The Second Book of Divre Hayamim
1:1Shlomo the son of David was strengthened in his kingdom, and the LORD
his G-d was with him, and magnified him exceedingly.
1:2Shlomo
spoke to all Yisra'el, to the captains of thousands and of hundreds, and to the
judges, and to every prince in all Yisra'el, the heads of the fathers' houses.
1:3So Shlomo, and all the assembly with him, went to the high place that
was at Giv`on; for there was the tent of meeting of G-d, which Moshe the servant
of the LORD had made in the wilderness. 1:4But David had brought
the ark of G-d up from Kiryat-Ye`arim to the place that David had
prepared for it; for he had pitched a tent for it at Yerushalayim.
1:5Moreover the brazen altar, that Betzal'el the son of Uri, the son of
Chur, had made, was there before the tent of the LORD: and Shlomo and the
assembly sought to it.
1:6Shlomo went up there to the brazen altar
before the LORD, which was at the tent of meeting, and offered one thousand
burnt offerings on it.
1:7In that night did G-d appear to Shlomo,
and said to him, Ask what I shall give you.
1:8Shlomo
said to G-d, You have shown great loving kindness to David my father, and have
made me king in his place. 1:9Now, LORD G-d, let your
promise to David my father be established; for you have made me king over a
people like the dust of the earth in multitude.
1:10Give me
now wisdom and knowledge, that I may go out and come in before this people; for
who can judge this your people, that is so great?
1:11God
said to Shlomo, Because this was in your heart, and you have not asked riches,
wealth, or honor, nor the life of those who hate you, neither yet have asked
long life; but have asked wisdom and knowledge for yourself, that you may judge
my people, over whom I have made you king:
1:12wisdom
and knowledge is granted to you; and I will give you riches, and wealth, and
honor, such as none of the kings have had who have been before you; neither
shall there any after you have the like. 1:13So Shlomo came from the
high place that was at Giv`on, from before the tent of meeting, to Yerushalayim;
and he reigned over Yisra'el. 1:14Shlomo gathered
chariots and horsemen: and he had one thousand four hundred chariots, and twelve
thousand horsemen, that he placed in the chariot cities, and with the king at
Yerushalayim. 1:15The king made silver and gold to be in Yerushalayim as stones, and
cedars made he to be as the sycamore trees that are in the lowland, for
abundance. 1:16The horses which Shlomo had were brought out of Egypt and from Kue; the
king's merchants purchased them from Kue.
1:17They
brought up and brought out of Egypt a chariot for six hundred pieces of silver,
and a horse for one hundred fifty: and so for all the kings of the Chitti, and
the kings of Aram, did they bring them out by their means.
2:1Now Shlomo purposed to build a house for the name of the LORD, and a
house for his kingdom.
2:2Shlomo counted out seventy thousand men
to bear burdens, and eighty thousand men who were stone cutters in the
mountains, and three thousand and six hundred to oversee them.
2:3Shlomo sent to Churam the king of Tzor, saying, As you dealt with David
my father, and sent him cedars to build him a house in which to dwell, even
so deal with me.
2:4Behold, I am about to build a house for the
name of the LORD my G-d, to dedicate it to him, and to burn before him incense
of sweet spices, and for the continual show bread, and for the burnt offerings
morning and evening, on the Shabbatot, and on the new moons, and on the set
feasts of the LORD our G-d. This is an ordinance forever to Yisra'el.
2:5The house which I build is great; for great is our G-d above all gods.
2:6But who is able to build him a house, seeing heaven and the heaven of
heavens can't contain him? who am I then, that I should build him a house, save
only to burn incense before him? 2:7Now therefore send me a
man skillful to work in gold, and in silver, and in brass, and in iron, and in
purple, and crimson, and blue, and who knows how to engrave all manner of
engravings, to be with the skillful men who are with me in Yehudah and in
Yerushalayim, whom David my father did provide.
2:8Send me
also cedar trees, fir trees, and algum trees, out of Levanon; for I know that
your servants know how to cut timber in Levanon: and, behold, my servants shall
be with your servants,
2:9even to prepare me timber in abundance;
for the house which I am about to build shall be great and wonderful.
2:10Behold, I will give to your servants, the cutters who cut timber,
twenty thousand measures of beaten wheat, and twenty thousand measures of
barley, and twenty thousand baths of wine, and twenty thousand baths of oil.
2:11Then Churam the king of Tzor answered in writing, which he sent to
Shlomo, Because the LORD loves his people, he has made you king over them.
2:12Churam said moreover, Blessed be the LORD, the G-d of Yisra'el, that
made heaven and earth, who has given to David the king a wise son, endowed with
discretion and understanding, that should build a house for the LORD, and a
house for his kingdom.
2:13Now I have sent a skillful man, endowed
with understanding, of Churam my father's,
2:14the son
of a woman of the daughters of Dan; and his father was a man of Tzor, skillful
to work in gold, and in silver, in brass, in iron, in stone, and in timber, in
purple, in blue, and in fine linen, and in crimson, also to engrave any manner
of engraving, and to devise any device; that there may be a place
appointed to him with your skillful men, and with the skillful men of my lord
David your father.
2:15Now therefore the wheat and the barley, the
oil and the wine, which my lord has spoken of, let him send to his servants:
2:16and we will cut wood out of Levanon, as much as you shall need; and we
will bring it to you in floats by sea to Yafo; and you shall carry it up to
Yerushalayim. 2:17Shlomo numbered all the foreigners who were in Eretz-Yisra'el, after
the numbering with which David his father had numbered them; and they were found
one hundred fifty-three thousand six hundred.
2:18He set
seventy thousand of them to bear burdens, and eighty thousand who were stone
cutters in the mountains, and three thousand six hundred overseers to set the
people at work.
3:1Then Shlomo began to build the house of the LORD at Yerushalayim on
Mount Moriyah, where the LORD appeared to David his father, which he made
ready in the place that David had appointed, in the threshing floor of Ornan the
Yevusi. 3:2He began to build in the second day of the second month, in the
fourth year of his reign.
3:3Now these are the foundations which
Shlomo laid for the building of the house of G-d. The length by cubits after the
first measure was sixty cubits, and the breadth twenty cubits.
3:4The porch that was before the house, the length of it, according
to the breadth of the house, was twenty cubits, and the height one hundred
twenty; and he overlaid it within with pure gold.
3:5The
greater house he made a ceiling with fir-wood, which he overlaid with fine gold,
and worked thereon palm trees and chains. 3:6He garnished the house
with precious stones for beauty: and the gold was gold of Parvayim.
3:7He overlaid also the house, the beams, the thresholds, and the walls of
it, and the doors of it, with gold; and engraved Keruvim on the walls.
3:8He made the most holy house: the length of it, according to the breadth
of the house, was twenty cubits, and the breadth of it twenty cubits; and he
overlaid it with fine gold, amounting to six hundred talents.
3:9The weight of the nails was fifty shekels of gold. He overlaid the
upper chambers with gold. 3:10In the most holy house
he made two Keruvim of image work; and they overlaid them with gold.
3:11The wings of the Keruvim were twenty cubits long: the wing of the one
Keruv was five cubits, reaching to the wall of the house; and the other
wing was likewise five cubits, reaching to the wing of the other Keruv.
3:12The wing of the other Keruv was five cubits, reaching to the wall of
the house; and the other wing was five cubits also, joining to the wing
of the other Keruv.
3:13The wings of these Keruvim spread themselves
forth twenty cubits: and they stood on their feet, and their faces were toward
the house. 3:14He made the veil of blue, and purple, and crimson, and fine linen, and
worked Keruvim thereon.
3:15Also he made before the house two
pillars of thirty-five cubits high, and the capital that was on the top of each
of them was five cubits.
3:16He made chains in the oracle, and put
them on the tops of the pillars; and he made one hundred pomegranates,
and put them on the chains. 3:17He set up the pillars
before the temple, one on the right hand, and the other on the left; and called
the name of that on the right hand Yakhin, and the name of that on the left
Bo`az.
4:1Moreover he made an altar of brass, twenty cubits the length of it, and
twenty cubits the breadth of it, and ten cubits the height of it.
4:2Also he made the molten sea of ten cubits from brim to brim, round in
compass; and the height of it was five cubits; and a line of thirty cubits
compassed it round about.
4:3Under it was the likeness of oxen, which
did compass it round about, for ten cubits, compassing the sea round about. The
oxen were in two rows, cast when it was cast.
4:4It stood
on twelve oxen, three looking toward the north, and three looking toward the
west, and three looking toward the south, and three looking toward the east: and
the sea was set on them above, and all their hinder parts were inward.
4:5It was a handbreadth thick; and the brim of it was worked like the brim
of a cup, like the flower of a lily: it received and held three thousand baths.
4:6He made also ten basins, and put five on the right hand, and five on
the left, to wash in them; such things as belonged to the burnt-offering they
washed in them; but the sea was for the kohanim to wash in.
4:7He made the ten menorot of gold according to the ordinance concerning
them; and he set them in the temple, five on the right hand, and five on the
left. 4:8He made also ten tables, and placed them in the temple, five on the
right side, and five on the left. He made one hundred basins of gold.
4:9Furthermore he made the court of the kohanim, and the
great court, and doors for the court, and overlaid the doors of them with brass.
4:10He set the sea on the right side of the house eastward, toward
the south. 4:11Churam made the pots, and the shovels, and the basins. So Churam made
an end of doing the work that he did for king Shlomo in the house of G-d:
4:12the two pillars, and the bowls, and the two capitals which were on the
top of the pillars, and the two networks to cover the two bowls of the capitals
that were on the top of the pillars, 4:13and the four hundred
pomegranates for the two networks; two rows of pomegranates for each network, to
cover the two bowls of the capitals that were on the pillars.
4:14He made also the bases, and the basins made he on the bases;
4:15one sea, and the twelve oxen under it.
4:16The
pots also, and the shovels, and the flesh-hooks, and all the vessels of it, did
Churam his father make for king Shlomo for the house of the LORD of bright
brass. 4:17In the plain of the Yarden did the king cast them, in the clay ground
between Sukkot and Tzeredata. 4:18Thus Shlomo made all
these vessels in great abundance: for the weight of the brass could not be found
out. 4:19Shlomo made all the vessels that were in the house of G-d, the golden
altar also, and the tables whereon was the show bread;
4:20and the
menorot with their lamps, to burn according to the ordinance before the oracle,
of pure gold; 4:21and the flowers, and the lamps, and the tongs, of gold, and that
perfect gold; 4:22and the snuffers, and the basins, and the spoons, and the fire pans, of
pure gold: and as for the entry of the house, the inner doors of it for the most
holy place, and the doors of the house, to wit, of the temple, were of
gold.
5:1Thus all the work that Shlomo did for the house of the LORD was
finished. Shlomo brought in the things that David his father had dedicated, even
the silver, and the gold, and all the vessels, and put them in the treasuries of
the house of G-d. 5:2Then Shlomo assembled the elders of Yisra'el, and all the heads of the
tribes, the princes of the fathers' houses of the children of Yisra'el,
to Yerushalayim, to bring up the ark of the covenant of the LORD out of the city
of David, which is Tziyon. 5:3And all the men of
Yisra'el assembled themselves to the king at the feast, which was in the
seventh month. 5:4All the elders of Yisra'el came: and the Levites took up the ark;
5:5and they brought up the ark, and the tent of meeting, and all the holy
vessels that were in the Tent; these did the kohanim the
Levites bring up. 5:6King Shlomo and all the congregation of Yisra'el, that were assembled
to him, were before the ark, sacrificing sheep and oxen, that could not be
counted nor numbered for multitude. 5:7The
kohanim brought in the ark of the covenant of the LORD to its place, into
the oracle of the house, to the most holy place, even under the wings of the
Keruvim. 5:8For the Keruvim spread forth their wings over the place of the ark, and
the Keruvim covered the ark and the poles of it above.
5:9The
poles were so long that the ends of the poles were seen from the ark before the
oracle; but they were not seen outside: and there it is to this day.
5:10There was nothing in the ark save the two tables which Moshe put
there at Chorev, when the LORD made a covenant with the children of Yisra'el,
when they came out of Egypt. 5:11It happened, when the
kohanim were come out of the holy place, (for all the
kohanim who were present had sanctified themselves, and did
not keep their divisions; 5:12also the Levites who
were the singers, all of them, even Asaf, Heman, Yedutun, and their sons and
their brothers, arrayed in fine linen, with cymbals and psalteries and harps,
stood at the east end of the altar, and with them one hundred twenty
kohanim sounding with trumpets;)
5:13it
happened, when the trumpeters and singers were as one, to make one sound to be
heard in praising and thanking the LORD; and when they lifted up their voice
with the trumpets and cymbals and instruments of music, and praised the LORD,
saying, For he is good; for his loving kindness endures forever; that then
the house was filled with a cloud, even the house of the LORD,
5:14so that the kohanim could not stand to minister by
reason of the cloud: for the glory of the LORD filled the house of G-d.
6:1Then spoke Shlomo, the LORD has said that he would dwell in the thick
darkness. 6:2But I have built you a house of habitation, and a place for you to
dwell in forever. 6:3The king turned his face, and blessed all the assembly of Yisra'el: and
all the assembly of Yisra'el stood. 6:4He said, Blessed be the
LORD, the G-d of Yisra'el, who spoke with his mouth to David my father, and has
with his hands fulfilled it, saying, 6:5Since the day that I
brought forth my people out of the land of Egypt, I chose no city out of all the
tribes of Yisra'el to build a house in, that my name might be there; neither
chose I any man to be prince over my people Yisra'el:
6:6but I
have chosen Yerushalayim, that my name might be there; and have chosen David to
be over my people Yisra'el. 6:7Now it was in the heart
of David my father to build a house for the name of the LORD, the G-d of
Yisra'el. 6:8But the LORD said to David my father, Whereas it was in your heart to
build a house for my name, you did well that it was in your heart:
6:9nevertheless you shall not build the house; but your son who shall come
forth out of your loins, he shall build the house for my name.
6:10The LORD has performed his word that he spoke; for I am risen up in the
room of David my father, and sit on the throne of Yisra'el, as the LORD
promised, and have built the house for the name of the LORD, the G-d of Yisra'el.
6:11There have I set the ark, in which is the covenant of the LORD, which
he made with the children of Yisra'el. 6:12He stood before the
altar of the LORD in the presence of all the assembly of Yisra'el, and spread
forth his hands 6:13(for Shlomo had made a brazen scaffold, five cubits long, and five
cubits broad, and three cubits high, and had set it in the midst of the court;
and on it he stood, and kneeled down on his knees before all the assembly of
Yisra'el, and spread forth his hands toward heaven;)
6:14and he
said, LORD, the G-d of Yisra'el, there is no G-d like you, in heaven, or on
earth; who keep covenant and loving kindness with your servants, who walk before
you with all their heart; 6:15who have kept with your
servant David my father that which you did promise him: yes, you spoke with your
mouth, and have fulfilled it with your hand, as it is this day.
6:16Now therefore, LORD, the G-d of Yisra'el, keep with your servant David
my father that which you have promised him, saying, There shall not fail you a
man in my sight to sit on the throne of Yisra'el, if only your children take
heed to their way, to walk in my law as you have walked before me.
6:17Now therefore, LORD, the G-d of Yisra'el, let your word be verified,
which you spoke to your servant David. 6:18But will G-d in very
deed dwell with men on the earth? behold, heaven and the heaven of heavens can't
contain you; how much less this house which I have built!
6:19Yet have you respect to the prayer of your servant, and to his
supplication, LORD my G-d, to listen to the cry and to the prayer which your
servant prays before you; 6:20that your eyes may be
open toward this house day and night, even toward the place where you have said
that you would put your name there; to listen to the prayer which your servant
shall pray toward this place. 6:21Listen you to the
petitions of your servant, and of your people Yisra'el, when they shall pray
toward this place: yes, hear from your dwelling-place, even from heaven; and
when you hear, forgive.
6:22If a man sin against his neighbor, and
an oath is laid on him to cause him to swear, and he comes and swears before
your altar in this house; 6:23then hear from heaven,
and do, and judge your servants, requiting the wicked, to bring his way on his
own head; and justifying the righteous, to give him according to his
righteousness. 6:24If your people Yisra'el be struck down before the enemy, because they
have sinned against you, and shall turn again and confess your name, and pray
and make supplication before you in this house;
6:25then
hear from heaven, and forgive the sin of your people Yisra'el, and bring them
again to the land which you gave to them and to their fathers.
6:26When the sky is shut up, and there is no rain, because they have sinned
against you; if they pray toward this place, and confess your name, and turn
from their sin, when you do afflict them:
6:27then
hear in heaven, and forgive the sin of your servants, and of your people
Yisra'el, when you teach them the good way in which they should walk; and send
rain on your land, which you have given to your people for an inheritance.
6:28If there be in the land famine, if there be pestilence, if there be
blasting or mildew, arbeh or caterpillar; if their enemies
besiege them in the land of their cities; whatever plague or whatever sickness
there be; 6:29whatever prayer and supplication be made by any man, or by all your
people Yisra'el, who shall know every man his own plague and his own sorrow, and
shall spread forth his hands toward this house:
6:30then
hear from heaven, your dwelling-place and forgive, and render to every man
according to all his ways, whose heart you know; (for you, even you only, know
the hearts of the children of men;) 6:31that they may fear you,
to walk in your ways, so long as they live in the land which you gave to our
fathers. 6:32Moreover concerning the foreigner, who is not of your people Yisra'el,
when he shall come from a far country for your great name's sake, and your
mighty hand, and your outstretched arm; when they shall come and pray toward
this house: 6:33then hear from heaven, even from your dwelling-place, and do according
to all that the foreigner calls to you for; that all the peoples of the earth
may know your name, and fear you, as does your people Yisra'el, and that they
may know that this house which I have built is called by your name.
6:34If your people go out to battle against their enemies, by whatever way
you shall send them, and they pray to you toward this city which you have
chosen, and the house which I have built for your name;
6:35then
hear from heaven their prayer and their supplication, and maintain their cause.
6:36If they sin against you (for there is no man who doesn't sin), and you
are angry with them, and deliver them to the enemy, so that they carry them away
captive to a land far off or near; 6:37yet if they shall
repent themselves in the land where they are carried captive, and turn again,
and make supplication to you in the land of their captivity, saying, We have
sinned, we have done perversely, and have dealt wickedly;
6:38if they return to you with all their heart and with all their soul in
the land of their captivity, where they have carried them captive, and pray
toward their land, which you gave to their fathers, and the city which you have
chosen, and toward the house which I have built for your name:
6:39then hear from heaven, even from your dwelling-place, their prayer and
their petitions, and maintain their cause, and forgive your people who have
sinned against you.
6:40Now, my G-d, let, I beg you, your eyes be
open, and let your ears be attentive, to the prayer that is made in this place.
6:41Now therefore arise, LORD G-d, into your resting-place, you, and the
ark of your strength: let your kohanim, LORD G-d, be clothed
with yeshu`ah, and let your holy ones rejoice in goodness.
6:42LORD G-d, don't turn away the face of your anointed: remember your
loving kindnesses to David your servant.
7:1Now when Shlomo had made an end of praying, the fire came down from
heaven, and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices; and the glory of the
LORD filled the house.
7:2The kohanim could not
enter into the house of the LORD, because the glory of the LORD filled the
LORD's house. 7:3All the children of Yisra'el looked on, when the fire came down, and
the glory of the LORD was on the house; and they bowed themselves with their
faces to the ground on the pavement, and worshiped, and gave thanks to the LORD,
saying, For he is good; for his loving kindness endures for ever.
7:4Then the king and all the people offered sacrifice before the LORD.
7:5King Shlomo offered a sacrifice of twenty-two thousand oxen, and a
hundred and twenty thousand sheep. So the king and all the people dedicated the
house of G-d. 7:6The kohanim stood, according to their offices; the
Levites also with instruments of music of the LORD, which David the king had
made to give thanks to the LORD, (for his loving kindness endures for ever),
when David praised by their ministry: and the kohanim sounded
trumpets before them; and all Yisra'el stood.
7:7Moreover
Shlomo made the middle of the court holy that was before the house of the LORD;
for there he offered the burnt offerings, and the fat of the peace-offerings,
because the brazen altar which Shlomo had made was not able to receive the burnt
offering, and the meal-offering, and the fat.
7:8So
Shlomo held the feast at that time seven days, and all Yisra'el with him, a very
great assembly, from the entrance of Chamat to the brook of Egypt.
7:9On the eighth day they held a solemn assembly: for they kept the
dedication of the altar seven days, and the feast seven days.
7:10On the three and twentieth day of the seventh month he sent the people
away to their tents, joyful and glad of heart for the goodness that the LORD had
shown to David, and to Shlomo, and to Yisra'el his people.
7:11Thus Shlomo finished the house of the LORD, and the king's house: and
all that came into Shlomo's heart to make in the house of the LORD, and in his
own house, he prosperously effected. 7:12The LORD appeared to
Shlomo by night, and said to him, I have heard your prayer, and have chosen this
place to myself for a house of sacrifice.
7:13If I
shut up the sky so that there is no rain, or if I command the
arbeh to devour the land, or if I send pestilence among my people;
7:14if my people, who are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and
pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from
heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.
7:15Now my eyes shall be open, and my ears attentive, to the prayer that is
made in this place.
7:16For now have I chosen and made this house
holy, that my name may be there forever; and my eyes and my heart shall be there
perpetually. 7:17As for you, if you will walk before me as David your father walked, and
do according to all that I have commanded you, and will keep my statutes and my
ordinances; 7:18then I will establish the throne of your kingdom, according as I
covenanted with David your father, saying, There shall not fail you a man to be
ruler in Yisra'el.
7:19But if you turn away, and forsake my
statutes and my mitzvot which I have set before you, and
shall go and serve other gods, and worship them;
7:20then
will I pluck them up by the roots out of my land which I have given them; and
this house, which I have made holy for my name, will I cast out of my sight, and
I will make it a proverb and a byword among all peoples.
7:21This
house, which is so high, everyone who passes by it shall be astonished, and
shall say, Why has the LORD done thus to this land, and to this house?
7:22They shall answer, Because they forsook the LORD, the G-d of their
fathers, who brought them forth out of the land of Egypt, and laid hold on other
gods, and worshiped them, and served them: therefore has he brought all this
evil on them.
8:1It happened at the end of twenty years, in which Shlomo had built the
house of the LORD, and his own house, 8:2that the cities which
Churam had given to Shlomo, Shlomo built them, and caused the children of
Yisra'el to dwell there.
8:3Shlomo went to Chamat-Tzovah, and
prevailed against it.
8:4He built Tadmor in the wilderness, and
all the store-cities, which he built in Chamat.
8:5Also he
built Beit-Choron the upper, and Beit-Choron the lower, fortified cities, with
walls, gates, and bars;
8:6and Ba`alat, and all the store-cities
that Shlomo had, and all the cities for his chariots, and the cities for his
horsemen, and all that Shlomo desired to build for his pleasure in Yerushalayim,
and in Levanon, and in all the land of his dominion.
8:7As for
all the people who were left of the Chitti, and the Amori, and the Perizzi, and
the Chivvi, and the Yevusi, who were not of Yisra'el;
8:8of their
children who were left after them in the land, whom the children of Yisra'el
didn't consume, of them did Shlomo raise a levy of bondservants to this
day. 8:9But of the children of Yisra'el did Shlomo make no servants for his
work; but they were men of war, and chief of his captains, and rulers of his
chariots and of his horsemen. 8:10These were the chief
officers of king Shlomo, even two hundred fifty, who ruled over the people.
8:11Shlomo brought up the daughter of Par`oh out of the city of David to
the house that he had built for her; for he said, My wife shall not dwell in the
house of David king of Yisra'el, because the places are holy, whereunto the ark
of the LORD has come.
8:12Then Shlomo offered burnt-offerings to
the LORD on the altar of the LORD, which he had built before the porch,
8:13even as the duty of every day required, offering according to the
mitzvah of Moshe, on the Shabbatot, and on the new moons, and
on the set feasts, three times in the year, even in the feast of
matzah, and in the feast of weeks, and in the feast of
booths. 8:14He appointed, according to the ordinance of David his father, the
divisions of the kohanim to their service, and the Levites to
their offices, to praise, and to minister before the kohanim,
as the duty of every day required; the doorkeepers also by their divisions at
every gate: for so had David the man of G-d commanded.
8:15They
didn't depart from the mitzvah of the king to the
kohanim and Levites concerning any matter, or concerning the
treasures. 8:16Now all the work of Shlomo was prepared to the day of the foundation of
the house of the LORD, and until it was finished. So the house of the
LORD was completed.
8:17Then went Shlomo to `Etzyon-Gever, and to
Elot, on the seashore in the land of Edom.
8:18Churam
sent him by the hands of his servants ships, and servants who had knowledge of
the sea; and they came with the servants of Shlomo to Ofir, and fetched from
there four hundred fifty talents of gold, and brought them to king Shlomo.
9:1When the queen of Sheva heard of the fame of Shlomo, she came to prove
Shlomo with hard questions at Yerushalayim, with a very great train, and camels
that bore spices, and gold in abundance, and precious stones: and when she was
come to Shlomo, she talked with him of all that was in her heart.
9:2Shlomo told her all her questions; and there was not anything hid from
Shlomo which he didn't tell her. 9:3When the queen of Sheva
had seen the wisdom of Shlomo, and the house that he had built,
9:4and the food of his table, and the sitting of his servants, and the
attendance of his ministers, and their clothing, his cup bearers also, and their
clothing, and his ascent by which he went up to the house of the LORD; there was
no more spirit in her.
9:5She said to the king, It was a true
report that I heard in my own land of your acts, and of your wisdom.
9:6However I didn't believe their words, until I came, and my eyes had
seen it; and, behold, the half of the greatness of your wisdom was not told me:
you exceed the fame that I heard. 9:7Happy are your men, and
happy are these your servants, who stand continually before you, and hear your
wisdom. 9:8Blessed be the LORD your G-d, who delighted in you, to set you on his
throne, to be king for the LORD your G-d: because your G-d loved Yisra'el, to
establish them forever, therefore made he you king over them, to do justice and
righteousness. 9:9She gave the king one hundred and twenty talents of gold, and spices in
great abundance, and precious stones: neither was there any such spice as the
queen of Sheva gave to king Shlomo. 9:10The servants also of
Churam, and the servants of Shlomo, who brought gold from Ofir, brought algum
trees and precious stones. 9:11The king made of the
algum trees terraces for the house of the LORD, and for the king's house, and
harps and psalteries for the singers: and there were none such seen before in
the land of Yehudah.
9:12King Shlomo gave to the queen of Sheva
all her desire, whatever she asked, besides that which she had brought to the
king. So she turned, and went to her own land, she and her servants.
9:13Now the weight of gold that came to Shlomo in one year was six hundred
and sixty-six talents of gold, 9:14besides that which the
traders and merchants brought: and all the kings of `Arav and the governors of
the country brought gold and silver to Shlomo.
9:15King
Shlomo made two hundred bucklers of beaten gold; six hundred shekels of
beaten gold went to one buckler. 9:16he made three hundred shields of beaten gold; three hundred shekels of
gold went to one shield: and the king put them in the house of the forest of
Levanon. 9:17Moreover the king made a great throne of ivory, and overlaid it with
pure gold. 9:18nd there were six steps to the throne, with a footstool of gold, which
were fastened to the throne, and stays on either side by the place of the seat,
and two lions standing beside the stays. 9:19Twelve lions stood
there on the one side and on the other on the six steps: there was nothing like
it made in any kingdom.
9:20All king Shlomo's drinking vessels were
of gold, and all the vessels of the house of the forest of Levanon were of pure
gold: silver was nothing accounted of in the days of Shlomo.
9:21For the king had ships that went to Tarshish with the servants of
Churam; once every three years came the ships of Tarshish, bringing gold, and
silver, ivory, and apes, and peacocks. 9:22So king Shlomo exceeded
all the kings of the earth in riches and wisdom.
9:23All the
kings of the earth sought the presence of Shlomo, to hear his wisdom, which G-d
had put in his heart.
9:24They brought every man his tribute,
vessels of silver, and vessels of gold, and clothing, armor, and spices, horses,
and mules, a rate year by year. 9:25Shlomo had four
thousand stalls for horses and chariots, and twelve thousand horsemen, that he
bestowed in the chariot cities, and with the king at Yerushalayim.
9:26He ruled over all the kings from the River even to the land of the
Pelishtim, and to the border of Egypt. 9:27The king made silver to
be in Yerushalayim as stones, and cedars made he to be as the sycamore trees
that are in the lowland, for abundance. 9:28They brought horses for
Shlomo out of Egypt, and out of all lands.
9:29Now the
rest of the acts of Shlomo, first and last, aren't they written in the history
of Natan the prophet, and in the prophecy of Achiyah the Shiloni, and in the
visions of `Iddo the seer concerning Yarov`am the son of Nevat?
9:30Shlomo reigned in Yerushalayim over all Yisra'el forty years.
9:31Shlomo slept with his fathers, and he was buried in the city of David
his father: and Rechav`am his son reigned in his place.
10:1Rechav`am went to Shekhem; for all Yisra'el were come to Shekhem to
make him king. 10:2It happened, when Yarov`am the son of Nevat heard of it, (for he was in
Egypt, where he had fled from the presence of king Shlomo), that Yarov`am
returned out of Egypt.
10:3They sent and called him; and Yarov`am
and all Yisra'el came, and they spoke to Rechav`am, saying,
10:4Your father made our yoke grievous: now therefore make you the grievous
service of your father, and his heavy yoke which he put on us, lighter, and we
will serve you. 10:5He said to them, Come again to me after three days. The people
departed. 10:6King Rechav`am took counsel with the old men, who had stood before
Shlomo his father while he yet lived, saying, What counsel give you me to return
answer to this people?
10:7They spoke to him, saying, If you are
kind to this people, and please them, and speak good words to them, then they
will be your servants forever. 10:8But he forsook the
counsel of the old men which they had given him, and took counsel with the young
men who had grown up with him, who stood before him.
10:9He said
to them, What counsel give you, that we may return answer to this people, who
have spoken to me, saying, Make the yoke that your father did put on us lighter?
10:10The young men who had grown up with him spoke to him, saying, Thus
shall you tell the people who spoke to you, saying, Your father made our yoke
heavy, but make you it lighter to us; thus shall you say to them, My little
finger is thicker than my father's loins.
10:11Now
whereas my father did lade you with a heavy yoke, I will add to your yoke: my
father chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scorpions.
10:12So Yarov`am and all the people came to Rechav`am the third day, as the
king bade, saying, Come to me again the third day.
10:13The
king answered them roughly; and king Rechav`am forsook the counsel of the old
men, 10:14and spoke to them after the counsel of the young men, saying, My father
made your yoke heavy, but I will add thereto: my father chastised you with
whips, but I will chastise you with scorpions.
10:15So the
king didn't listen to the people; for it was brought about of G-d, that the LORD
might establish his word, which he spoke by Achiyah the Shiloni to Yarov`am the
son of Nevat. 10:16When all Yisra'el saw that the king didn't listen to them, the people
answered the king, saying, What portion have we in David? neither have we
inheritance in the son of Yishai: every man to your tents, Yisra'el: now see to
your own house, David. So all Yisra'el departed to their tents.
10:17But as for the children of Yisra'el who lived in the cities of Yehudah,
Rechav`am reigned over them. 10:18Then king Rechav`am
sent Hadoram, who was over the men subject to forced labor; and the children of
Yisra'el stoned him to death with stones. King Rechav`am made speed to get him
up to his chariot, to flee to Yerushalayim.
10:19So
Yisra'el rebelled against the house of David to this day.
11:1When Rechav`am was come to Yerushalayim, he assembled the house of
Yehudah and Binyamin, one hundred eighty thousand chosen men, who were warriors,
to fight against Yisra'el, to bring the kingdom again to Rechav`am.
11:2But the word of the LORD came to Shemayah the man of G-d, saying,
11:3Speak to Rechav`am the son of Shlomo, king of Yehudah, and to all
Yisra'el in Yehudah and Binyamin, saying,
11:4Thus
says the LORD, You shall not go up, nor fight against your brothers: return
every man to his house; for this thing is of me. So they listened to the words
of the LORD, and returned from going against Yarov`am.
11:5Rechav`am
lived in Yerushalayim, and built cities for defense in Yehudah.
11:6He built Beit-Lechem, and `Etam, and Tekoa,
11:7Beit-Tzur,
and Sokho, and `Adullam,
11:8and Gat, and Mareshah, and Zif,
11:9and Adorayim, and Lakhish, and `Azeka,
11:10and
Tzor`ah, and Ayalon, and Chevron, which are in Yehudah and in Binyamin,
fortified cities.
11:11He fortified the strongholds, and put
captains in them, and stores of food, and oil and wine.
11:12In
every city he put shields and spears, and made them exceeding strong.
Yehudah and Binyamin belonged to him. 11:13The
kohanim and the Levites who were in all Yisra'el resorted to him out of all
their border. 11:14For the Levites left their suburbs and their possession, and came to
Yehudah and Yerushalayim: for Yarov`am and his sons cast them off, that they
should not execute the kohen's office to the LORD;
11:15and he appointed him kohanim for the high places,
and for the male goats, and for the calves which he had made.
11:16After them, out of all the tribes of Yisra'el, such as set their hearts
to seek the LORD, the G-d of Yisra'el, came to Yerushalayim to sacrifice to the
LORD, the G-d of their fathers. 11:17So they strengthened
the kingdom of Yehudah, and made Rechav`am the son of Shlomo strong, three
years; for they walked three years in the way of David and Shlomo.
11:18Rechav`am took him a wife, Machalat the daughter of Yerimot the son of
David, and of Avichayil the daughter of Eli'av the son of Yishai;
11:19and she bore him sons: Ye`ush, and Shemaryahu, and Zaham.
11:20After her he took Ma`akhah the daughter of Avshalom; and she bore him
Aviyah, and `Attai, and Ziza, and Shelomit.
11:21Rechav`am
loved Ma`akhah the daughter of Avshalom above all his wives and his concubines:
(for he took eighteen wives, and sixty concubines, and became the father of
twenty-eight sons and sixty daughters.) 11:22Rechav`am appointed
Aviyah the son of Ma`akhah to be chief, even the prince among his
brothers; for he was minded to make him king.
11:23He
dealt wisely, and dispersed of all his sons throughout all the lands of Yehudah
and Binyamin, to every fortified city: and he gave them food in abundance. He
sought for them many wives.
12:1It happened, when the kingdom of Rechav`am was established, and he was
strong, that he forsook the law of the LORD, and all Yisra'el with him.
12:2It happened in the fifth year of king Rechav`am, that Shishak king of
Egypt came up against Yerushalayim, because they had trespassed against the
LORD, 12:3with twelve hundred chariots, and sixty thousand horsemen. The people
were without number who came with him out of Egypt: the Luvim, the Sukkiyim, and
the Kushim. 12:4He took the fortified cities which pertained to Yehudah, and came to
Yerushalayim. 12:5Now Shemayah the prophet came to Rechav`am, and to the princes of
Yehudah, who were gathered together to Yerushalayim because of Shishak, and said
to them, Thus says the LORD, You have forsaken me, therefore have I also left
you in the hand of Shishak. 12:6Then the princes of
Yisra'el and the king humbled themselves; and they said, the LORD is righteous.
12:7When the LORD saw that they humbled themselves, the word of the LORD
came to Shemayah, saying, They have humbled themselves: I will not destroy them;
but I will grant them some deliverance, and my wrath shall not be poured out on
Yerushalayim by the hand of Shishak. 12:8Nevertheless they shall
be his servants, that they may know my service, and the service of the kingdoms
of the countries.
12:9So Shishak king of Egypt came up against
Yerushalayim, and took away the treasures of the house of the LORD, and the
treasures of the king's house: he took all away: he took away also the shields
of gold which Shlomo had made. 12:10King Rechav`am made in
their place shields of brass, and committed them to the hands of the captains of
the guard, who kept the door of the king's house.
12:11It was
so, that as often as the king entered into the house of the LORD, the guard came
and bore them, and brought them back into the guard-chamber.
12:12When he humbled himself, the wrath of the LORD turned from him, so as
not to destroy him altogether: and moreover in Yehudah there were good things
found. 12:13So king Rechav`am strengthened himself in Yerushalayim, and reigned:
for Rechav`am was forty-one years old when he began to reign, and he reigned
seventeen years in Yerushalayim, the city which the LORD had chosen out of all
the tribes of Yisra'el, to put his name there: and his mother's name was Na`amah
the `Ammonite.
12:14He did that which was evil, because he
didn't set his heart to seek the LORD. 12:15Now the acts of
Rechav`am, first and last, aren't they written in the histories of Shemayah the
prophet and of `Iddo the seer, after the manner of genealogies? There were wars
between Rechav`am and Yarov`am continually.
12:16Rechav`am
slept with his fathers, and was buried in the city of David: and Aviyah his son
reigned in his place.
13:1In the eighteenth year of king Yarov`am began Aviyah to reign over
Yehudah. 13:2Three years reigned he in Yerushalayim: and his mother's name was
Mikhayahu the daughter of Uri'el of Gevah. There was war between Aviyah and
Yarov`am. 13:3Aviyah joined battle with an army of valiant men of war, even four
hundred thousand chosen men: and Yarov`am set the battle in array against him
with eight hundred thousand chosen men, who were mighty men of valor.
13:4Aviyah stood up on Mount Tzemaryim, which is in the hill-country of
Efrayim, and said, Hear me, Yarov`am and all Yisra'el:
13:5Ought
you not to know that the LORD, the G-d of Yisra'el, gave the kingdom over
Yisra'el to David forever, even to him and to his sons by a covenant of salt?
13:6Yet Yarov`am the son of Nevat, the servant of Shlomo the son of David,
rose up, and rebelled against his lord. 13:7There were gathered to
him worthless men, base fellows, who strengthened themselves against Rechav`am
the son of Shlomo, when Rechav`am was young and tender-hearted, and could not
withstand them. 13:8Now you think to withstand the kingdom of the LORD in the hand of the
sons of David; and you are a great multitude, and there are with you the golden
calves which Yarov`am made you for gods. 13:9Haven't you driven out
the kohanim of the LORD, the sons of Aharon, and the Levites,
and made you kohanim after the manner of the peoples of
other lands? so that whoever comes to consecrate himself with a young bull
and seven rams, the same may be a kohen of those who are
no gods. 13:10But as for us, the LORD is our G-d, and we have not forsaken him; and
we have kohanim ministering to the LORD, the sons of
Aharon, and the Levites in their work: 13:11and they burn to the
LORD every morning and every evening burnt offerings and sweet incense: the show
bread also set they in order on the pure table; and the menorah of gold
with the lamps of it, to burn every evening: for we keep the charge of the LORD
our G-d; but you have forsaken him. 13:12Behold, G-d is with us
at our head, and his kohanim with the trumpets of alarm to
sound an alarm against you. Children of Yisra'el, don't you fight against the
LORD, the G-d of your fathers; for you shall not prosper.
13:13But Yarov`am caused an ambush to come about behind them: so they were
before Yehudah, and the ambush was behind them.
13:14When
Yehudah looked back, behold, the battle was before and behind them; and they
cried to the LORD, and the kohanim sounded with the trumpets.
13:15Then the men of Yehudah gave a shout: and as the men of Yehudah
shouted, it happened, that G-d struck Yarov`am and all Yisra'el before Aviyah
and Yehudah. 13:16The children of Yisra'el fled before Yehudah; and G-d delivered them
into their hand.
13:17Aviyah and his people killed them with a
great slaughter: so there fell down slain of Yisra'el five hundred thousand
chosen men. 13:18Thus the children of Yisra'el were brought under at that time, and the
children of Yehudah prevailed, because they relied on the LORD, the G-d of their
fathers. 13:19Aviyah pursued after Yarov`am, and took cities from him, Beit-El with
the towns of it, and Yeshanah with the towns of it, and `Efron with the towns of
it. 13:20Neither did Yarov`am recover strength again in the days of Aviyah: and
the LORD struck him, and he died. 13:21But Aviyah grew
mighty, and took to himself fourteen wives, and became the father of twenty-two
sons, and sixteen daughters. 13:22The rest of the acts
of Aviyah, and his ways, and his sayings, are written in the commentary of the
prophet `Iddo.
14:1So Aviyah slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the city of
David; and Asa his son reigned in his place. In his days the land was quiet ten
years. 14:2Asa did that which was good and right in the eyes of the LORD his G-d:
14:3for he took away the foreign altars, and the high places, and broke
down the pillars, and hewed down the Asherim,
14:4and
commanded Yehudah to seek the LORD, the G-d of their fathers, and to do the law
and the mitzvah. 14:5Also he took away out
of all the cities of Yehudah the high places and the sun-images: and the kingdom
was quiet before him.
14:6He built fortified cities in Yehudah;
for the land was quiet, and he had no war in those years, because the LORD had
given him rest. 14:7For he said to Yehudah, Let us build these cities, and make about them
walls, and towers, gates, and bars; the land is yet before us, because we have
sought the LORD our G-d; we have sought him, and he has given us rest on every
side. So they built and prospered. 14:8Asa had an army that
bore bucklers and spears, out of Yehudah three hundred thousand; and out of
Binyamin, that bore shields and drew bows, two hundred eighty thousand: all
these were mighty men of valor. 14:9There came out against
them Zerach the Kushite with an army of a million troops, and three hundred
chariots; and he came to Mareshah. 14:10Then Asa went out to
meet him, and they set the battle in array in the valley of Tzefatah at Mareshah.
14:11Asa cried to the LORD his G-d, and said, LORD, there is none besides
you to help, between the mighty and him who has no strength: help us, LORD our
God; for we rely on you, and in your name are we come against this multitude.
LORD, you are our G-d; don't let man prevail against you.
14:12So the LORD struck the Kushim before Asa, and before Yehudah; and the
Kushim fled. 14:13Asa and the people who were with him pursued them to Gerar: and there
fell of the Kushim so many that they could not recover themselves; for they were
destroyed before the LORD, and before his host; and they carried away very much
booty. 14:14They struck all the cities round about Gerar; for the fear of the LORD
came on them: and they despoiled all the cities; for there was much spoil in
them. 14:15They struck also the tents of cattle, and carried away sheep in
abundance, and camels, and returned to Yerushalayim.
15:1The Spirit of G-d came on `Azaryah the son of `Oded:
15:2and he went out to meet Asa, and said to him, Hear you me, Asa, and all
Yehudah and Binyamin: the LORD is with you, while you are with him; and if you
seek him, he will be found of you; but if you forsake him, he will forsake you.
15:3Now for a long season Yisra'el was without the true G-d, and without a
teaching kohen, and without law:
15:4But
when in their distress they turned to the LORD, the G-d of Yisra'el, and sought
him, he was found of them. 15:5In those times there
was no shalom to him who went out, nor to him who came in; but great vexations
were on all the inhabitants of the lands.
15:6They
were broken in pieces, nation against nation, and city against city; for G-d did
vex them with all adversity. 15:7But be you strong, and
don't let your hands be slack; for your work shall be rewarded.
15:8When Asa heard these words, and the prophecy of `Oded the prophet, he
took courage, and put away the abominations out of all the land of Yehudah and
Binyamin, and out of the cities which he had taken from the hill-country of
Efrayim; and he renewed the altar of the LORD, that was before the porch of the
LORD. 15:9He gathered all Yehudah and Binyamin, and those who sojourned with them
out of Efrayim and Menashsheh, and out of Shim`on: for they fell to him out of
Yisra'el in abundance, when they saw that the LORD his G-d was with him.
15:10So they gathered themselves together at Yerushalayim in the third
month, in the fifteenth year of the reign of Asa.
15:11They
sacrificed to the LORD in that day, of the spoil which they had brought, seven
hundred oxen and seven thousand sheep. 15:12They entered into the
covenant to seek the LORD, the G-d of their fathers, with all their heart and
with all their soul;
15:13and that whoever would not seek the
LORD, the G-d of Yisra'el, should be put to death, whether small or great,
whether man or woman.
15:14They swore to the LORD with a loud
voice, and with shouting, and with trumpets, and with cornets.
15:15All Yehudah rejoiced at the oath; for they had sworn with all their
heart, and sought him with their whole desire; and he was found of them: and the
LORD gave them rest round about. 15:16Also Ma`akhah, the
mother of Asa the king, he removed from being queen, because she had made an
abominable image for an Asherah; and Asa cut down her image, and made dust of
it, and burnt it at the brook Kidron. 15:17But the high places
were not taken away out of Yisra'el: nevertheless the heart of Asa was perfect
all his days. 15:18He brought into the house of G-d the things that his father had
dedicated, and that he himself had dedicated, silver, and gold, and vessels.
15:19There was no more war to the five and thirtieth year of the reign of
Asa.
16:1In the six and thirtieth year of the reign of Asa, Ba`sha king of
Yisra'el went up against Yehudah, and built Ramah, that he might not allow
anyone to go out or come in to Asa king of Yehudah.
16:2Then
Asa brought out silver and gold out of the treasures of the house of the LORD
and of the king's house, and sent to Ben-Hadad king of Aram, who lived at
Dammesek, saying,
16:3There is a
league between me and you, as there was between my father and your
father: behold, I have sent you silver and gold; go, break your league with
Ba`sha king of Yisra'el, that he may depart from me.
16:4Ben-Hadad
listened to king Asa, and sent the captains of his armies against the cities of
Yisra'el; and they struck `Iyon, and Dan, and Avel-Mayim, and all the
store-cities of Naftali.
16:5It happened, when Ba`sha heard of it,
that he left off building Ramah, and let his work cease.
16:6Then
Asa the king took all Yehudah; and they carried away the stones of Ramah, and
the timber of it, with which Ba`sha had built; and he built therewith Geva and
Mitzpah. 16:7At that time Chanani the seer came to Asa king of Yehudah, and said to
him, Because you have relied on the king of Aram, and have not relied on the
LORD your G-d, therefore is the host of the king of Aram escaped out of your
hand. 16:8Weren't the Kushim and the Luvim a huge host, with chariots and
horsemen exceeding many? yet, because you did rely on the LORD, he delivered
them into your hand.
16:9For the eyes of the LORD run back and
forth throughout the whole earth, to show himself strong in the behalf of them
whose heart is perfect toward him. Herein you have done foolishly; for from
henceforth you shall have wars. 16:10Then Asa was angry
with the seer, and put him in the prison-house; for he was in a rage with him
because of this thing. Asa oppressed some of the people at the same time.
16:11Behold, the acts of Asa, first and last, behold, they are written in
the book of the kings of Yehudah and Yisra'el.
16:12In the
thirty-ninth year of his reign Asa was diseased in his feet; his disease was
exceeding great: yet in his disease he didn't seek the LORD, but to the
physicians. 16:13Asa slept with his fathers, and died in the one and fortieth year of
his reign. 16:14They buried him in his own tombs, which he had hewn out for himself in
the city of David, and laid him in the bed which was filled with sweet odors and
various kinds of spices prepared by the perfumers' are: and they made a
very great burning for him.
17:1Yehoshafat his son reigned in his place, and strengthened himself
against Yisra'el.
17:2He placed forces in all the fortified cities
of Yehudah, and set garrisons in the land of Yehudah, and in the cities of
Efrayim, which Asa his father had taken. 17:3The LORD was with
Yehoshafat, because he walked in the first ways of his father David, and didn't
seek the Ba`alim,
17:4but sought to the G-d of his father, and
walked in his mitzvot, and not after the doings of Yisra'el.
17:5Therefore the LORD established the kingdom in his hand; and all Yehudah
brought to Yehoshafat tribute; and he had riches and honor in abundance.
17:6His heart was lifted up in the ways of the LORD: and furthermore he
took away the high places and the Asherim out of Yehudah.
17:7Also in the third year of his reign he sent his princes, even Ben-Chayil,
and `Ovadyah, and Zekharyah, and Netan'el, and Mikhayahu, to teach in the cities
of Yehudah; 17:8and with them the Levites, even Shemayah, and Netanyah, and Zevadyah,
and `Asa'el, and Shemiramot, and Yehonatan, and Adoniyahu, and Toviyah, and
Tob-adonijah, the Levites; and with them Elishama and Yehoram, the
kohanim. 17:9They taught in Yehudah,
having the book of the law of the LORD with them; and they went about throughout
all the cities of Yehudah, and taught among the people.
17:10The
fear of the LORD fell on all the kingdoms of the lands that were round about
Yehudah, so that they made no war against Yehoshafat.
17:11Some
of the Pelishtim brought Yehoshafat presents, and silver for tribute; the `Aravi'im
also brought him flocks, seven thousand and seven hundred rams, and seven
thousand and seven hundred male goats. 17:12Yehoshafat grew great
exceedingly; and he built in Yehudah castles and cities of store.
17:13He had many works in the cities of Yehudah; and men of war, mighty men
of valor, in Yerushalayim. 17:14This was the numbering
of them according to their fathers' houses: Of Yehudah, the captains of
thousands: `Adnach the captain, and with him mighty men of valor three hundred
thousand; 17:15and next to him Yehochanan the captain, and with him two hundred eighty
thousand; 17:16and next to him `Amasyah the son of Zikhri, who willingly offered
himself to the LORD; and with him two hundred thousand mighty men of valor.
17:17Of Binyamin: Elyada a mighty man of valor, and with him two hundred
thousand armed with bow and shield; 17:18and next to him
Yehozavad and with him one hundred eighty thousand ready prepared for war.
17:19These were those who waited on the king, besides those whom the king
put in the fortified cities throughout all Yehudah.
18:1Now Yehoshafat had riches and honor in abundance; and he joined
affinity with Ach'av.
18:2After certain years he went down to
Ach'av to Shomron. Ach'av killed sheep and oxen for him in abundance, and for
the people who were with him, and moved him to go up with him to
Ramot-Gil`ad. 18:3Ach'av king of Yisra'el said to Yehoshafat king of Yehudah, Will you go
with me to Ramot-Gil`ad? He answered him, I am as you are, and my people as your
people; and we will be with you in the war.
18:4Yehoshafat
said to the king of Yisra'el, Please inquire first for the word of the LORD.
18:5Then the king of Yisra'el gathered the prophets together, four hundred
men, and said to them, Shall we go to Ramot-Gil`ad to battle, or shall I
forbear? They said, Go up; for G-d will deliver it into the hand of the king.
18:6But Yehoshafat said, Isn't there here a prophet of the LORD besides,
that we may inquire of him? 18:7The king of Yisra'el
said to Yehoshafat, There is yet one man by whom we may inquire of the LORD: but
I hate him; for he never prophesies good concerning me, but always evil: the
same is Mikhayahu the son of Imla. Yehoshafat said, Don't let the king say so.
18:8Then the king of Yisra'el called an officer, and said, Get quickly
Mikhayahu the son of Imla. 18:9Now the king of
Yisra'el and Yehoshafat the king of Yehudah sat each on his throne, arrayed in
their robes, and they were sitting in an open place at the entrance of the gate
of Shomron; and all the prophets were prophesying before them.
18:10Tzidkiyahu the son of Kena`anah made him horns of iron, and said, Thus
says the LORD, With these shall you push the Aram, until they be consumed.
18:11All the prophets prophesied so, saying, Go up to Ramot-Gil`ad, and
prosper; for the LORD will deliver it into the hand of the king.
18:12The messenger who went to call Mikhayahu spoke to him, saying, Behold,
the words of the prophets declare good to the king with one mouth: let
your word therefore, Please be like one of theirs, and speak you good.
18:13Mikhayahu said, As the LORD lives, what my G-d says, that will I speak.
18:14When he was come to the king, the king said to him, Mikhayahu, shall we
go to Ramot-Gil`ad to battle, or shall I forbear? He said, Go up, and prosper;
and they shall be delivered into your hand.
18:15The
king said to him, How many times shall I adjure you that you speak to me nothing
but the truth in the name of the LORD? 18:16He said, I saw all
Yisra'el scattered on the mountains, as sheep that have no shepherd: and the
LORD said, These have no master; let them return every man to his house in
shalom. 18:17The king of Yisra'el said to Yehoshafat, Didn't I tell you that he
would not prophesy good concerning me, but evil?
18:18Mikhayahu said, Therefore hear you the word of the LORD: I saw the LORD sitting
on his throne, and all the host of heaven standing on his right hand and on his
left. 18:19The LORD said, Who shall entice Ach'av king of Yisra'el, that he may go
up and fall at Ramot-Gil`ad? One spoke saying after this manner, and another
saying after that manner. 18:20There came forth a
spirit, and stood before the LORD, and said, I will entice him. The LORD said to
him, 'How?' 18:21He said, 'I will go forth, and will be a lying spirit in the mouth of
all his prophets.' He said, 'You shall entice him, and shall prevail also: go
forth, and do so.'
18:22Now therefore, behold, the LORD has put a
lying spirit in the mouth of these your prophets; and the LORD has spoken evil
concerning you.
18:23Then Tzidkiyahu the son of Kena`anah came
near, and struck Mikhayahu on the cheek, and said, Which way went the Spirit of
the LORD from me to speak to you? 18:24Mikhayahu said,
Behold, you shall see on that day, when you shall go into an inner chamber to
hide yourself.
18:25The king of Yisra'el said, Take Mikhayahu,
and carry him back to Amon the governor of the city, and to Yo'ash the king's
son; 18:26and say, Thus says the king, Put this fellow in the prison, and feed
him with bread of affliction and with water of affliction, until I return in
shalom. 18:27Mikhayahu said, If you return at all in shalom, the LORD has not spoken
by me. He said, Hear, you peoples, all of you.
18:28So the
king of Yisra'el and Yehoshafat the king of Yehudah went up to Ramot-Gil`ad.
18:29The king of Yisra'el said to Yehoshafat, I will disguise myself, and go
into the battle; but put you on your robes. So the king of Yisra'el disguised
himself; and they went into the battle. 18:30Now the king of Aram
had commanded the captains of his chariots, saying, Fight neither with small nor
great, save only with the king of Yisra'el.
18:31It
happened, when the captains of the chariots saw Yehoshafat, that they said, It
is the king of Yisra'el. Therefore they turned about to fight against him: but
Yehoshafat cried out, and the LORD helped him; and G-d moved them to depart
from him. 18:32It happened, when the captains of the chariots saw that it was not the
king of Yisra'el, that they turned back from pursuing him.
18:33A certain man drew his bow at a venture, and struck the king of
Yisra'el between the joints of the armor. Therefore he said to the driver of the
chariot, Turn your hand, and carry me out of the host; for I am sore wounded.
18:34The battle increased that day: however the king of Yisra'el stayed
himself up in his chariot against the Aram until the even; and about the time of
the going down of the sun he died.
19:1Yehoshafat the king of Yehudah returned to his house in shalom to
Yerushalayim. 19:2Yehu the son of Chanani the seer went out to meet him, and said to king
Yehoshafat, Should you help the wicked, and love those who hate the LORD? for
this thing wrath is on you from before the LORD.
19:3Nevertheless
there are good things found in you, in that you have put away the Asherot out of
the land, and have set your heart to seek G-d.
19:4Yehoshafat
lived at Yerushalayim: and he went out again among the people from Be'er-Sheva
to the hill-country of Efrayim, and brought them back to the LORD, the G-d of
their fathers. 19:5He set judges in the land throughout all the fortified cities of
Yehudah, city by city,
19:6and said to the judges, Consider what
you do: for you don't judge for man, but for the LORD; and he is with you
in the judgment.
19:7Now therefore let the fear of the LORD be on
you; take heed and do it: for there is no iniquity with the LORD our G-d, nor
respect of persons, nor taking of bribes.
19:8Moreover
in Yerushalayim did Yehoshafat set of the Levites and the kohanim,
and of the heads of the fathers' houses of Yisra'el, for the judgment of
the LORD, and for controversies. They returned to Yerushalayim.
19:9He charged them, saying, Thus shall you do in the fear of the LORD,
faithfully, and with a perfect heart. 19:10Whenever any
controversy shall come to you from your brothers who dwell in their cities,
between blood and blood, between law and mitzvah, statutes
and ordinances, you shall warn them, that they not be guilty towards the LORD,
and so wrath come on you and on your brothers: this do, and you shall not be
guilty. 19:11Behold, Amaryah the chief kohen is over you in all
matters of the LORD; and Zevadyah the son of Yishma'el, the ruler of the house
of Yehudah, in all the king's matters: also the Levites shall be officers before
you. Deal courageously, and the LORD be with the good.
20:1It happened after this, that the children of Mo'av, and the children of
`Ammon, and with them some of the Me`unim, came against Yehoshafat to battle.
20:2Then there came some who told Yehoshafat, saying, There comes a great
multitude against you from beyond the sea from Aram; and, behold, they are in
Chatzatzon-Tamar (the same is `En-Gedi). 20:3Yehoshafat feared, and
set himself to seek to the LORD; and he proclaimed a fast throughout all
Yehudah. 20:4Yehudah gathered themselves together, to seek help of the LORD:
even out of all the cities of Yehudah they came to seek the LORD.
20:5Yehoshafat stood in the assembly of Yehudah and Yerushalayim, in the
house of the LORD, before the new court; 20:6and he said, LORD, the
God of our fathers, aren't you G-d in heaven? and aren't you ruler over all the
kingdoms of the nations? and in your hand is power and might, so that none is
able to withstand you.
20:7Did not you, our G-d, drive out the
inhabitants of this land before your people Yisra'el, and give it to the seed of
Avraham your friend forever? 20:8They lived therein, and
have built you a sanctuary therein for your name, saying,
20:9If evil come on us, the sword, judgment, or pestilence, or famine, we
will stand before this house, and before you, (for your name is in this house),
and cry to you in our affliction, and you will hear and save.
20:10Now, behold, the children of `Ammon and Mo'av and Mount Se`ir, whom you
would not let Yisra'el invade, when they came out of the land of Egypt, but they
turned aside from them, and didn't destroy them;
20:11behold,
how they reward us, to come to cast us out of your possession, which you have
given us to inherit.
20:12Our G-d, will you not judge them? for
we have no might against this great company that comes against us; neither know
we what to do: but out eyes are on you. 20:13All Yehudah stood
before the LORD, with their little ones, their wives, and their children.
20:14Then on Yachazi'el the son of Zekharyah, the son of Benayah, the son of
Ye`i'el, the son of Mattanyah, the Levite, of the sons of Asaf, came the Spirit
of the LORD in the midst of the assembly;
20:15and he
said, Listen you, all Yehudah, and you inhabitants of Yerushalayim, and you king
Yehoshafat: Thus says the LORD to you, Don't be afraid you, neither be dismayed
by reason of this great multitude; for the battle is not yours, but G-d's.
20:16Tomorrow go you down against them: behold, they come up by the ascent
of Tzitz; and you shall find them at the end of the valley, before the
wilderness of Yeru'el.
20:17You shall not need to fight in this
battle: set yourselves, stand you still, and see the salvation of the LORD
with you, O Yehudah and Yerushalayim; don't be afraid, nor be dismayed: tomorrow
go out against them: for the LORD is with you.