the city has been struck by the famine, so we'll die there. And if we sit still here, we'll also die. So let's go and surrender to the army of Aram; if they spare our lives, we will live; and if they kill us, we'll only die.'
5 They got up during the twilight to go to the camp of Aram. But when they reached the outskirts of the camp of Aram, they saw no one!
6 For ADONAI had caused the army of Aram to hear the sound of chariots and horses; it sounded like a huge army; and they said to each other, 'The king of Isra'el must have hired the kings of the Hitti and the kings of the Egyptians to attack us.'
7 So they jumped up and fled in the twilight, leaving their tents, horses, donkeys and the whole camp just as it was, and ran for their lives.
8 When these men with tzara'at reached the outskirts of the camp, they entered one of the tents, ate and drank; then took some silver, gold and clothing; and went and hid it. Next they returned and entered another tent, took stuff from there, and went and hid it.
9 But finally they said to each other, 'What we are doing is wrong. At a time of good news like this, we shouldn't keep it to ourselves. If we wait even till morning, we will earn only punishment; so come on, let's go and tell the king's household.'
10 So they came and shouted to the gatekeepers of the city and told them the news: 'We went to the camp of Aram, and no one was there, no human voice - just the horses and donkeys tied up, and the tents left in place.'
11 The gatekeepers called and told it to the king's household inside.
12 Then the king got up in the night; he said to his servants, 'I'll tell you what Aram has done to us. They know that we're hungry, so they've gone outside the camp and hidden in the countryside, saying, 'When they come out of the city, we'll take them alive and then get inside the city.''
13 One of his servants answered, 'I suggest letting some men take five of the remaining horses that are left in the city - they're like everything else in Isra'el that remains, like everything else in Isra'el, practically finished - and we'll send and see.'
14 So they took two chariots with horses, and the king sent after the army of Aram, saying, 'Go, and see.'
15 They went after them all the way to the Yarden, and found the entire distance strewn with clothing and other articles Aram had thrown away in their haste. The messengers returned and told the king.
16 Then the people went out and ransacked the camp of Aram - with the result that six quarts of fine flour was sold for only a shekel and half a bushel of barley for a shekel, in keeping with what ADONAI had said.
17 The king put the servant on whose arm he had leaned in charge of the gate, and the people trampled him down in the gateway, so that he died, as the man of God had said he would, who spoke when the king came to him.
18 For the man of God had said to the king, 'Tomorrow by this time six quarts of barley will sell for only a shekel and half a bushel of fine flour for a shekel [in the market] at the gate of Shomron';
19 the servant had answered the man of God, 'Why, this couldn't happen even if ADONAI made windows in heaven!' and Elisha had said, 'All right, you yourself will see it with your own eyes; but you won't eat any of it!'
20 That is exactly what happened to him, because the people trampled him down in the gateway, so that he died.
1 Now Elisha had said to the woman whose son he had restored to life, 'Move away, you and your household, and stay wherever you can; because ADONAI has called for a famine; and it will be on the land for seven years.'
2 The woman acted at once and did as the man of God had said - she went with her household and stayed in the land of the P'lishtim for seven years.
3 At the end of seven years the woman returned from the land of the P'lishtim and sought an audience with the king to claim her house and land.
4 The king was talking with Geichazi the servant of the man of God. 'Tell me,' he said, 'all the great things Elisha has done.'
5 Just as he was telling the king how he had restored a dead person to life, at that very moment the woman whose son he had restored to life came to the king with her claim for her house and land. Geichazi said, 'My lord, king, this is the woman; and this is her son, the one Elisha restored to life.'
6 On being asked by the king, the woman verified it. At this, the king appointed a special officer and charged him, 'Restore everything that belongs to her, including the income her fields have produced from the day she left them until now.'
7 Elisha went to Dammesek. Ben-Hadad the king of Aram was ill; and he was told, 'The man of God has come here.'
8 The king said to Haza'el, 'Take with you a gift, go meet the man of God and consult ADONAI through him; ask if I will recover from this illness.'
9 Haza'el went to meet him, taking with him a gift that included everything good Dammesek had, forty camel-loads. He came, stood before him and said, 'Your son Ben-Hadad king of Aram has sent me to you; he asks, 'Will I recover from this illness?''
10 Elisha answered, 'Go and say to him, 'You will surely recover'- even though ADONAI has shown me that he will surely die.'
11 Then the man of God fixed his gaze on him for so long that Haza'el became embarrassed; finally Elisha began to cry.
12 Haza'el asked, 'Why is my lord crying?' He answered, 'Because I know the disasters you will bring on the people of Isra'el - you will set their fortresses on fire, you will kill their young men with the sword, you will dash their little ones to pieces and rip their pregnant women apart.'
13 Haza'el said, 'But what is your servant? Nothing but a dog! How could he do anything of such magnitude?' Elisha answered, 'ADONAI has shown me that you will be king over Aram.'
14 Then he left Elisha and returned to his master, who asked him, 'What did Elisha say to you?' 'He told me you would surely recover.'
15 The next day he took a blanket, dipped it in water and spread it on his face, so that he died; and Haza'el took his place as king.
16 It was when Yoram the son of Ach'av king of Isra'el was in the fifth year of his reign that Y'horam the son of Y'hoshafat began his rule over Y'hudah.
17 He was thirty-two years old when he began to rule, and he ruled eight years in Yerushalayim.
18 He lived after the example of the kings of Isra'el, as did the house of Ach'av; because he had married Ach'av's daughter; he did what was evil from ADONAI's perspective.
19 However, ADONAI was unwilling to destroy Y'hudah, because of his servant David; inasmuch as he had promised to give him and his children a lamp that would burn forever.
20 During his time Edom revolted against Y'hudah and set up its own king.
21 In response, Yoram crossed to Tza'ir with all his chariots. At night he and his chariot commanders set out and attacked Edom who had surrounded him; then the people fled to their tents.
22 Nevertheless, since that day Edom has remained free of Y'hudah's domination. Livnah revolted at the same time.
23 Other activities of Yoram and all his accomplishments are recorded in the Annals of the Kings of Y'hudah.
24 Yoram slept with his ancestors and was buried with his ancestors in the City of David, and Achazyah his son took his place as king.
25 It was in the twelfth year of Yoram the son of Ach'av king of Isra'el that Achazyah the son of Y'horam king of Y'hudah began his reign.
26 Achazyah was twenty-two years old when he began to rule, and he ruled for one year in Yerushalayim. His mother's name was 'Atalyahu the daughter of 'Omri king of Isra'el.
27 He lived after the example of the house of Ach'av; he did what was evil from ADONAI's perspective, as had the house of Ach'av; for he was a son-in-law in the house of Ach'av.
28 With Yoram the son of Ach'av he went to war against Haza'el king of Aram at Ramot-Gil'ad, and the Aramim wounded Yoram.
29 King Yoram returned to Yizre'el to be healed of the wounds which the Aramim had inflicted on him at Ramah while fighting Haza'el king of Aram. Achazyah the son of Y'horam, king of Y'hudah, went down to visit Yoram the son of Ach'av in Yizre'el, because he was not feeling well.
1 Elisha the prophet summoned one of the guild prophets and said to him, 'Prepare for traveling, take this flask of oil in your hand and go to Ramot-Gil'ad.
2 When you get there, look for Yehu the son of Y'hoshafat, the son of Nimshi. Enter, have him step away from his companions, and take him to an inside room.
3 Then take the flask of oil, pour it on his head, and say, 'This is what ADONAI says: 'I have anointed you king over Isra'el.'' After that, open the door; and get away from there as fast as you can.'
4 So the young prophet left for Ramot-Gil'ad.
5 When he arrived, he found the senior army officers sitting there. He said, 'I have a message for you, commander.' Yehu asked, 'For which one of us?' 'For you, commander,' he said.
6 Yehu got up and went into the house. Then the prophet poured the oil on his head and said to him, 'This is what ADONAI the God of Isra'el says: 'I have anointed you king over the people of ADONAI, over Isra'el.
7 You will attack the house of Ach'av your master, so that I can avenge the blood of my servants the prophets and of all the servants of ADONAI, blood shed by Izevel.
8 The entire house of Ach'av will perish; I will cut off from Ach'av every male, whether a slave or free in Isra'el.
9 I will make the house of Ach'av like the house of Yarov'am the son of N'vat and like the house of Ba'sha the son of Achiyah.
10 Moreover, the dogs will eat Izevel in the dumping-ground of Yizre'el, and there will be no one to bury her.'' Then he opened the door and fled.
11 Yehu returned to the servants of his lord, and one of them said to him, 'Is everything all right? Why did this meshugga come to you?' He answered them, 'You know the kind and how they babble.'
12 They said, 'You're being evasive. Come on, tell us the truth.' Then he said, 'This is exactly what he said to me and how he said it: 'Here is what ADONAI says: 'I have anointed you king over Isra'el.'''
13 At this, they hurried each one to take his cloak and put it under Yehu at the top of the stairs. Then they blew the shofar and proclaimed, 'Yehu is king!'
14 Yehu the son of Y'hoshafat, the son of Nimshi, formed a conspiracy against Yoram. (At the time, Yoram was guarding Ramot-Gil'ad, he and all Isra'el, because of Haza'el king of Aram;
15 but Yoram himself had returned to Yizre'el to recover from the wounds Aram had inflicted on him when fighting Haza'el king of Aram.) 'If you agree,' said Yehu, 'then don't allow anyone to leave town and take the news to Yizre'el.'
16 So Yehu, riding in a chariot, went to Yizre'el, for Yoram was laid up there. Achazyah king of Y'hudah had come down to visit Yoram.
17 The lookout standing on the watchtower in Yizre'el saw Yehu's troops approaching and said, 'I see some troops coming.' Yoram said, 'Have a horseman go to meet him and ask, 'Are you coming in peace?'
18 So a man on horseback went to meet him and said, 'The king asks if you are coming in peace.' Yehu answered, 'Peace? What business is that of yours? Turn around, and get behind me!' The watchman reported, 'The messenger reached them, but he isn't coming back.'
19 So he sent out a second man on horseback, who, on coming to him, said, 'The king asks if you are coming in peace.' Yehu answered, 'Peace? What business is that of yours? Turn around, and get behind me!'
20 The watchman reported, 'He reached them, but he isn't coming back. Also, it looks like the driving of Yehu Nimshi's [grand]son - he's driving like a maniac!'
21 'Harness my chariot!' ordered Yoram. They got it ready. Then Yoram king of Isra'el and Achazyah king of Y'hudah, each in his chariot, went out to meet Yehu. They met him in the field of Navot the Yizre'eli.
22 When Yoram saw Yehu he said, 'Are you coming in peace, Yehu?' He answered, 'Peace? With your mother Izevel continuing all her cult prostitution and witchcraft? What a question!'
23 Yoram wheeled around and fled, shouting, 'Treachery, Achazyah!'
24 Yehu drew his bow with all his strength and struck Yoram between the shoulder-blades; the arrow went through his heart, and he collapsed in his chariot.
25 'Pick him up,' said Yehu to Bidkar his servant, 'and throw him into the field of Navot the Yizre'eli; for remember how, when you and I were riding together after Ach'av his father, ADONAI pronounced this sentence against him:
26 'ADONAI says: 'Yesterday I saw the blood of Navot and the blood of his sons.' ADONAI also says: 'I will pay you back in this field.'' Therefore, pick him up; and throw him into the field, in keeping with what ADONAI said.'
27 But when Achazyah the king of Y'hudah saw this, he fled on the road past Beit-HaGan. Yehu pursued him and ordered, 'Strike him too in his chariot!' [So they struck him] at the Gur ascent, near Yivle'am. He fled to Megiddo, but there he died.
28 His servants carried him in a chariot to Yerushalayim and buried him in his tomb with his ancestors in the City of David.
29 It was in the eleventh year of Yoram the son of Ach'av that Achazyah had begun his rule over Y'hudah.
30 When Yehu reached Yizre'el, and Izevel heard of it, she put on eye make-up, fixed her hair and looked out the window.
31 As Yehu came through the city gate, she asked, 'Are you here in peace, you Zimri, you murderer of your master?'
32 Looking up at the window he said, 'Who is on my side? Who?' Two or three officers looked out toward him.
33 He said, 'Throw her down!' So they threw her down. Some of her blood splashed onto the wall and the horses, and she was trampled underfoot.
34 He went in, ate and drank, and then said, 'Deal with this accursed woman - bury her, because she's a king's daughter.'
35 They went to bury her but found no more of her than her skull, feet and hands.
36 So they came back and told him. He said, 'This is what ADONAI said through his servant Eliyahu from Tishbe: 'In the field of Yizre'el the dogs will eat the flesh of Izevel;
37 Izevel's corpse in the field of Yizre'el will be like dung on the ground, unrecognizable as Izevel.''
1 There were seventy descendants of Ach'av in Shomron. Yehu wrote letters and sent them to Shomron to the rulers of Yizre'el, to the leaders, and to the guardians of Ach'av's sons. The letters said,
2 'You have with you your master's sons, also chariots and horses, as well as fortified cities and armor. So, as soon as this letter reaches you,
3 choose the best and most suitable of your master's sons, set him on his father's throne and fight for your master's dynasty.'
4 They were panic-stricken and said, 'If the other two kings couldn't withstand him, how will we?'
5 So the administrator of the palace, the governor of the city, the leaders and the children's guardians sent this message to Yehu: 'We are your servants. We will do everything you ask us to; we won't appoint anyone king. Do as you see fit.'
6 He wrote a second letter to them, which said, 'If you are on my side, and if you are ready to obey my orders, then bring the heads of your master's sons to me in Yizre'el by this time tomorrow.' Now the seventy sons of the king were with the prominent men who had raised them.
7 When the letter reached them, they seized the king's sons and killed them, all seventy of them, put their heads in baskets and sent them to Yehu in Yizre'el.
8 A messenger came and told him, 'They have brought the heads of the king's sons.' He said, 'Leave them in two piles at the entrance of the city gate until morning.'
9 When morning came, he went out, stood before the people and said, 'You are not responsible [for the deaths of these men]. Yes, I conspired against my master and killed him. But who killed all these?
10 Understand, then, that no part of ADONAI's word which ADONAI spoke concerning the dynasty of Ach'av falls to the ground; because ADONAI has done what he said through his servant Eliyahu.'
11 So Yehu killed everyone who remained from the house of Ach'av in Yizre'el, all his leading men, his close friends and his cohanim, until not one of them was left alive.
12 Then he set out and went to Shomron. On the way he reached a shearing shed for shepherds,
13 where he encountered relatives of Achazyah king of Y'hudah. 'Who are you?' he asked. 'We're relatives of Achazyah,' they answered, 'and we're going down to pay our respects to the families of the king and of the queen mother.'
14 'Take them alive,' said Yehu. They took them alive, forty-two men, slaughtered them and threw them into the shearing shed's pit; he spared not one of them.
15 On leaving there, he happened upon Y'honadav the son of Rekhav coming toward him. He greeted him and said to him, 'Are you wholeheartedly with me, as I am with you?' 'Yes,' answered Y'honadav. 'If so, give me your hand.' He gave him his hand, and Yehu took him up into the chariot.
16 He said, 'Come with me, and see how zealous I am for ADONAI.' So they had him ride in his chariot.
17 On arriving in Shomron he put to death everyone that Ach'av still had in Shomron, until he had destroyed him, in keeping with the word of ADONAI which he had spoken to Eliyahu.
18 Next, Yehu assembled all the people and said to them, 'Ach'av served Ba'al in limited measure, but Yehu will serve him with full zeal.
19 Therefore summon all the prophets of Ba'al to me, all his worshippers and all his priests. None of them is to be missing, because I am going to offer a great sacrifice to Ba'al; whoever is missing will not remain alive.' But Yehu was setting a trap, in order to destroy the worshippers of Ba'al.
20 Yehu said, 'Proclaim a solemn assembly for Ba'al,' and they did so.
21 Yehu sent throughout all Isra'el, and all the worshippers of Ba'al came, so that there was not one man left that didn't come. They entered the temple of Ba'al, and the temple of Ba'al was filled from one end to the other.
22 To the man in charge of the wardrobe he said, 'Bring out robes for all the worshippers of Ba'al'; and he brought them clothes.
23 Yehu and Y'honadav the son of Rekhav entered the house of Ba'al and said to the worshippers of Ba'al, 'Search to see that none of the servants of ADONAI is here with you, only worshippers of Ba'al.'
24 Then they went in to offer sacrifices and burnt offerings. But Yehu had chosen eighty men to remain outside. He said, 'If any of the men I am about to put in your hands escapes, it will be your life for his.'
25 As soon as he had finished offering the burnt offering, Yehu said to the guards and officers, 'Go in, and kill them; don't let one of them get out.' So they killed them with the sword; then, after the guards and officers had thrown their bodies outside, they went into the temple of Ba'al's inner shrine,
26 brought out the pillars in the temple of Ba'al and burned them.
27 Finally, they broke down Ba'al's standing-stone and demolished the temple of Ba'al, converting it into a latrine, which it still is today.
28 Thus Yehu rid Isra'el of Ba'al.
29 However, Yehu did not turn away from the sins of Yarov'am the son of N'vat, with which he had led Isra'el into sin, the gold calves that were in Beit-El and Dan.
30 ADONAI said to Yehu, 'Because you did well in accomplishing what is right from my perspective, and have done to the house of Ach'av everything that was in my heart, your descendants down to the fourth generation will sit on the throne of Isra'el.'
31 But Yehu made no effort to live wholeheartedly according to the Torah of ADONAI the God of Isra'el and did not turn away from the sins of Yarov'am, with which he had led Isra'el into sin.
32 It was during that period that ADONAI began to dismember Isra'el. Haza'el attacked them throughout the territory of Isra'el
33 east of the Yarden - all the land of Gil'ad, the Gadi, Re'uveni and M'nashi, from 'Aro'er by the Arnon River, including Gil'ad and Bashan.
34 Other activities of Yehu, all his accomplishments and all his power are recorded in the Annals of the Kings of Isra'el.
35 Yehu slept with his ancestors, and they buried him in Shomron. Then Y'ho'achaz his son became king in his place.
36 Yehu ruled over Isra'el in Shomron for twenty-eight years.
1 When 'Atalyah the mother of Achazyah saw that her son was dead, she set about destroying the entire royal family.
2 But Y'hosheva the daughter of King Yoram, sister of Achazyah, took Yo'ash the son of Achazyah and stole him away from among the princes who were being slaughtered. She took him and his nurse, sequestered them in a bedroom, and hid them from 'Atalyah, so that he was not killed.
3 He remained hidden with his nurse in the house of ADONAI for six years; during this time 'Atalyah ruled the land.
4 In the seventh year Y'hoyada summoned the captains of hundred-man platoons, of both the Kari and the guard. He brought them into the house of ADONAI, made an agreement with them and had them swear to it in the house of ADONAI. Then he showed them the king's son
5 and gave them this instruction: 'Here is what you are to do: of you who come on duty on Shabbat, a third [normally] guards the royal palace,
6 a third is at the Sur Gate and a third is at the gate behind the guards. [The first third] is to continue guarding the palace and serve as a barrier,
7 while the other two groups of you who come on duty on Shabbat will guard the house of ADONAI, where the king is.
8 You are to surround the king, each man with his weapons in his hand. Anyone who penetrates the ranks is to be killed. Stay with the king whenever he leaves or enters.'
9 The captains over hundreds did exactly as Y'hoyada the cohen ordered. Each took his men, those coming on duty on Shabbat and those going off duty on Shabbat, and came to Y'hoyada the cohen.
10 The cohen issued to the captains of hundreds the spears and shields that had been King David's and were kept in the house of ADONAI.
11 The guards then took positions, each man with his weapons in his hand, from the right side of the house to the left side of the house, alongside the altar, alongside [the exterior of] the house and around the king.
12 Then he brought out the king's son, crowned him, gave him [a copy of] the testimony and thus made him king; they anointed him, clapped their hands and shouted, 'Long live the king!'
13 When 'Atalyah heard the shouting of the guard and the people, she entered the house of ADONAI where the people were,
14 looked and saw the king standing there on the platform, in keeping with the rule, with the leaders and trumpeters next to the king. All the people of the land were celebrating and blowing the trumpets. At this 'Atalyah tore her clothes and cried, 'Treason! Treason!'
15 Y'hoyada the cohen ordered the captains of hundreds, the army officers, 'Escort her out past the ranks [of guards]; but anyone who follows her, kill with the sword.' For the cohen had said, 'She must not be put to death in the house of ADONAI.'
16 So they took her by force and led her through the horses' entry to the royal palace, and there she was put to death.
17 Y'hoyada made a covenant between ADONAI, the king and the people, that they would be ADONAI's people, and [a covenant] between the king and the people.
18 Then all the people of the land went to the house of Ba'al and broke it down; they completely smashed its altars and images and killed Mattan the priest of Ba'al in front of the altars. Next, the cohen appointed officers over the house of ADONAI.
19 He took the captains of hundreds, the Kari, the guards and all the people of the land; and they brought the king down from the house of ADONAI, going by way of the gate of the guards to the royal palace. There he sat on the throne of the kings.
20 All the people of the land celebrated, and at last the city was quiet. That is how they killed 'Atalyah with the sword at the royal palace.
21 Y'ho'ash was seven years old when he began his reign.
1 It was in the seventh year of Yehu that Y'ho'ash began to rule, and he ruled forty years in Yerushalayim. His mother's name was Tzivyah, from Be'er-Sheva.
2 Y'ho'ash did what was right from ADONAI's perspective throughout the lifetime of Y'hoyada the cohen, who instructed him.
3 Nevertheless the high places were not taken away; the people still sacrificed and presented offerings on the high places.
4 Y'ho'ash said to the cohanim, 'All the funds for sacred purposes which are brought to the house of ADONAI - the half-shekel tax, the taxes on persons in a man's household, and all the offerings anyone voluntarily brings to the house of ADONAI -
5 the cohanim are to receive from whoever personally makes contributions to them; and they are to use these funds to repair the damaged parts of the house, wherever damage is found.
6 But twenty-three years into the reign of King Y'ho'ash, the cohanim had still not repaired the damaged places in the house.
7 So King Y'ho'ash summoned Y'hoyada the cohen and the other cohanim and said to them, 'Why aren't you repairing the damaged places in the house? Therefore, you are no longer to take money from those who contribute it personally to you; you must hand it over to be used for repairing the damage in the house.'
8 The cohanim agreed not to receive money from the people, and they would no longer be responsible for repairing the damage to the house.
9 Then Y'hoyada the cohen took a chest, drilled a hole in its lid and set it by the altar, on the right, as one enters the house of ADONAI; and the cohanim in charge of the entry put in it all the money brought into the house of ADONAI.
10 When they saw that there was a large amount of money in the chest, the king's secretary and the cohen hagadol would come up, count the money found in the house of ADONAI and put it in bags.
11 Then they would give the weighed-out money to those supervising the work in the house of ADONAI, who would use it to pay the carpenters and construction-workers doing the work in the house of ADONAI,
12 on masons, stoneworkers, timber, worked stone and everything else needed for repairing the damaged places in the house of ADONAI.
13 But none of the money brought into the house of ADONAI was used to make silver cups, snuffers, bowls, trumpets or other articles of gold or silver for the house of ADONAI;
14 because they gave the money to those doing the
15 More-work, thus restricting its use to repairing the damage in the house of ADONAI. over, they did not require an accounting from the supervisors given the money to pay the workers, because they dealt honestly.
16 Money from guilt offerings and sin offerings, however, was not brought into the house of ADONAI; it went to the cohanim.
17 Haza'el king of Aram went up and fought against Gat; and after capturing it, Haza'el made his decision to attack Yerushalayim.
18 Y'ho'ash king of Y'hudah took all the consecrated articles that Y'hoshafat, Y'horam and Achazyah, his ancestors, kings of Y'hudah, had dedicated, as well as his own consecrated articles and all the gold found in the treasuries of the house of ADONAI and of the royal palace, and sent them to Haza'el king of Aram, who then withdrew from Yerushalayim.
19 Other activities of Yo'ash and all his accomplishments are recorded in the Annals of the Kings of Y'hudah.
20 Then his servants got together, formed a conspiracy and murdered Yo'ash at Beit-Millo on the way down to Sila.
21 His servants Yozakhar the son of Shim'at and Y'hozavad the son of Shomer struck him, so that he died. They buried him with his ancestors in the City of David, and Amatzyah his son took his place as king.
1 It was in the twenty-third year of Yo'ash the son of Achazyah, king of Y'hudah, that Y'ho'achaz the son of Yehu began his reign over Isra'el in Shomron; he ruled for seventeen years.
2 He did what was evil from ADONAI's perspective; he followed the sins of Yarov'am the son of N'vat, who made Isra'el sin; and he never ceased committing those sins.
3 ADONAI's anger burned against Isra'el, and he kept handing them over to Haza'el king of Aram and Ben-Hadad the son of Haza'el.
4 But Y'ho'achaz pleaded to ADONAI, and ADONAI listened to him, because he saw the oppression the king of Aram was inflicting on Isra'el.
5 So ADONAI gave Isra'el a savior who freed them from the grip of Aram, so that the people of Isra'el could live in their tents, as they had before.
6 Despite that, instead of turning from the sins of the house of Yarov'am, who made Isra'el sin, they continued to live in this sinful way. Moreover, the asherah continued to stand in Shomron.
7 The king of Aram destroyed Y'ho'achaz's army, making them like chaff when grain is threshed, except for fifty horsemen, ten chariots and 10,000 foot soldiers.
8 Other activities of Y'ho'achaz, all his accomplishments and his power are recorded in the Annals of the Kings of Isra'el.
9 Y'ho'achaz slept with his ancestors, and they buried him in Shomron. Then Yo'ash his son took his place as king.
10 It was in the thirty-seventh year of Yo'ash king of Y'hudah that Yo'ash the son of Y'ho'achaz began his rule over Isra'el in Shomron; he ruled for sixteen years.
11 He did what was evil from ADONAI's perspective and did not turn from all the sins of Yarov'am the son of N'vat, who made Isra'el sin; on the contrary, he lived in this sinful way.
12 Other activities of Yo'ash, all his accomplishments and his power in fighting Amatzyah king of Y'hudah are recorded in the Annals of the Kings of Isra'el.
13 Yo'ash slept with his ancestors, and Yarov'am occupied his throne. Yo'ash was buried in Shomron with the kings of Isra'el.
14 Elisha was now ill with the disease from which he would eventually die. Yo'ash the king of Isra'el came down to visit him and wept over him; he said, 'My father! My father! The chariots and horsemen of Isra'el!'
15 Elisha said to him, 'Bring a bow and arrows'; and he brought him a bow and arrows.
16 He said to the king of Isra'el, 'Put your hand on the bow'; and he put his hand on it. Then Elisha laid his hands on the king's hands
17 and said, 'Open the east window.' He opened it. Elisha said, 'Shoot'; and he shot. He said, 'ADONAI's arrow of victory, the arrow of victory against Aram! You will defeat Aram completely at Afek!'
18 He said, 'Take the arrows'; and he took them. He told the king of Isra'el, 'Strike the ground.' He struck three times, then stopped.
19 The man of God became angry with him; he said, 'You should have struck five or six times; then you would have defeated Aram completely. As it is, you will defeat Aram only three times.'
20 Elisha died, and they placed him in a burial cave. Now the raiding parties of Mo'av used to make yearly incursions into the land at the start of the year.
21 Once it happened that just as they were burying a man, they spotted a raiding party; so they threw the man's body into Elisha's burial cave; and the moment the man touched the bones of Elisha, he revived and stood on his feet.
22 Haza'el king of Aram oppressed Isra'el throughout the lifetime of Y'ho'achaz;
23 but ADONAI was gracious, took pity on them and looked on them with favor, because of his covenant with Avraham, Yitz'chak and Ya'akov. He was not willing to destroy them, and to this day he has not banished them from his presence.
24 Haza'el king of Aram died, and Ben-Hadad his son took his place as king.
25 Then Y'ho'ash the son of Y'ho'achaz captured from Ben-Hadad the son of Haza'el the cities which he had captured in war from Y'ho'achaz his father. Three times Yo'ash defeated him, thus recovering the cities of Isra'el.
1 It was in the second year of Yo'ash son of Y'ho'achaz king of Isra'el that Amatzyah the son of Yo'ash king of Y'hudah began his reign.
2 He was twenty-five years old when he began to rule, and he ruled for twenty-nine years in Yerushalayim. His mother's name was Y'ho'adan, from Yerushalayim.
3 He did what was right from ADONAI's perspective, although not like David his ancestor; he lived the same way as his father Yo'ash.
4 However, the high places were not removed; the people still sacrificed and offered on the high places.
5 As soon as he had the kingdom firmly under his control, he put to death the servants of his who had murdered the king his father.
6 But he did not put the children of the murderers to death, because of what is written in the scroll of the Torah of Moshe, as ADONAI ordered when he said, 'Fathers are not to be executed for the children, nor are children to be executed for the fathers; every person will be executed for his own sin.'
7 He slaughtered 10,000 men of Edom in the Salt Valley and captured Sela in the war, renaming it Yokte'el, as it is today.
8 Then Amatzyah sent messengers to Y'ho'ash the son of Y'ho'achaz, son of Yehu, king of Isra'el, with this challenge: 'Come on, let's have it out face-to-face.'
9 Y'ho'ash the king of Isra'el sent this reply to Amatzyah king of Y'hudah: 'Once, in the L'vanon, the thistle sent a message to the cedar: 'Give your daughter to my son in marriage.' But a wild animal passed by the thistle and squashed it.
10 True, you have defeated Edom, and now you're ambitious. So enjoy the glory, but stay home! Why provoke calamity, to your own ruin, yours and Y'hudah's too?'
11 But Amatzyah wouldn't listen. So Y'ho'ash king of Isra'el went up; and he and Amatzyah king of Y'hudah had it out face-to-face at Beit-Shemesh, which belongs to Y'hudah.
12 Y'hudah was defeated by Isra'el, and every man fled to his tent.
13 Y'ho'ash king of Isra'el took Amatzyah king of Y'hudah, the son of Y'ho'ash the son of Achazyah, prisoner at Beit-Shemesh. Then he went to Yerushalayim and demolished the wall of Yerushalayim between the Gate of Efrayim and the Corner Gate, a section 600 feet long.
14 He took all the gold and silver, all the articles he could find in the house of ADONAI and in the treasuries of the royal palace, and hostages; then he returned to Shomron.
15 Other activities of Y'ho'ash that he did, his power and how he fought Amatzyah king of Y'hudah are recorded in the Annals of the Kings of Isra'el.
16 Y'ho'ash slept with his ancestors and was buried in Shomron with the kings of Isra'el. Then Yarov'am took his place as king.
17 Amatzyah the son of Yo'ash king of Y'hudah lived another fifteen years after the death of Y'ho'ash son of Y'ho'achaz, king of Isra'el.
18 Other activities of Amatzyah are recorded in the Annals of the Kings of Y'hudah.
19 Because of a conspiracy formed against him in Yerushalayim, Amatzyah fled to Lakhish; but they followed him to Lakhish and killed him there.
20 They brought his body back on horses, and he was buried in Yerushalayim with his ancestors in the City of David.
21 Then all the people of Y'hudah took 'Azaryah at the age of sixteen and made him king in place of his father Amatzyah.
22 'Azaryah recovered Eilat for Y'hudah and rebuilt it; after that the king [Amatzyahu] slept with his ancestors.
23 It was in the fifteenth year of Amatzyah the son of Yo'ash, king of Y'hudah, that Yarov'am the son of Yo'ash, king of Isra'el, began to reign in Shomron; and he ruled for forty-one years.
24 He did what was evil from ADONAI's perspective; he did not turn from all the sins of Yarov'am the son of N'vat, who made Isra'el sin.
25 He recovered the territory of Isra'el between the entrance of Hamat and the sea of the 'Aravah, in keeping with the word of ADONAI the God of Isra'el, which he spoke through his servant Yonah the son of Amitai, the prophet from Gat-Hefer.
26 For ADONAI saw how bitterly Isra'el had suffered, with no one left, either slave or free, and no one coming to Isra'el's aid.
27 ADONAI did not threaten to blot out the name of Isra'el from under heaven, but saved them through Yarov'am the son of Yo'ash.
28 Other activities of Yarov'am, all his accomplishments, all his power, how he conducted war and how he recovered Dammesek and Hamat for Y'hudah in Isra'el are recorded in the Annals of the Kings of Isra'el.
29 Yarov'am slept with his ancestors the kings of Isra'el, and Z'kharyah took his place as king.
1 It was in the twenty-seventh year of Yarov'am king of Isra'el that 'Azaryah the son of Amatzyah, king of Y'hudah, began his reign.
2 He was sixteen years old when he began to rule, and he ruled for fifty-two years in Yerushalayim. His mother's name was Y'kholyahu, from Yerushalayim.
3 He did what was right from ADONAI's perspective, following the example of everything his father Amatzyah had done.
4 However, the high places were not taken away; the people still sacrificed and offered on the high places.
5 ADONAI struck the king, so that he had tzara'at until his dying day, so that he lived in a separate house, while Yotam the king's son ran the king's household and was regent over the people of the land.
6 Other activities of 'Azaryah and all his accomplishments are recorded in the Annals of the Kings of Y'hudah.
7 So 'Azaryah slept with his ancestors the kings of Isra'el, and they buried him with his ancestors in the City of David. Then Yotam his son took his place as king.
8 It was in the thirty-eighth year of 'Azaryah king of Y'hudah that Z'kharyah the son of Yarov'am began his reign over Isra'el in Shomron; he ruled for six months.
9 He did what was evil from ADONAI's perspective, just as his ancestors had done; he did not turn from all the sins of Yarov'am the son of N'vat, who made Isra'el sin.
10 Shalum the son of Yavesh formed a conspiracy against him. He struck him in the presence of the people and killed him; then he took his place as king.
11 Other activities of Z'kharyah are recorded in the Annals of the Kings of Isra'el.
12 The word of ADONAI which he had spoken to Yehu was, 'Your descendants down to the fourth generation will sit on the throne of Isra'el'; and that is exactly what happened.
13 Shalum the son of Yavesh began his reign in the thirty-ninth year of 'Uziyah king of Y'hudah; he ruled in Shomron for only a month.
14 Menachem the son of Gadi went up from Tirtzah, came to Shomron, struck Shalum the son of Yavesh in Shomron and killed him. Then he took his place as king.
15 Other activities of Shalum and the conspiracy he formed are recorded in the Annals of the Kings of Isra'el
16 From Tirtzah Menachem attacked Tifsach, all the people in it and its territory, because they had not opened their gates to him. So he sacked the city and ripped apart all its pregnant women.
17 It was in the thirty-ninth year of 'Azaryah king of Y'hudah that Menachem the son of Gadi began his reign over Isra'el; he ruled ten years in Shomron.
18 He did what was evil from ADONAI's perspective; throughout his life he did not turn from the sins of Yarov'am the son of N'vat, who made Isra'el sin.
19 Pul the king of Ashur invaded the land. Menachem gave Pul thirty-three tons of silver, so that he would confirm Menachem's hold on the kingdom.
20 He did this by taxing the wealthy men in Isra'el; from each he required one-and-a-quarter pounds of silver to give to the king of Ashur. Then the king of Ashur turned around and left the land.
21 Other activities of Menachem and all his accomplishments are recorded in the Annals of the Kings of Isra'el.
22 Menachem slept with his ancestors, and P'kachyah his son took his place as king.
23 It was in the fiftieth year of 'Azaryah king of Y'hudah that P'kachyah the son of Menachem began his reign over Isra'el in Shomron; he ruled for two years.
24 He did what was evil from ADONAI's perspective; he did not turn from the sins of Yarov'am the son of N'vat, who made Isra'el sin.
25 Pekach the son of Remalyahu, one of his commanders, conspired against him. With Argov, Aryeh and fifty men from Gil'ad, he assassinated him in the palace stronghold in Shomron. After killing him, he took his place as king.
26 Other activities of P'kachyah and all his accomplishments are recorded in the Annals of the Kings of Isra'el.
27 It was in the fifty-second year of 'Azaryah king of Y'hudah that Pekach the son of Remalyah began to reign over Isra'el in Shomron; his reign lasted twenty years.
28 He did what was evil from ADONAI's perspective; he did not turn from the sins of Yarov'am the son of N'vat, who made Isra'el sin.
29 During the time of Pekach king of Isra'el, Tiglat-Pil'eser king of Ashur came and conquered 'Iyon, Avel-Beit-Ma'akhah, Yanoach, Kedesh, Hatzor, Gil'ad, and the Galil - all the land of Naftali - and took them captive to Ashur.
30 Hoshea the son of Elah conspired against Pekach the son of Remalyah, struck him, killed him and took his place as king in the twentieth year of Yotam the son of 'Uziyah.
31 Other activities of Pekach and all his accomplishments are recorded in the Annals of the Kings of Isra'el.
32 It was in the second year of Pekach the son of Remalyah, king of Isra'el, that Yotam the son of 'Uziyah king of Y'hudah began his reign.
33 He was twenty-five years old when he began his reign, and he ruled for sixteen years in Yerushalayim. His mother's name was Yerusha the daughter of Tzadok.
34 He did what was right from ADONAI's perspective, following the example of everything his father 'Uziyah had done.
35 However, the high places were not taken away; and the people still sacrificed and offered on the high places. He built the Upper Gate of the house of ADONAI.
36 Other activities of Yotam and all his accomplishments are recorded in the Annals of the Kings of Y'hudah.
37 It was during this period that ADONAI began sending against Y'hudah Retzin the king of Aram and Pekach the son of Remalyah.
38 Yotam slept with his ancestors and was buried with his ancestors in the City of David his ancestor. Then Achaz his son took his place as king.
1 It was in the seventeenth year of Pekach the son of Remalyah that Achaz the son of Yotam king of Y'hudah began his reign.
2 Achaz was twenty years old when he began to rule, and he reigned sixteen years in Yerushalayim. But he did not do what was right from the perspective of ADONAI his God, as David his ancestor had done.
3 Rather, he lived in the manner of the kings of Isra'el; he even made his son pass through fire [as a sacrifice], in keeping with the abominable practices of the pagans, whom ADONAI had thrown out ahead of the people of Isra'el.
4 He also sacrificed and offered on the high places, on the hills and under any green tree.
5 Then Retzin king of Aram and Pekach son of Remalyah, king of Isra'el, came up to fight against Yerushalayim. They put Achaz under siege, but they could not overcome him.
6 It was at that time that Retzin king of Aram recovered Eilat for Aram and drove the Judeans from Eilat; whereupon people from Edom came to Eilat to live, as they do to this day.
7 Then Achaz sent messengers to Tiglat-Pil'eser king of Ashur with this message: 'I am your servant and your son. Come up, and save me from the king of Aram and the king of Isra'el, who are attacking me.'
8 Achaz took the silver and gold that was in the house of ADONAI and in the treasuries of the royal palace and sent it as a present to the king of Ashur.
9 The king of Ashur heeded him- the king of Ashur attacked Dammesek and captured it; then he carried its people captive to Kir and killed Retzin.
10 When King Achaz went to Dammesek to meet Tiglat-Pil'eser king of Ashur and saw the altar that was in Dammesek, he sent a drawing and model of the altar to Uriyah the cohen, with details of its construction and decoration.
11 Then Uriyah the cohen built an altar exactly according to the design King Achaz had sent from Dammesek; Uriyah the cohen had it ready by the time King Achaz returned from Dammesek.
12 When the king arrived from Dammesek he saw the altar, and the king approached the altar and offered on it.
13 He offered his burnt offering and his grain offering, poured out his drink offering and splashed the blood of his peace offerings on the altar.
14 The bronze altar, which was before ADONAI, he brought from in front of the house, from between his own altar and the house of ADONAI, and put it on the north side of his own altar.
15 Then King Achaz instructed Uriyah the cohen as follows: 'Henceforth, it is on the large altar that you are to offer the morning burnt offering, the evening grain offering, the king's burnt offering and his grain offering, together with the burnt offering of all the people of the land, their grain offering and their drink offerings; and you are to splash all the blood of the burnt offering against it and all the blood of the sacrifice. As for the bronze altar, I will take care of that.'
16 Uriyah the cohen acted in accordance with everything King Achaz ordered.
17 King Achaz removed the panels of the trolleys and took the basins off them; he took the Sea off the bronze oxen supporting it and set it on the stone pavement;
18 and, because of the king of Ashur, he removed from the house of ADONAI the colonnade used on Shabbat that had been built for it and the king's entranceway outside it.
19 Other activities of Achaz and all his accomplishments are recorded in the Annals of the Kings of Y'hudah.
20 Achaz slept with his ancestors and was buried with his ancestors in the City of David. Then Hizkiyahu his son took his place as king.
1 It was in the twelfth year of Achaz king of Y'hudah that Hoshea the son of Elah began his reign over Isra'el in Shomron; he ruled for nine years.
2 He did what was evil from ADONAI's perspective, although he wasn't as bad as the kings of Isra'el who had preceded him.
3 Shalman'eser king of Ashur advanced against Hoshea, and Hoshea became his vassal and paid him tribute.
4 But the king of Ashur found that Hoshea was conspiring [against him] - he had sent messengers to So the king of Egypt and not paid his tribute to the king of Ashur, as he had previously done every year. For this the king of Ashur imprisoned him, putting him in chains.
5 Then the king of Ashur invaded all the land, advanced on Shomron and put it under siege for three years.
6 In the ninth year of Hoshea, the king of Ashur captured Shomron. He carried Isra'el away captive to Ashur, resettling them in Halach, in Havor on the Gozan River and in the cities of the Medes.
7 This came about because the people of Isra'el had sinned against ADONAI their God, who had brought them out of the land of Egypt, out from under the domination of Pharaoh king of Egypt. They feared other gods
8 and lived by the customs of the nations that ADONAI had expelled ahead of the people of Isra'el and by those of the kings of Isra'el.
9 The people of Isra'el secretly did things that were not right, according to ADONAI their God. They built high places for themselves wherever they lived, from the watchtower to the fortified city.
10 They set up standing-stones and sacred poles for themselves on any high hill and under any green tree.
11 Then they would make offerings on all the high places, like the nations ADONAI had expelled ahead of them, and would do wicked things to provoke the anger of ADONAI;
12 moreover, they served idols, something ADONAI had expressly told them not to do.
13 ADONAI had warned Isra'el and Y'hudah in advance through every prophet and seer, 'Turn from your evil ways; and obey my mitzvot and regulations, in accordance with the entire Torah which I ordered your ancestors to keep and which I sent to you through my servants the prophets.'
14 Nevertheless, they refused to listen but made themselves as stubborn as their ancestors, who did not put their trust in ADONAI their God.
15 Thus they rejected his laws; his covenant, which he had made with their ancestors; and the solemn warnings he had given them. Instead they pursued worthless things and became worthless themselves, imitating the nations around them, whom ADONAI had ordered them not to emulate.
16 They abandoned all the mitzvot of ADONAI their God. They made cast metal images for themselves, two calves. They made an asherah. They worshipped the whole army of heaven. They served Ba'al.
17 They had their sons and daughters pass through fire [as a sacrifice]. They used divination and magic spells. And they gave themselves over to do what was evil from ADONAI's perspective, thereby provoking him;
18 so that ADONAI, by now very angry with Isra'el, removed them from his sight. None was left except the tribe of Y'hudah alone.
19 (However, neither did Y'hudah obey the mitzvot of ADONAI their God; rather they lived according to the customs of Isra'el.)
20 Yes, ADONAI came to despise all the descendants of Isra'el. He caused them trouble and handed them over to plunderers, until finally he threw them out of his sight.
21 He tore Isra'el away from the house of David. They made Yarov'am the son of N'vat king; and Yarov'am drew Isra'el away from following ADONAI and made them commit a great sin.
22 The people of Isra'el followed the example of all the sins that Yarov'am had committed and did not turn away from them,
23 until ADONAI removed Isra'el out of his sight, as he had said he would through all his servants the prophets. Thus Isra'el was carried away captive from their own land to Ashur, and it remains so to this day.
24 The king of Ashur brought people from Bavel, Kutah, 'Ava, Hamat and S'farvayim and settled them in the cities of Shomron in place of the people of Isra'el; they took possession of Shomron and lived in its cities.
25 When they first came to live there, they did not fear ADONAI. Therefore ADONAI sent lions among them, which killed some of them.
26 So they said to the king of Ashur, 'The nations you carried away and settled in the cities of Shomron are not familiar with the rules for worshipping the God of the land. Therefore he has sent lions among them; and they are there, killing them; because they're not familiar with the rules for worshipping the God of the land.'
27 In response, the king of Ashur gave this order: 'Take back one of the cohanim you brought from there. Have him go and live there, and have him teach them the rules for worshipping the God of the land.'
28 So one of the cohanim they had carried away captive from Shomron came and lived in Beit-El, and he taught them how they should fear ADONAI.
29 Nevertheless, every nation made gods of their own and put them in the temples on the high places which the Shomronim had made, every nation in the cities where they lived.
30 Thus the people from Bavel made Sukkot-B'not, those from Kutah made Nergal, those from Hamat made Ashima,
31 the 'Avim made Nivchaz and Tartak, and the S'farvim burned up their children in the fire as sacrifices to Adramelekh and 'Anamelekh the gods of S'farvayim.
32 So they feared ADONAI, while at the same time they appointed for themselves priests from among themselves to preside at the high places, and they would sacrifice for them in the temples on the high places.
33 They both feared ADONAI and served their own gods in the manner customary among the nations from which they had been taken away.
34 To this day they continue to follow their former [pagan] customs. They do not fear ADONAI. They do not follow the regulations, rulings, Torah or mitzvah which ADONAI ordered the descendants of Ya'akov, to whom he gave the name Isra'el,
35 with whom ADONAI had made a covenant and charged them, 'Do not fear other gods or bow down to them, serve them or sacrifice to them.
36 On the contrary, you are to fear ADONAI, who brought you out of the land of Egypt with great power and an outstretched arm. Worship him, and sacrifice to him.
37 You are to observe forever the laws, rulings, Torah and mitzvah which he wrote for you. You are not to fear other gods,
38 and you are not to forget the covenant I made with you. No, you must not fear other gods
39 but must fear ADONAI your God; then he will rescue you from the power of all your enemies.'
40 However, they didn't listen, but followed their old [pagan] practices.
41 So these nations mixed fearing ADONAI with serving their carved idols; likewise their children; and to this day, their descendants do the same as their ancestors did.
1 It was in the third year of Hoshea the son of Elah, king of Isra'el, that Hizkiyahu the son of Achaz, king of Y'hudah, began his reign.
2 He was twenty-five years old when he began his reign, and he ruled for twenty-nine years in Yerushalayim. His mother's name was Avi the daughter of Z'kharyah.
3 He did what was right from ADONAI's perspective, following the example of everything David his ancestor had done.
4 He removed the high places, smashed the standing-stones, cut down the asherah and broke in pieces the bronze serpent that Moshe had made; because in those days the people of Isra'el were making offerings to it, calling it N'chushtan.
5 He put his trust in ADONAI the God of Isra'el; after him there was no one like him among all the kings of Y'hudah, nor had there been among those before him.
6 For he clung to ADONAI and did not leave off following him, but obeyed his mitzvot, which ADONAI had given Moshe.
7 So ADONAI was with him. Wherever he went out to battle, he did well. He rebelled against the king of Ashur and refused to be his vassal.
8 He drove the P'lishtim back to 'Azah and laid waste to their territory from the watchtower to the fortified city.
9 It was in the fourth year of King Hizkiyahu, which was the seventh year of Hoshea son of Elah, king of Isra'el, that Shalman'eser king of Ashur advanced against Shomron and laid siege to it.
10 At the end of three years they captured it - that is, Shomron was captured in the sixth year of Hizkiyahu, which was the ninth year of Hoshea king of Isra'el.
11 The king of Ashur carried Isra'el away captive to Ashur and settled them in Halach, in Havor on the Gozan River and in the cities of the Medes.
12 This happened because they did not heed the voice of ADONAI their God, but violated his covenant, everything that Moshe the servant of ADONAI had ordered them to do, and would neither hear it nor do it.
13 In the fourteenth year of King Hizkiyahu, Sancheriv king of Ashur advanced against all the fortified cities of Y'hudah and captured them.
14 Hizkiyahu king of Y'hudah sent this message to the king of Ashur at Lakhish: 'I have done wrong. If you will go away from me, I will pay whatever penalty you impose on me.' The king of Ashur imposed on Hizkiyahu a penalty of ten tons of silver and a ton of gold.
15 Hizkiyahu gave him all the silver that could be found in the house of ADONAI and in the treasuries of the royal palace.
16 It was at that time that Hizkiyahu stripped the gold from the doors of the sanctuary of ADONAI and from the doorposts which Hizkiyahu king of Y'hudah himself had overlaid, and gave it to the king of Ashur.
17 From Lakhish the king of Ashur sent Tartan, Rav-Saris and Rav-Shakeh to King Hizkiyahu in Yerushalayim with a large army. They advanced and came to Yerushalayim. Upon arrival, they came and positioned themselves by the aqueduct from the Upper Pool, which is by the road to the Launderers' Field.
18 They summoned the king, but those answering the call were Elyakim the son of Hilkiyahu, who was in charge of the household, Shevnah the general secretary and Yo'ach the son of Asaf the foreign minister.
19 Rav-Shakeh addressed them: 'Tell Hizkiyahu: 'Here is what the great king, the king of Ashur, says: 'What makes you so confident?
20 Do you think that mere spoken words constitute strategy and strength for battle? In whom, then, are you trusting when you rebel against me like this?
21 Now look! Relying on Egypt is like using a broken stick as a staff - when you lean on it, it Hebrew nachash means 'serpent,' and n'choshet means 'bronze.' punctures your hand. That's what Pharaoh king of Egypt is like for anyone who puts his trust in him.
22 But if you tell me, 'We trust in ADONAI our God,' then isn't he the one whose high places and altars Hizkiyahu has removed, telling Y'hudah and Yerushalayim, 'You must worship before this altar in Yerushalayim'?
23 All right, then, make a wager with my lord the king of Ashur: I will give you two thousand horses if you can find enough riders for them.
24 How then can you repulse even one of my master's lowest-ranked army officers? Yet you are relying on Egypt for chariots and riders!
25 Do you think I have come up to this place to destroy it without ADONAI's approval? ADONAI said to me, 'Attack this land, and destroy it'!'''
26 Elyakim the son of Hilkiyahu, Shevnah and Yo'ach said to Rav-Shakeh, 'Please speak to your servants in Aramaic, since we understand it; don't speak with us in Hebrew while the people on the wall are listening.'
27 But Rav-Shakeh answered them, 'Did my master send me to deliver my message just to your master and yourselves? Didn't he send me to address the men sitting on the wall, who, like you, are going to eat their own dung and drink their own urine?'
28 Then Rav-Shakeh stood up and, speaking loudly in Hebrew, said: 'Hear what the great king, the king of Ashur, says!
29 This is what the king says: 'Don't let Hizkiyahu deceive you, because he won't be able to save you from the power of the king of Ashur.
30 And don't let Hizkiyahu make you trust in ADONAI by saying, 'ADONAI will surely save us; this city will not be given over to the king of Ashur.'
31 Don't listen to Hizkiyahu.' For this is what the king of Ashur says: 'Make peace with me, surrender to me. Then every one of you can eat from his vine and fig tree and drink the water in his own cistern;
32 until I come and take you away to a land like your own land, a land with grain and wine, a land with bread and vineyards, a land with olive trees and honey; so that you can live and not die. So don't listen to Hizkiyahu; he is only deluding you when he says, 'ADONAI will save us.'
33 Has any god of any nation ever saved his land from the power of the king of Ashur?
34 Where are the gods of Hamat and Arpad? Where are the gods of S'farvayim, Hena and 'Ivah? Did they save Shomron from my power?
35 Where is the god of any country that has saved its country from my power, so that ADONAI might be able to save Yerushalayim from my power?''
36 But the people kept still and didn't answer him so much as a word; for the king's order was, 'Don't answer him.'
37 Then Elyakim the son of Hilkiyah, who was in charge of the household, Shevnah the general secretary and Yo'ach the son of Asaf the foreign minister went to Hizkiyahu with their clothes torn and reported to him what Rav-Shakeh had said.
1 On hearing it, King Hizkiyahu tore his clothes, covered himself with sackcloth and entered the house of ADONAI.
2 He sent Elyakim, who was in charge of the household, Shevnah the general secretary and the leading cohanim, covered with sackcloth, to Yesha'yahu the prophet, the son of Amotz.
3 They said to him, 'This is what Hizkiyahu says: 'Today is a day of trouble, rebuke and disgrace. Children are ready to be born, but there is no strength to bring them to birth.
4 Maybe ADONAI your God will hear all the words of Rav-Shakeh, whom his master the king of Ashur has sent to taunt the living God, and will rebuke the message which ADONAI your God has heard. So pray for the remnant that is left.'
5 When King Hizkiyahu's servants came to Yesha'yahu,
6 he said to them, 'Tell your master that this is what ADONAI says: 'Don't be afraid of the words you heard the servants of the king of Ashur use to insult me.
7 I will put a spirit in him that will make him hear a rumor and return to his own land; then I will cause him to die by the sword in his own land.''
8 Rav-Shakeh returned and, having heard that the king of Ashur had left Lakhish, found him making war with Livnah.
9 Then, on hearing it said that Tirhakah king of Ethiopia was on his way to fight him, the king of Ashur sent messengers to Hizkiyahu, telling them,
10 'This is what you are to say to Hizkiyahu king of Y'hudah: 'Don't let your God in whom you trust deceive you by saying, 'Yerushalayim will not be handed over to the power of the king of Ashur.'
11 You have heard what the kings of Ashur have done to all lands - they have completely destroyed them. So how will you be delivered?
12 Have the gods of the nations delivered them? No, my ancestors destroyed them - Gozan, Haran, Retzef and the people of 'Eden who were in Tel'asar.
13 Where is the king of Hamat? the king of Arpad? the king of the city of S'farvayim, of Hena and 'Ivah?''
14 Hizkiyahu took the letter from the messengers' hands and read it. Then Hizkiyahu went up to the house of ADONAI and spread it out before ADONAI.
15 Hizkiyahu prayed as follows in the presence of ADONAI: 'ADONAI God of Isra'el, who dwells above the k'ruvim! You alone are God of all the kingdoms on earth. You made heaven and earth.
16 Turn your ear, ADONAI, and hear! Open your eyes, ADONAI, and see! Hear the words that Sancheriv sent to taunt the living God.
17 It is true, ADONAI, that the kings of Ashur have laid waste the nations and their lands
18 and have thrown their gods into the fire. For those were non-gods, merely the product of people's hands, wood and stone; this is why they could destroy them.
19 Now therefore, ADONAI our God, please save us from his power - so that all the kingdoms on earth will know that you are ADONAI, God - you only.'
20 Then Yesha'yahu the son of Amotz sent this message to Hizkiyahu: 'ADONAI the God of Isra'el says: 'You prayed to me against Sancheriv king of Ashur, and I have heard you.'
21 Here is ADONAI's answer concerning him: 'The virgin daughter of Tziyon despises you; she laughs you to scorn. The daughter of Yerushalayim shakes her head at you.
22 Whom have you taunted and insulted? Against whom have you raised your voice and haughtily lifted your eyes? The Holy One of Isra'el!
23 ''Through your messengers you taunted Adonai. You said, 'With my many chariots I have ascended the mountain heights even in the far reaches of the L'vanon. I cut down its tall cedars and its best cypresses. I reached its remotest corners and its best forests.
24 I dug [wells] in foreign lands, and I drank the water. The soles of my [soldiers'] feet dried up all the rivers of Egypt.'
25 ''Haven't you heard? Long ago I made it; in antiquity I produced it; and now I am making it happen: you are turning fortified cities into heaps of ruins;
26 while their inhabitants, shorn of power, are disheartened and ashamed, weak as grass, frail as plants, like grass on the rooftops or grain scorched by the east wind.
27 ''But I know when you sit, when you leave, when you enter - and when you rage against me.
28 And because of your rage against me, because of your pride that has reached my ears, I am putting my hook in your nose and my bridle on your lips; and I will make you return by the way on which you came.
29 ''This will be the sign for you: this year, you will eat the grain that grows of itself; the second year, you will eat what grows from that; but in the third year, you will sow, reap, plant vineyards and eat their fruit.
30 ''Meanwhile, the remnant of the house of Y'hudah that has escaped will again take root downward and bear fruit upward;
31 for a remnant will go out from Yerushalayim, those escaping will go out from Mount Tziyon. The zeal of ADONAI-Tzva'ot will accomplish this.'
32 'Therefore this is what ADONAI says concerning the king of Ashur: 'He will not come to this city or even shoot an arrow there; he will not confront it with a shield or erect earthworks against it.
33 By the way he came he will return; he will not come to this city,' says ADONAI.
34 'For I will defend this city and save it, both for my own sake and for my servant David's sake.''
35 That night the angel of ADONAI went out and struck down 185,000 men in the camp of Ashur. Early the next morning, there they were, all of them, corpses - dead.
36 So Sancheriv king of Ashur left, went and returned to live in Ninveh.
37 One day, as he was worshipping in the temple of Nisrokh his god, [his sons] Adramelekh and Shar'etzer struck him with the sword and escaped into the land of Ararat. So his son Esar-Hadon took his place as king.
1 Around this time, Hizkiyahu became ill to the point of death. Yesha'yahu the prophet, the son of Amotz, came and said to him, 'Here is what ADONAI says: 'Put your house in order, because you are going to die; you will not live.''
2 Hizkiyahu turned his face toward the wall and prayed to ADONAI:
3 'I plead with you, ADONAI, remember now how I have lived before you truly and wholeheartedly, and how I have done what you see as good.' And he cried bitter tears.
4 Before Yesha'yahu had left the city's middle courtyard, the word of ADONAI came to him:
5 'Go back, and tell Hizkiyahu the prince of my people, that this is what ADONAI, the God of David your ancestor, says: 'I have heard your prayer and seen your tears, and I will heal you. On the third day, you are to go up to the house of ADONAI.
6 I will add fifteen years to your life. Also I will rescue you and this city from the power of the king of Ashur; I will defend this city for my own sake and for my servant David's sake.''
7 Then Yesha'yahu said, 'Prepare a fig-plaster.' They brought it and laid it on the inflammation, so that he would recover.
8 Hizkiyahu said to Yesha'yahu, 'What sign will there be that ADONAI will heal me and that I will be able to go up to the house of ADONAI on the third day?'
9 Yesha'yahu said, 'Here is the sign for you from ADONAI that ADONAI will do what he said: do you want the shadow [of the sundial] to go forward ten intervals or backward ten intervals?
10 Hizkiyahu answered, 'It's easy for the shadow to go down ten intervals. No, let the shadow return backward ten intervals.'
11 Yesha'yahu called out to ADONAI, and he brought the shadow on the sundial of Achaz ten intervals backward after it had gone down that far.
12 B'rodakh-Bal'adan the son of Bal'adan, king of Bavel, heard that Hizkiyahu had been ill, so he sent a letter and a gift to him.
13 Hizkiyahu listened to [the messengers] and showed them the building where he kept his treasures, including the silver, gold, spices and precious oils; also the building where he kept his armor; and everything in his treasury - there was nothing in his palace or in his entire domain that Hizkiyahu did not show them.
14 Then Yesha'yahu the prophet came to King Hizkiyahu and asked him, 'What did these men say? Where did they come from?' Hizkiyahu answered, 'They came from a distant country, Bavel.'
15 Yesha'yahu asked, 'What have they seen in your palace?' 'They have seen everything in my palace,' said Hizkiyahu. 'There isn't a thing among my treasures that I haven't shown them.'
16 Yesha'yahu said to Hizkiyahu, 'Hear what ADONAI says:
17 'The day will come when everything in your palace, along with everything your ancestors stored up until today, will be carried off to Bavel. Nothing will be left,' says ADONAI.
18 'They will carry off some of your descendants, your own offspring; and they will be made eunuchs serving in the palace of the king of Bavel.''
19 Hizkiyahu said to Yesha'yahu, 'The word of ADONAI which you have just told me is good.' He thought, 'Isn't it, though, if peace and truth continue at least through my lifetime?'
20 Other activities of Hizkiyahu, his power and how he built the pool and aqueduct to bring water into the city are recorded in the Annals of the Kings of Y'hudah.
21 Then Hizkiyahu slept with his ancestors, and M'nasheh his son took his place as king.
1 M'nasheh was twelve years old when he began his reign, and he ruled for fifty-five years in Yerushalayim. His mother's name was Heftzibah.
2 He did what was evil from ADONAI's perspective, following the disgusting practices of the nations whom ADONAI had expelled ahead of the people of Isra'el.
3 For he rebuilt the high places Hizkiyahu his father had destroyed; he erected altars for Ba'al and made an asherah, as had Ach'av king of Isra'el; and he worshipped all the army of heaven and served them.
4 He erected altars in the house of ADONAI, about which ADONAI had said, 'In Yerushalayim I will put my name.'
5 He erected altars for all the army of heaven in the two courtyards of the house of ADONAI.
6 He made his son pass through the fire [as a sacrifice]. He practiced soothsaying and divination and appointed mediums and persons who used spirit guides. He did much that was evil from ADONAI's perspective, thus provoking him to anger.
7 He set the carved image for the asherah he had made in the house concerning which ADONAI had told David and Shlomo his son, 'In this house and in Yerushalayim, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Isra'el, I will put my name forever.
8 Also I will not have the feet of Isra'el wander any longer out of the land which I gave their ancestors - if only they will take heed to obey every order I have given them and live in accordance with all the Torah that my servant Moshe ordered them to obey.'
9 But they did not take heed; and M'nasheh misled them into doing even worse things than the nations ADONAI had destroyed ahead of the people of Isra'el.
10 ADONAI spoke this message through his servants the prophets:
11 'Because M'nasheh king of Y'hudah has done these disgusting things; because he has done things more wicked than anything the Emori, who were there before him, did; also because with his idols he made Y'hudah sin;
12 therefore here is what ADONAI the God of Isra'el, says: 'I am going to bring such calamity on Yerushalayim and Y'hudah that the ears of all who hear of it will tingle.
13 I will measure Yerushalayim with the same measuring cord that I used over Shomron, the same plumbline as for the house of Ach'av. I will scour Yerushalayim clean just as one scours a plate, scouring it and then turning it upside down.
14 I will abandon the remnant of my heritage, delivering them into the power of their enemies - they will become prey and plunder for all their enemies;
15 because they have done what is evil from my perspective and have provoked me to anger from the day their ancestors came out of Egypt to this very day.''
16 Moreover, M'nasheh shed so much innocent blood that he flooded Yerushalayim from one end to the other - this in addition to his sin through which he caused Y'hudah to sin by doing what is evil from ADONAI's perspective.
17 Other activities of M'nasheh, all his accomplishments and the sin he committed are recorded in the Annals of the Kings of Y'hudah.
18 Then M'nasheh slept with his ancestors and was buried in the garden of his own house, the Garden of 'Uza; and Amon his son took his place as king.
19 Amon was twenty-two years old when he began his reign, and he ruled for two years in Yerushalayim. His mother's name was Meshulemet the daughter of Harutz from Yotvah.
20 He did what was evil from ADONAI's perspective, as had M'nasheh his father.
21 He followed entirely the manner of life of his father, serving the idols that his father served and worshipping them.
22 He abandoned ADONAI, the God of his ancestors, and did not live in ADONAI's way.
23 Amon's servants conspired against him and put the king to death in his own palace.
24 But the people of the land put to death all those who had been part of the conspiracy against King Amon. Then the people of the land made Yoshiyahu his son king in place of him.
25 Other activities of Amon and all he acomplished are recorded in the Annals of the Kings of Y'hudah.
26 Amon was buried in his tomb in the Garden of Uza, and Yoshiyahu his son took his place as king.
1 Yoshiyahu was eight years old when he began his reign, and he ruled for thirty-one years in Yerushalayim. His mother's name was Y'didah the daughter of 'Adayah from Botzkat.
2 He did what was right from ADONAI's perspective, living entirely in the manner of David his ancestor and turning away neither to the right nor to the left.
3 In the eighteenth year of King Yoshiyahu, the king sent Shafan the son of Atzalyahu, the son of Meshulam, the secretary, to the house of ADONAI after instructing him,
4 'Go up to Hilkiyahu the cohen hagadol, and have him total the money that has been brought into the house of ADONAI, which the doorkeepers have collected from the people.
5 Then have them give it to the supervisors of the work being done in the house of ADONAI; they in turn are to use it to pay the laborers in the house of ADONAI to repair damaged places in the building -
6 the carpenters, construction-workers and stonemasons - and to purchase timber and worked stone for doing the repairs on the building.'
7 However, they did not require an accounting from the supervisors given the money to spend, because they dealt honestly.
8 Hilkiyahu the cohen hagadol said to Shafan the secretary, 'I have found the scroll of the Torah in the house of ADONAI.' Hilkiyah gave the scroll to Shafan, who read it.
9 Then Shafan the secretary went back to the king and gave the king this report: 'Your servants have poured out the money found in the house and handed it over to the people supervising the work in the house of ADONAI.'
10 Shafan the secretary also told the king, 'Hilkiyah the cohen hagadol gave me a scroll.' Then Shafan read it aloud before the king.
11 After the king had heard what was written in the scroll of the Torah, he tore his clothes.
12 Then the king issued this order to Hilkiyah the cohen, Achikam the son of Shafan, 'Akhbor the son of Mikhayah, Shafan the secretary and 'Asayah the king's servant:
13 'Go; and consult ADONAI for me, for the people and for all Y'hudah in regard to what is written in this scroll which has been found. For ADONAI must be furious at us, since our ancestors did not listen to the words written in this scroll and didn't do everything written there that concerns us.'
14 So Hilkiyahu the cohen, Achikam, Akhbor, Shafan and 'Asayah went to Huldah the prophet, the wife of Shalum the son of Tikvah, the son of Harchas, keeper of the wardrobe - she lived in the Second Quarter of Yerushalayim - and spoke with her.
15 She told them, 'ADONAI the God of Isra'el says to tell the man who sent you to me
16 that ADONAI says this: 'I am going to bring calamity on this place and on its inhabitants, every word in the scroll the king of Y'hudah has read;
17 because they have abandoned me and offered to other gods, in order to provoke me with everything they do. Therefore my anger will burn against this place and will not be quenched.'
18 But you are to tell the king of Y'hudah, who sent you to consult ADONAI, that ADONAI the God of Isra'el also says this: 'In regard to the words you have heard,
19 because your heart was tender, and you humbled yourself before ADONAI when you heard what I said against this place and its inhabitants - that they would become an object of astonishment and cursing - and have torn your clothes and cried before me, I have also heard you, says ADONAI.
20 Therefore I will gather you to your ancestors, you will go to your grave in peace, and your eyes will not see all the calamity I am going to bring on this place.'' So they brought word back to the king.
1 Then the king summoned all the leaders of Y'hudah and Yerushalayim, and they assembled with him.
2 The king went up to the house of ADONAI with all the men of Y'hudah, all those living in Yerushalayim, the cohanim, the prophets and all the people, both small and great; and he read in their hearing everything written in the scroll of the covenant that had been found in the house of ADONAI.
3 The king stood on the platform and made a covenant in the presence of ADONAI to live following ADONAI, observing his mitzvot, instructions and regulations wholeheartedly and with all his being, so as to confirm the words of the covenant written in this scroll. All the people stood, pledging themselves to keep the covenant.
4 Then the king ordered Hilkiyahu the cohen hagadol, the cohanim of the second rank and the doorkeepers to remove from the sanctuary of ADONAI all the articles that had been made for Ba'al, for the asherah and for the entire army of heaven; and he burned them up outside Yerushalayim in the fields of Kidron and carried their ashes to Beit-El.
5 He deposed the idolatrous priests the kings of Y'hudah had ordained to offer on the high places by the cities of Y'hudah and in the places surrounding Yerushalayim; he also deposed those who offered to Ba'al, the sun, the moon, the constellations and the whole army of heaven.
6 He took the asherah from the house of ADONAI to Vadi Kidron outside Yerushalayim and burned it in Vadi Kidron, stamped the ashes to powder and threw the powder onto the burial-ground for the common people.
7 He smashed the houses of the cult prostitutes that were in the house of ADONAI, where the women also wove garments for the asherah.
8 He removed the cohanim from the cities of Y'hudah; then, from Geva to Be'er-Sheva, he desecrated the high places where the cohanim had been making offerings. He also smashed the High Places of the Gates that were at the entrance of the Gate of Y'hoshua the governor of the city, on the left as one enters the city.
9 But although the cohanim who had been at the high places did not come up to the altar of ADONAI in Yerushalayim, nevertheless they did share matzah with their kinsmen.
10 He desecrated the Tofet fire pit in the Ben-Hinnom Valley, so that no one could cause his son or daughter to pass through fire [as a sacrifice] to Molekh.
11 He confiscated the horses which the kings of Y'hudah had given to the sun, at the entrance to the house of ADONAI near the room of the officer N'tan-Melekh, in the side-courtyard; and he burned up the chariots of the sun.
12 The king smashed the altars on the roof of the upper room of Achaz, which the kings of Y'hudah had made, and the altars which M'nasheh had made in the two courtyards of the house of ADONAI. He broke them into pieces and threw the rubble into Vadi Kidron.
13 The king desecrated the high places facing Yerushalayim south of the Mount of Destruction, which Shlomo the king of Isra'el had built for 'Ashtoret the abomination of the Tzidonim, K'mosh the abomination of Mo'av and Milkom the abomination of the people of 'Amon.
14 He smashed the standing-stones, chopped down the sacred poles and covered their remains with human bones.
15 He smashed the altar that was at Beit-El and the high place made by Yarov'am the son of N'vat, who caused Isra'el to sin. Yes, he smashed that altar and the high place; he burned the high place, stamped the ashes to powder, and burned up the asherah.
16 Then, as Yoshiyahu was turning around, he noticed the burial caves that were there on the mountain; so he sent and had the bones taken out of the burial caves and burned them on the altar, thus desecrating it, in keeping with the word of ADONAI which the man of God had proclaimed, foretelling that these things would happen.
17 Then he asked, 'This monument here that I'm looking at, what is it?' The men of the city told him, 'It marks the burial cave of the man of God who came from Y'hudah and foretold the very things you have done to the altar of Beit-El.'
18 He replied, 'Let him be; no one is to move his bones.' So they left his bones undisturbed, along with the bones of the prophet who had come from Shomron.
19 Yoshiyahu also removed all the shrines of the high places in the cities of Shomron, which the kings of Isra'el had made in order to provoke [ADONAI] to anger, and treated them the same as in Beit-El.
20 He put to death all the priests of those high places on the altars there, then burned human bones on them. Finally he returned to Yerushalayim.
21 The king issued this order to all the people: 'Observe Pesach to ADONAI your God, as written in this scroll of the covenant.'
22 For Pesach had not been so observed since the days when the judges ruled Isra'el - not during the times of any of the kings of Isra'el or of the kings of Y'hudah.
23 But in the eighteenth year of King Yoshiyahu this Pesach was observed to ADONAI in Yerushalayim.
24 Yoshiyahu got rid of the mediums and the people using spirit guides, as well as the household gods, the idols and all the disgusting things spotted anywhere in Y'hudah and Yerushalayim. He did this in order to establish the words of the Torah written in the scroll Hilkiyahu the cohen had found in the house of ADONAI.
25 No previous king was like him; because he turned to ADONAI with all his heart, with all his being and with all his power, in accordance with all the Torah of Moshe; nor did any king like him arise afterwards.
26 Nevertheless, ADONAI did not turn away from his fiercely raging, furious anger that burned against Y'hudah because of all the things M'nasheh had done to provoke him.
27 ADONAI said, 'Just as I removed Isra'el, I will also remove Y'hudah out of my sight; and I will reject this city, which I chose, Yerushalayim, and the house concerning which I said, 'My name will be there.''
28 Other activities of Yoshiyahu and all his accomplishments are recorded in the Annals of the Kings of Y'hudah.
29 During his time Pharaoh N'khoh king of Egypt went up toward the Euphrates River to attack the king of Ashur. King Yoshiyahu went out to oppose him; but at Megiddo, Pharaoh spotted Yoshiyahu and killed him.
30 His servants carried his dead body from Megiddo to Yerushalayim in a chariot and buried him in his own tomb. The people of the land took Y'ho'achaz the son of Yoshiyahu, anointed him, and made him king in his father's place.
31 Y'ho'achaz was twenty-three years old when he began his reign, and he ruled for three months in Yerushalayim. His mother's name was Hamutal the daughter of Yirmeyahu from Livnah.
32 He did what was evil from ADONAI's perspective, following the example of everything his ancestors had done.
33 Pharaoh N'khoh imprisoned him at Rivlah in the land of Hamat, so that he would not be able to rule in Yerushalayim. He also imposed a penalty on the land of three-and-a-quarter tons of silver and sixty-six pounds of gold.
34 Then Pharaoh N'khoh made Elyakim the son of Yoshiyahu king in place of Yoshiyahu his father and changed his name to Y'hoyakim. He also carried Y'ho'achaz off to Egypt, where he died.
35 Y'hoyakim remitted the silver and gold to Pharaoh; but in order to pay the money Pharaoh demanded, he had to levy a tax on the land. He taxed the people of the land, each according to his means, to pay the silver and gold to Pharaoh N'khoh.
36 Y'hoyakim was twenty-five years old when he began his reign, and he ruled for eleven years in Yerushalayim. His mother's name was Z'vudah the daughter of P'dayah, from Rumah.
37 He did what was evil from the perspective of ADONAI, following the example of everything his ancestors had done.
1 It was in Y'hoyakim's time that N'vukhadnetzar king of Bavel invaded. Y'hoyakim became his vassal for three years, but then he turned against him and rebelled.
2 ADONAI sent against him raiding parties from the Kasdim, Aram, Mo'av and the people of 'Amon; he sent them against Y'hudah to destroy it, in keeping with the word of ADONAI which he had spoken through his servants the prophets.
3 Yes, it was at ADONAI's order that this happened to Y'hudah, in order to remove them from his sight because of the sins of M'nasheh and all he had done,
4 and also because of the innocent blood he had shed - for he had flooded Yerushalayim with innocent blood, and ADONAI was unwilling to forgive.
5 Other activities of Y'hoyakim and all his accomplishments are recorded in the Annals of the Kings of Y'hudah.
6 Then Y'hoyakim slept with his ancestors, and Y'hoyakhin his son took his place as king.
7 The king of Egypt did not leave his own land any more, because the king of Bavel had captured all the territory of the king of Egypt between the Vadi of Egypt and the Euphrates River.
8 Y'hoyakhin was eighteen years old when he began his reign, and he ruled in Yerushalayim for three months. His mother's name was N'chushta the daughter of Elnatan, from Yerushalayim.
9 He did what was evil from ADONAI's perspective, following the example of everything his father had done.
10 It was then that the officers of N'vukhadnetzar king of Bavel marched on Yerushalayim and laid siege to the city.
11 N'vukhadnetzar king of Bavel himself went to the city while it was under siege;
12 and Y'hoyakhin king of Y'hudah went out to meet the king of Bavel - he, his mother, and his servants, princes and officers; and the king of Bavel took him captive in the eighth year of his reign.
13 He also carried away from there all the treasures in the house of ADONAI and the treasures in the royal palace. He cut in pieces all the articles of gold which Shlomo king of Isra'el had made in the temple of ADONAI, as ADONAI had said would happen.
14 He carried all Yerushalayim away captive - all the princes, all the bravest soldiers- 10,000 captives; also all the craftsmen and metalworkers. No one was left but the poorest people of the land.
15 Y'hoyakhin he carried off to Bavel; likewise he carried off the king's mother, the king's wives, his officers and the main leaders of the land from Yerushalayim into captivity in Bavel.
16 All the strong men - 7,000 of them, as well as 1,000 craftsmen and metalsmiths, all of them strong and trained for war - the king of Bavel brought captive to Bavel.
17 The king of Bavel made Matanyah, Y'hoyakhin's father's brother, king in place of Y'hoyakhin and changed his name to Tzidkiyahu.
18 Tzidkiyahu was twenty-one years old when he began to rule, and he ruled for eleven years in Yerushalayim. His mother's name was Hamutal the daughter of Yirmeyahu, from Livnah.
19 He did what was evil from the perspective of ADONAI, following the example of everything Y'hoyakim had done.
20 And it was because of ADONAI's anger that all these things happened to Yerushalayim and Y'hudah, until he had thrown them out of his presence. Tzidkiyahu rebelled against the king of Bavel;
1 so in the ninth year of his reign, in the tenth month, on the tenth day of the month, N'vukhadnetzar king of Bavel marched against Yerushalayim with his entire army. He set up camp against it and built siege towers against it on every side.
2 The city remained under siege into the eleventh year of King Tzidkiyahu.
3 On the ninth day of the [fourth] month, when the famine in the city was so severe that there was no food for the people of the land,
4 they broke through into the city. All the soldiers [fled] by night through the gate between the two walls, near the king's garden. Because the Kasdim were surrounding the city, the king took the route through the 'Aravah.
5 But the army of the Kasdim went in pursuit of the king and overtook him on the plains near Yericho; all his troops deserted him.
6 Then they took the king and brought him up to the king of Bavel in Rivlah, where they passed judgment on him.
7 They slaughtered his sons before his eyes. Then they put out Tzidkiyahu's eyes, bound him in chains and carried him off to Bavel.
8 In the fifth month, on the seventh day of the month, which was also the nineteenth year of King N'vukhadnetzar, king of Bavel, N'vuzar'adan, the commander of the guard and an officer of the king of Bavel, entered Yerushalayim.
9 He burned down the house of ADONAI, the royal palace and all the houses in Yerushalayim - every notable person's house he burned to the ground.
10 The whole army of the Kasdim, who were with the commander of the guard, broke down the walls of Yerushalayim on every side.
11 N'vuzar'adan the commander of the guard then deported the remaining population of the city, the deserters who had defected to the king of Bavel and the rest of the common people.
12 But the commander of the guard left behind some of the poor people of the land to be vineyard-workers and farmers.
13 The Kasdim smashed the bronze columns in the house of ADONAI, also the trolleys and bronze Sea that were in the house of ADONAI, and carried their bronze to Bavel.
14 They also took away the pots, shovels, snuffers, pans, and all the bronze articles that had been used for worship.
15 The commander of the guard took the censers, the sprinkling bowls, everything made of gold and everything made of silver.
16 The bronze in the two columns, the one Sea and the bases, all of which Shlomo had made for the house of ADONAI, was more than could be weighed.
17 The height of one column was thirty-one-and-a-half feet; on it was a capital of bronze five-and-a-quarter feet high, with netting and pomegranates all around the capital, all of bronze; the second column was similar, also with netting.
18 The commander of the guard took [prisoner] S'rayah the chief cohen, Z'kharyah the second-ranking cohen and three doorkeepers.
19 From the city he took an official in charge of the soldiers, five close associates of the king who had been found in the city, the army commander's secretary in charge of military conscription, and sixty of the common people found in the city.
20 N'vuzar'adan the commander of the guard took them and brought them to the king of Bavel in Rivlah.
21 There in Rivlah, in the land of Hamat, the king of Bavel had them put to death. Thus Y'hudah was carried away captive out of his land.
22 N'vukhadnetzar king of Babylon appointed G'dalyahu the son of Achikam, the son of Shafan, governor over the people remaining behind in the land of Y'hudah after he left.
23 When all the army officers and their men heard that the king of Bavel had made G'dalyahu governor, they came to G'dalyahu in Mitzpah - Yishma'el the son of N'tanyah, Yochanan the son of Kareach, S'rayah the son of Tanchumet the N'tofati and Ya'azanyahu the son of the Ma'akhati - they and their men.
24 Taking an oath, G'dalyahu said to them, 'Don't be afraid of the servants of the Kasdim. Just live in the land and serve the king of Bavel, and things will go well for you.'
25 But in the seventh month Yishma'el the son of N'tanyah, the son of Elishama, of royal blood, came with ten men and assassinated G'dalyah and the Judeans and Kasdim who were with him in Mitzpah.
26 In the wake of this, all kinds of people, great and small, as well as the army officers, set out and went to Egypt; because they were afraid of the Kasdim.
27 In the thirty-seventh year of the captivity of Y'hoyakhin king of Y'hudah, in the twelfth month, on the twenty-seventh day of the month, Eveel-M'rodakh began his reign as king of Bavel; and in his first year he commuted the sentence of Y'hoyakhin king of Y'hudah and released him from prison.
28 He treated him with kindness and gave him a throne higher than those of the other kings there with him in Bavel.
29 So Y'hoyakhin no longer had to wear prison clothes; moreover, he was provided with food as long as he lived;
30 and he was granted a daily allowance by the king to spend on his other needs for as long as he lived.