2Kings:17-25

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* In the twelfth year of Ahaz king of Judah began Hoshea the son of Elah to reign in Samaria over Israel nine years . * And he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD , but not as the kings of Israel that were before him . * Against him came up Shalmaneser king of Assyria ; and Hoshea became his servant , and gave him presents . * And the king of Assyria found conspiracy in Hoshea : for he had sent messengers to So king of Egypt , and brought no present to the king of Assyria , as he had done year by year : therefore the king of Assyria shut him up , and bound him in prison . * Then the king of Assyria came up throughout all the land , and went up to Samaria , and besieged it three years . * In the ninth year of Hoshea the king of Assyria took Samaria , and carried Israel away into Assyria , and placed them in Halah and in Habor by the river of Gozan , and in the cities of the Medes . * For so it was , that the children of Israel had sinned against the LORD their God , which had brought them up out of the land of Egypt , from under the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt , and had feared other gods , * And walked in the statutes of the heathen , whom the LORD cast out from before the children of Israel , and of the kings of Israel , which they had made . * And the children of Israel did secretly those things that were not right against the LORD their God , and they built them high places in all their cities , from the tower of the watchmen to the fenced city . * And they set them up images and groves in every high hill , and under every green tree : * And there they burnt incense in all the high places , as did the heathen whom the LORD carried away before them ; and wrought wicked things to provoke the LORD to anger : * For they served idols , whereof the LORD had said unto them , Ye shall not do this thing . * Yet the LORD testified against Israel , and against Judah , by all the prophets , and by all the seers , saying , Turn ye from your evil ways , and keep my commandments and my statutes , according to all the law which I commanded your fathers , and which I sent to you by my servants the prophets . * Notwithstanding they would not hear , but hardened their necks , like to the neck of their fathers , that did not believe in the LORD their God . * And they rejected his statutes , and his covenant that he made with their fathers , and his testimonies which he testified against them ; and they followed vanity , and became vain , and went after the heathen that were round about them , concerning whom the LORD had charged them , that they should not do like them . * And they left all the commandments of the LORD their God , and made them molten images , even two calves , and made a grove , and worshipped all the host of heaven , and served Baal . * And they caused their sons and their daughters to pass through the fire , and used divination and enchantments , and sold themselves to do evil in the sight of the LORD , to provoke him to anger . * Therefore the LORD was very angry with Israel , and removed them out of his sight : there was none left but the tribe of Judah only . * Also Judah kept not the commandments of the LORD their God , but walked in the statutes of Israel which they made . * And the LORD rejected all the seed of Israel , and afflicted them , and delivered them into the hand of spoilers , until he had cast them out of his sight . * For he rent Israel from the house of David ; and they made Jeroboam the son of Nebat king : and Jeroboam drave Israel from following the LORD , and made them sin a great sin . * For the children of Israel walked in all the sins of Jeroboam which he did ; they departed not from them ; * Until the LORD removed Israel out of his sight , as he had said by all his servants the prophets . So was Israel carried away out of their own land to Assyria unto this day . * And the king of Assyria brought men from Babylon , and from Cuthah , and from Ava , and from Hamath , and from Sepharvaim , and placed them in the cities of Samaria instead of the children of Israel : and they possessed Samaria , and dwelt in the cities thereof . * And so it was at the beginning of their dwelling there , that they feared not the LORD : therefore the LORD sent lions among them , which slew some of them . * Wherefore they spake to the king of Assyria , saying , The nations which thou hast removed , and placed in the cities of Samaria , know not the manner of the God of the land : therefore he hath sent lions among them , and , behold , they slay them , because they know not the manner of the God of the land . * Then the king of Assyria commanded , saying , Carry thither one of the priests whom ye brought from thence ; and let them go and dwell there , and let him teach them the manner of the God of the land . * Then one of the priests whom they had carried away from Samaria came and dwelt in Bethel , and taught them how they should fear the LORD . * Howbeit every nation made gods of their own , and put them in the houses of the high places which the Samaritans had made , every nation in their cities wherein they dwelt . * And the men of Babylon made Succothbenoth , and the men of Cuth made Nergal , and the men of Hamath made Ashima , * And the Avites made Nibhaz and Tartak , and the Sepharvites burnt their children in fire to Adrammelech and Anammelech , the gods of Sepharvaim . * So they feared the LORD , and made unto themselves of the lowest of them priests of the high places , which sacrificed for them in the houses of the high places . * They feared the LORD , and served their own gods , after the manner of the nations whom they carried away from thence . * Unto this day they do after the former manners : they fear not the LORD , neither do they after their statutes , or after their ordinances , or after the law and commandment which the LORD commanded the children of Jacob , whom he named Israel ; * With whom the LORD had made a covenant , and charged them , saying , Ye shall not fear other gods , nor bow yourselves to them , nor serve them , nor sacrifice to them : * But the LORD , who brought you up out of the land of Egypt with great power and a stretched out arm , him shall ye fear , and him shall ye worship , and to him shall ye do sacrifice . * And the statutes , and the ordinances , and the law , and the commandment , which he wrote for you , ye shall observe to do for evermore ; and ye shall not fear other gods . * And the covenant that I have made with you ye shall not forget ; neither shall ye fear other gods . * But the LORD your God ye shall fear ; and he shall deliver you out of the hand of all your enemies . * Howbeit they did not hearken , but they did after their former manner . * So these nations feared the LORD , and served their graven images , both their children , and their children 's children : as did their fathers , so do they unto this day . * Now it came to pass in the third year of Hoshea son of Elah king of Israel , that Hezekiah the son of Ahaz king of Judah began to reign . * Twenty and five years old was he when he began to reign ; and he reigned twenty and nine years in Jerusalem . His mother 's name also was Abi , the daughter of Zachariah . * And he did that which was right in the sight of the LORD , according to all that David his father did . * He removed the high places , and brake the images , and cut down the groves , and brake in pieces the brasen serpent that Moses had made : for unto those days the children of Israel did burn incense to it : and he called it Nehushtan . * He trusted in the LORD God of Israel ; so that after him was none like him among all the kings of Judah , nor any that were before him . * For he clave to the LORD , and departed not from following him , but kept his commandments , which the LORD commanded Moses . * And the LORD was with him ; and he prospered whithersoever he went forth : and he rebelled against the king of Assyria , and served him not . * He smote the Philistines , even unto Gaza , and the borders thereof , from the tower of the watchmen to the fenced city . * And it came to pass in the fourth year of king Hezekiah , which was the seventh year of Hoshea son of Elah king of Israel , that Shalmaneser king of Assyria came up against Samaria , and besieged it . * And at the end of three years they took it : even in the sixth year of Hezekiah , that is the ninth year of Hoshea king of Israel , Samaria was taken . * And the king of Assyria did carry away Israel unto Assyria , and put them in Halah and in Habor by the river of Gozan , and in the cities of the Medes : * Because they obeyed not the voice of the LORD their God , but transgressed his covenant , and all that Moses the servant of the LORD commanded , and would not hear them , nor do them . * Now in the fourteenth year of king Hezekiah did Sennacherib king of Assyria come up against all the fenced cities of Judah , and took them . * And Hezekiah king of Judah sent to the king of Assyria to Lachish , saying , I have offended ; return from me : that which thou puttest on me will I bear . And the king of Assyria appointed unto Hezekiah king of Judah three hundred talents of silver and thirty talents of gold . * And Hezekiah gave him all the silver that was found in the house of the LORD , and in the treasures of the king 's house . * At that time did Hezekiah cut off the gold from the doors of the temple of the LORD , and from the pillars which Hezekiah king of Judah had overlaid , and gave it to the king of Assyria . * And the king of Assyria sent Tartan and Rabsaris and Rabshakeh from Lachish to king Hezekiah with a great host against Jerusalem . And they went up and came to Jerusalem . And when they were come up , they came and stood by the conduit of the upper pool , which is in the highway of the fuller 's field . * And when they had called to the king , there came out to them Eliakim the son of Hilkiah , which was over the household , and Shebna the scribe , and Joah the son of Asaph the recorder . * And Rabshakeh said unto them , Speak ye now to Hezekiah , Thus saith the great king , the king of Assyria , What confidence is this wherein thou trustest ? * Thou sayest , (but they are but vain words ,) I have counsel and strength for the war . Now on whom dost thou trust , that thou rebellest against me ? * Now , behold , thou trustest upon the staff of this bruised reed , even upon Egypt , on which if a man lean , it will go into his hand , and pierce it : so is Pharaoh king of Egypt unto all that trust on him . * But if ye say unto me , We trust in the LORD our God : is not that he , whose high places and whose altars Hezekiah hath taken away , and hath said to Judah and Jerusalem , Ye shall worship before this altar in Jerusalem ? * Now therefore , I pray thee , give pledges to my lord the king of Assyria , and I will deliver thee two thousand horses , if thou be able on thy part to set riders upon them . * How then wilt thou turn away the face of one captain of the least of my master 's servants , and put thy trust on Egypt for chariots and for horsemen ? * Am I now come up without the LORD against this place to destroy it ? The LORD said to me , Go up against this land , and destroy it . * Then said Eliakim the son of Hilkiah , and Shebna , and Joah , unto Rabshakeh , Speak , I pray thee , to thy servants in the Syrian language ; for we understand it : and talk not with us in the Jews ' language in the ears of the people that are on the wall . * But Rabshakeh said unto them , Hath my master sent me to thy master , and to thee , to speak these words ? hath he not sent me to the men which sit on the wall , that they may eat their own dung , and drink their own piss with you ? * Then Rabshakeh stood and cried with a loud voice in the Jews ' language , and spake , saying , Hear the word of the great king , the king of Assyria : * Thus saith the king , Let not Hezekiah deceive you : for he shall not be able to deliver you out of his hand : * Neither let Hezekiah make you trust in the LORD , saying , The LORD will surely deliver us , and this city shall not be delivered into the hand of the king of Assyria . * Hearken not to Hezekiah : for thus saith the king of Assyria , Make an agreement with me by a present , and come out to me , and then eat ye every man of his own vine , and every one of his fig tree , and drink ye every one the waters of his cistern : * Until I come and take you away to a land like your own land , a land of corn and wine , a land of bread and vineyards , a land of oil olive and of honey , that ye may live , and not die : and hearken not unto Hezekiah , when he persuadeth you , saying , The LORD will deliver us . * Hath any of the gods of the nations delivered at all his land out of the hand of the king of Assyria ? * Where are the gods of Hamath , and of Arpad ? where are the gods of Sepharvaim , Hena , and Ivah ? have they delivered Samaria out of mine hand ? * Who are they among all the gods of the countries , that have delivered their country out of mine hand , that the LORD should deliver Jerusalem out of mine hand ? * But the people held their peace , and answered him not a word : for the king 's commandment was , saying , Answer him not . * Then came Eliakim the son of Hilkiah , which was over the household , and Shebna the scribe , and Joah the son of Asaph the recorder , to Hezekiah with their clothes rent , and told him the words of Rabshakeh . * And it came to pass , when king Hezekiah heard it , that he rent his clothes , and covered himself with sackcloth , and went into the house of the LORD . * And he sent Eliakim , which was over the household , and Shebna the scribe , and the elders of the priests , covered with sackcloth , to Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz . * And they said unto him , Thus saith Hezekiah , This day is a day of trouble , and of rebuke , and blasphemy : for the children are come to the birth , and there is not strength to bring forth . * It may be the LORD thy God will hear all the words of Rabshakeh , whom the king of Assyria his master hath sent to reproach the living God ; and will reprove the words which the LORD thy God hath heard : wherefore lift up thy prayer for the remnant that are left . * So the servants of king Hezekiah came to Isaiah . * And Isaiah said unto them , Thus shall ye say to your master , Thus saith the LORD , Be not afraid of the words which thou hast heard , with which the servants of the king of Assyria have blasphemed me . * Behold , I will send a blast upon him , and he shall hear a rumour , and shall return to his own land ; and I will cause him to fall by the sword in his own land . * So Rabshakeh returned , and found the king of Assyria warring against Libnah : for he had heard that he was departed from Lachish . * And when he heard say of Tirhakah king of Ethiopia , Behold , he is come out to fight against thee : he sent messengers again unto Hezekiah , saying , * Thus shall ye speak to Hezekiah king of Judah , saying , Let not thy God in whom thou trustest deceive thee , saying , Jerusalem shall not be delivered into the hand of the king of Assyria . * Behold , thou hast heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all lands , by destroying them utterly : and shalt thou be delivered ? * Have the gods of the nations delivered them which my fathers have destroyed ; as Gozan , and Haran , and Rezeph , and the children of Eden which were in Thelasar ? * Where is the king of Hamath , and the king of Arpad , and the king of the city of Sepharvaim , of Hena , and Ivah ? * And Hezekiah received the letter of the hand of the messengers , and read it : and Hezekiah went up into the house of the LORD , and spread it before the LORD . * And Hezekiah prayed before the LORD , and said , O LORD God of Israel , which dwellest between the cherubims , thou art the God , even thou alone , of all the kingdoms of the earth ; thou hast made heaven and earth . * LORD , bow down thine ear , and hear : open , LORD , thine eyes , and see : and hear the words of Sennacherib , which hath sent him to reproach the living God . * Of a truth , LORD , the kings of Assyria have destroyed the nations and their lands , * And have cast their gods into the fire : for they were no gods , but the work of men 's hands , wood and stone : therefore they have destroyed them . * Now therefore , O LORD our God , I beseech thee , save thou us out of his hand , that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that thou art the LORD God , even thou only . * Then Isaiah the son of Amoz sent to Hezekiah , saying , Thus saith the LORD God of Israel , That which thou hast prayed to me against Sennacherib king of Assyria I have heard . * This is the word that the LORD hath spoken concerning him ; The virgin the daughter of Zion hath despised thee , and laughed thee to scorn ; the daughter of Jerusalem hath shaken her head at thee . * Whom hast thou reproached and blasphemed ? and against whom hast thou exalted thy voice , and lifted up thine eyes on high ? even against the Holy One of Israel . * By thy messengers thou hast reproached the Lord , and hast said , With the multitude of my chariots I am come up to the height of the mountains , to the sides of Lebanon , and will cut down the tall cedar trees thereof , and the choice fir trees thereof : and I will enter into the lodgings of his borders , and into the forest of his Carmel . * I have digged and drunk strange waters , and with the sole of my feet have I dried up all the rivers of besieged places . * Hast thou not heard long ago how I have done it , and of ancient times that I have formed it ? now have I brought it to pass , that thou shouldest be to lay waste fenced cities into ruinous heaps . * Therefore their inhabitants were of small power , they were dismayed and confounded ; they were as the grass of the field , and as the green herb , as the grass on the housetops , and as corn blasted before it be grown up . * But I know thy abode , and thy going out , and thy coming in , and thy rage against me . * Because thy rage against me and thy tumult is come up into mine ears , therefore I will put my hook in thy nose , and my bridle in thy lips , and I will turn thee back by the way by which thou camest . * And this shall be a sign unto thee , Ye shall eat this year such things as grow of themselves , and in the second year that which springeth of the same ; and in the third year sow ye , and reap , and plant vineyards , and eat the fruits thereof . * And the remnant that is escaped of the house of Judah shall yet again take root downward , and bear fruit upward . * For out of Jerusalem shall go forth a remnant , and they that escape out of mount Zion : the zeal of the LORD of hosts shall do this . * Therefore thus saith the LORD concerning the king of Assyria , He shall not come into this city , nor shoot an arrow there , nor come before it with shield , nor cast a bank against it . * By the way that he came , by the same shall he return , and shall not come into this city , saith the LORD . * For I will defend this city , to save it , for mine own sake , and for my servant David 's sake . * And it came to pass that night , that the angel of the LORD went out , and smote in the camp of the Assyrians an hundred fourscore and five thousand : and when they arose early in the morning , behold , they were all dead corpses . * So Sennacherib king of Assyria departed , and went and returned , and dwelt at Nineveh . * And it came to pass , as he was worshipping in the house of Nisroch his god , that Adrammelech and Sharezer his sons smote him with the sword : and they escaped into the land of Armenia . And Esarhaddon his son reigned in his stead . * In those days was Hezekiah sick unto death . And the prophet Isaiah the son of Amoz came to him , and said unto him , Thus saith the LORD , Set thine house in order ; for thou shalt die , and not live . * Then he turned his face to the wall , and prayed unto the LORD , saying , * I beseech thee , O LORD , remember now how I have walked before thee in truth and with a perfect heart , and have done that which is good in thy sight . And Hezekiah wept sore . * And it came to pass , afore Isaiah was gone out into the middle court , that the word of the LORD came to him , saying , * Turn again , and tell Hezekiah the captain of my people , Thus saith the LORD , the God of David thy father , I have heard thy prayer , I have seen thy tears : behold , I will heal thee : on the third day thou shalt go up unto the house of the LORD . * And I will add unto thy days fifteen years ; and I will deliver thee and this city out of the hand of the king of Assyria ; and I will defend this city for mine own sake , and for my servant David 's sake . * And Isaiah said , Take a lump of figs . And they took and laid it on the boil , and he recovered . * And Hezekiah said unto Isaiah , What shall be the sign that the LORD will heal me , and that I shall go up into the house of the LORD the third day ? * And Isaiah said , This sign shalt thou have of the LORD , that the LORD will do the thing that he hath spoken : shall the shadow go forward ten degrees , or go back ten degrees ? * And Hezekiah answered , It is a light thing for the shadow to go down ten degrees : nay , but let the shadow return backward ten degrees . * And Isaiah the prophet cried unto the LORD : and he brought the shadow ten degrees backward , by which it had gone down in the dial of Ahaz . * At that time Berodachbaladan , the son of Baladan , king of Babylon , sent letters and a present unto Hezekiah : for he had heard that Hezekiah had been sick . * And Hezekiah hearkened unto them , and shewed them all the house of his precious things , the silver , and the gold , and the spices , and the precious ointment , and all the house of his armour , and all that was found in his treasures : there was nothing in his house , nor in all his dominion , that Hezekiah shewed them not . * Then came Isaiah the prophet unto king Hezekiah , and said unto him , What said these men ? and from whence came they unto thee ? And Hezekiah said , They are come from a far country , even from Babylon . * And he said , What have they seen in thine house ? And Hezekiah answered , All the things that are in mine house have they seen : there is nothing among my treasures that I have not shewed them . * And Isaiah said unto Hezekiah , Hear the word of the LORD . * Behold , the days come , that all that is in thine house , and that which thy fathers have laid up in store unto this day , shall be carried into Babylon : nothing shall be left , saith the LORD . * And of thy sons that shall issue from thee , which thou shalt beget , shall they take away ; and they shall be eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon . * Then said Hezekiah unto Isaiah , Good is the word of the LORD which thou hast spoken . And he said , Is it not good , if peace and truth be in my days ? * And the rest of the acts of Hezekiah , and all his might , and how he made a pool , and a conduit , and brought water into the city , are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah ? * And Hezekiah slept with his fathers : and Manasseh his son reigned in his stead . * Manasseh was twelve years old when he began to reign , and reigned fifty and five years in Jerusalem . And his mother 's name was Hephzibah . * And he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD , after the abominations of the heathen , whom the LORD cast out before the children of Israel . * For he built up again the high places which Hezekiah his father had destroyed ; and he reared up altars for Baal , and made a grove , as did Ahab king of Israel ; and worshipped all the host of heaven , and served them . * And he built altars in the house of the LORD , of which the LORD said , In Jerusalem will I put my name . * And he built altars for all the host of heaven in the two courts of the house of the LORD . * And he made his son pass through the fire , and observed times , and used enchantments , and dealt with familiar spirits and wizards : he wrought much wickedness in the sight of the LORD , to provoke him to anger . * And he set a graven image of the grove that he had made in the house , of which the LORD said to David , and to Solomon his son , In this house , and in Jerusalem , which I have chosen out of all tribes of Israel , will I put my name for ever : * Neither will I make the feet of Israel move any more out of the land which I gave their fathers ; only if they will observe to do according to all that I have commanded them , and according to all the law that my servant Moses commanded them . * But they hearkened not : and Manasseh seduced them to do more evil than did the nations whom the LORD destroyed before the children of Israel . * And the LORD spake by his servants the prophets , saying , * Because Manasseh king of Judah hath done these abominations , and hath done wickedly above all that the Amorites did , which were before him , and hath made Judah also to sin with his idols : * Therefore thus saith the LORD God of Israel , Behold , I am bringing such evil upon Jerusalem and Judah , that whosoever heareth of it , both his ears shall tingle . * And I will stretch over Jerusalem the line of Samaria , and the plummet of the house of Ahab : and I will wipe Jerusalem as a man wipeth a dish , wiping it , and turning it upside down . * And I will forsake the remnant of mine inheritance , and deliver them into the hand of their enemies ; and they shall become a prey and a spoil to all their enemies ; * Because they have done that which was evil in my sight , and have provoked me to anger , since the day their fathers came forth out of Egypt , even unto this day . * Moreover Manasseh shed innocent blood very much , till he had filled Jerusalem from one end to another ; beside his sin wherewith he made Judah to sin , in doing that which was evil in the sight of the LORD . * Now the rest of the acts of Manasseh , and all that he did , and his sin that he sinned , are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah ? * And Manasseh slept with his fathers , and was buried in the garden of his own house , in the garden of Uzza : and Amon his son reigned in his stead . * Amon was twenty and two years old when he began to reign , and he reigned two years in Jerusalem . And his mother 's name was Meshullemeth , the daughter of Haruz of Jotbah . * And he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD , as his father Manasseh did . * And he walked in all the way that his father walked in , and served the idols that his father served , and worshipped them : * And he forsook the LORD God of his fathers , and walked not in the way of the LORD . * And the servants of Amon conspired against him , and slew the king in his own house . * And the people of the land slew all them that had conspired against king Amon ; and the people of the land made Josiah his son king in his stead . * Now the rest of the acts of Amon which he did , are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah ? * And he was buried in his sepulchre in the garden of Uzza : and Josiah his son reigned in his stead . * Josiah was eight years old when he began to reign , and he reigned thirty and one years in Jerusalem . And his mother 's name was Jedidah , the daughter of Adaiah of Boscath . * And he did that which was right in the sight of the LORD , and walked in all the way of David his father , and turned not aside to the right hand or to the left . * And it came to pass in the eighteenth year of king Josiah , that the king sent Shaphan the son of Azaliah , the son of Meshullam , the scribe , to the house of the LORD , saying , * Go up to Hilkiah the high priest , that he may sum the silver which is brought into the house of the LORD , which the keepers of the door have gathered of the people : * And let them deliver it into the hand of the doers of the work , that have the oversight of the house of the LORD : and let them give it to the doers of the work which is in the house of the LORD , to repair the breaches of the house , * Unto carpenters , and builders , and masons , and to buy timber and hewn stone to repair the house . * Howbeit there was no reckoning made with them of the money that was delivered into their hand , because they dealt faithfully . * And Hilkiah the high priest said unto Shaphan the scribe , I have found the book of the law in the house of the LORD . And Hilkiah gave the book to Shaphan , and he read it . * And Shaphan the scribe came to the king , and brought the king word again , and said , Thy servants have gathered the money that was found in the house , and have delivered it into the hand of them that do the work , that have the oversight of the house of the LORD . * And Shaphan the scribe shewed the king , saying , Hilkiah the priest hath delivered me a book . And Shaphan read it before the king . * And it came to pass , when the king had heard the words of the book of the law , that he rent his clothes . * And the king commanded Hilkiah the priest , and Ahikam the son of Shaphan , and Achbor the son of Michaiah , and Shaphan the scribe , and Asahiah a servant of the king 's , saying , * Go ye , enquire of the LORD for me , and for the people , and for all Judah , concerning the words of this book that is found : for great is the wrath of the LORD that is kindled against us , because our fathers have not hearkened unto the words of this book , to do according unto all that which is written concerning us . * So Hilkiah the priest , and Ahikam , and Achbor , and Shaphan , and Asahiah , went unto Huldah the prophetess , the wife of Shallum the son of Tikvah , the son of Harhas , keeper of the wardrobe ; (now she dwelt in Jerusalem in the college ;) and they communed with her . * And she said unto them , Thus saith the LORD God of Israel , Tell the man that sent you to me , * Thus saith the LORD , Behold , I will bring evil upon this place , and upon the inhabitants thereof , even all the words of the book which the king of Judah hath read : * Because they have forsaken me , and have burned incense unto other gods , that they might provoke me to anger with all the works of their hands ; therefore my wrath shall be kindled against this place , and shall not be quenched . * But to the king of Judah which sent you to enquire of the LORD , thus shall ye say to him , Thus saith the LORD God of Israel , As touching the words which thou hast heard ; * Because thine heart was tender , and thou hast humbled thyself before the LORD , when thou heardest what I spake against this place , and against the inhabitants thereof , that they should become a desolation and a curse , and hast rent thy clothes , and wept before me ; I also have heard thee , saith the LORD . * Behold therefore , I will gather thee unto thy fathers , and thou shalt be gathered into thy grave in peace ; and thine eyes shall not see all the evil which I will bring upon this place . And they brought the king word again . * And the king sent , and they gathered unto him all the elders of Judah and of Jerusalem . * And the king went up into the house of the LORD , and all the men of Judah and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem with him , and the priests , and the prophets , and all the people , both small and great : and he read in their ears all the words of the book of the covenant which was found in the house of the LORD . * And the king stood by a pillar , and made a covenant before the LORD , to walk after the LORD , and to keep his commandments and his testimonies and his statutes with all their heart and all their soul , to perform the words of this covenant that were written in this book . And all the people stood to the covenant . * And the king commanded Hilkiah the high priest , and the priests of the second order , and the keepers of the door , to bring forth out of the temple of the LORD all the vessels that were made for Baal , and for the grove , and for all the host of heaven : and he burned them without Jerusalem in the fields of Kidron , and carried the ashes of them unto Bethel . * And he put down the idolatrous priests , whom the kings of Judah had ordained to burn incense in the high places in the cities of Judah , and in the places round about Jerusalem ; them also that burned incense unto Baal , to the sun , and to the moon , and to the planets , and to all the host of heaven . * And he brought out the grove from the house of the LORD , without Jerusalem , unto the brook Kidron , and burned it at the brook Kidron , and stamped it small to powder , and cast the powder thereof upon the graves of the children of the people . * And he brake down the houses of the sodomites , that were by the house of the LORD , where the women wove hangings for the grove . * And he brought all the priests out of the cities of Judah , and defiled the high places where the priests had burned incense , from Geba to Beersheba , and brake down the high places of the gates that were in the entering in of the gate of Joshua the governor of the city , which were on a man 's left hand at the gate of the city . * Nevertheless the priests of the high places came not up to the altar of the LORD in Jerusalem , but they did eat of the unleavened bread among their brethren . * And he defiled Topheth , which is in the valley of the children of Hinnom , that no man might make his son or his daughter to pass through the fire to Molech . * And he took away the horses that the kings of Judah had given to the sun , at the entering in of the house of the LORD , by the chamber of Nathanmelech the chamberlain , which was in the suburbs , and burned the chariots of the sun with fire . * And the altars that were on the top of the upper chamber of Ahaz , which the kings of Judah had made , and the altars which Manasseh had made in the two courts of the house of the LORD , did the king beat down , and brake them down from thence , and cast the dust of them into the brook Kidron . * And the high places that were before Jerusalem , which were on the right hand of the mount of corruption , which Solomon the king of Israel had builded for Ashtoreth the abomination of the Zidonians , and for Chemosh the abomination of the Moabites , and for Milcom the abomination of the children of Ammon , did the king defile . * And he brake in pieces the images , and cut down the groves , and filled their places with the bones of men . * Moreover the altar that was at Bethel , and the high place which Jeroboam the son of Nebat , who made Israel to sin , had made , both that altar and the high place he brake down , and burned the high place , and stamped it small to powder , and burned the grove . * And as Josiah turned himself , he spied the sepulchres that were there in the mount , and sent , and took the bones out of the sepulchres , and burned them upon the altar , and polluted it , according to the word of the LORD which the man of God proclaimed , who proclaimed these words . * Then he said , What title is that that I see ? And the men of the city told him , It is the sepulchre of the man of God , which came from Judah , and proclaimed these things that thou hast done against the altar of Bethel . * And he said , Let him alone ; let no man move his bones . So they let his bones alone , with the bones of the prophet that came out of Samaria . * And all the houses also of the high places that were in the cities of Samaria , which the kings of Israel had made to provoke the LORD to anger , Josiah took away , and did to them according to all the acts that he had done in Bethel . * And he slew all the priests of the high places that were there upon the altars , and burned men 's bones upon them , and returned to Jerusalem . * And the king commanded all the people , saying , Keep the passover unto the LORD your God , as it is written in the book of this covenant . * Surely there was not holden such a passover from the days of the judges that judged Israel , nor in all the days of the kings of Israel , nor of the kings of Judah ; * But in the eighteenth year of king Josiah , wherein this passover was holden to the LORD in Jerusalem . * Moreover the workers with familiar spirits , and the wizards , and the images , and the idols , and all the abominations that were spied in the land of Judah and in Jerusalem , did Josiah put away , that he might perform the words of the law which were written in the book that Hilkiah the priest found in the house of the LORD . * And like unto him was there no king before him , that turned to the LORD with all his heart , and with all his soul , and with all his might , according to all the law of Moses ; neither after him arose there any like him . * Notwithstanding the LORD turned not from the fierceness of his great wrath , wherewith his anger was kindled against Judah , because of all the provocations that Manasseh had provoked him withal . * And the LORD said , I will remove Judah also out of my sight , as I have removed Israel , and will cast off this city Jerusalem which I have chosen , and the house of which I said , My name shall be there . * Now the rest of the acts of Josiah , and all that he did , are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah ? * In his days Pharaohnechoh king of Egypt went up against the king of Assyria to the river Euphrates : and king Josiah went against him ; and he slew him at Megiddo , when he had seen him . * And his servants carried him in a chariot dead from Megiddo , and brought him to Jerusalem , and buried him in his own sepulchre . And the people of the land took Jehoahaz the son of Josiah , and anointed him , and made him king in his father 's stead . * Jehoahaz was twenty and three years old when he began to reign ; and he reigned three months in Jerusalem . And his mother 's name was Hamutal , the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah . * And he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD , according to all that his fathers had done . * And Pharaohnechoh put him in bands at Riblah in the land of Hamath , that he might not reign in Jerusalem ; and put the land to a tribute of an hundred talents of silver , and a talent of gold . * And Pharaohnechoh made Eliakim the son of Josiah king in the room of Josiah his father , and turned his name to Jehoiakim , and took Jehoahaz away : and he came to Egypt , and died there . * And Jehoiakim gave the silver and the gold to Pharaoh ; but he taxed the land to give the money according to the commandment of Pharaoh : he exacted the silver and the gold of the people of the land , of every one according to his taxation , to give it unto Pharaohnechoh . * Jehoiakim was twenty and five years old when he began to reign ; and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem . And his mother 's name was Zebudah , the daughter of Pedaiah of Rumah . * And he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD , according to all that his fathers had done . * In his days Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up , and Jehoiakim became his servant three years : then he turned and rebelled against him . * And the LORD sent against him bands of the Chaldees , and bands of the Syrians , and bands of the Moabites , and bands of the children of Ammon , and sent them against Judah to destroy it , according to the word of the LORD , which he spake by his servants the prophets . * Surely at the commandment of the LORD came this upon Judah , to remove them out of his sight , for the sins of Manasseh , according to all that he did ; * And also for the innocent blood that he shed : for he filled Jerusalem with innocent blood ; which the LORD would not pardon . * Now the rest of the acts of Jehoiakim , and all that he did , are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah ? * So Jehoiakim slept with his fathers : and Jehoiachin his son reigned in his stead . * And the king of Egypt came not again any more out of his land : for the king of Babylon had taken from the river of Egypt unto the river Euphrates all that pertained to the king of Egypt . * Jehoiachin was eighteen years old when he began to reign , and he reigned in Jerusalem three months . And his mother 's name was Nehushta , the daughter of Elnathan of Jerusalem . * And he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD , according to all that his father had done . * At that time the servants of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up against Jerusalem , and the city was besieged . * And Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came against the city , and his servants did besiege it . * And Jehoiachin the king of Judah went out to the king of Babylon , he , and his mother , and his servants , and his princes , and his officers : and the king of Babylon took him in the eighth year of his reign . * And he carried out thence all the treasures of the house of the LORD , and the treasures of the king 's house , and cut in pieces all the vessels of gold which Solomon king of Israel had made in the temple of the LORD , as the LORD had said . * And he carried away all Jerusalem , and all the princes , and all the mighty men of valour , even ten thousand captives , and all the craftsmen and smiths : none remained , save the poorest sort of the people of the land . * And he carried away Jehoiachin to Babylon , and the king 's mother , and the king 's wives , and his officers , and the mighty of the land , those carried he into captivity from Jerusalem to Babylon . * And all the men of might , even seven thousand , and craftsmen and smiths a thousand , all that were strong and apt for war , even them the king of Babylon brought captive to Babylon . * And the king of Babylon made Mattaniah his father 's brother king in his stead , and changed his name to Zedekiah . * Zedekiah was twenty and one years old when he began to reign , and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem . And his mother 's name was Hamutal , the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah . * And he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD , according to all that Jehoiakim had done . * For through the anger of the LORD it came to pass in Jerusalem and Judah , until he had cast them out from his presence , that Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon . * And it came to pass in the ninth year of his reign , in the tenth month , in the tenth day of the month , that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came , he , and all his host , against Jerusalem , and pitched against it ; and they built forts against it round about . * And the city was besieged unto the eleventh year of king Zedekiah . * And on the ninth day of the fourth month the famine prevailed in the city , and there was no bread for the people of the land . * And the city was broken up , and all the men of war fled by night by the way of the gate between two walls , which is by the king 's garden : (now the Chaldees were against the city round about :) and the king went the way toward the plain . * And the army of the Chaldees pursued after the king , and overtook him in the plains of Jericho : and all his army were scattered from him . * So they took the king , and brought him up to the king of Babylon to Riblah ; and they gave judgment upon him . * And they slew the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes , and put out the eyes of Zedekiah , and bound him with fetters of brass , and carried him to Babylon . * And in the fifth month , on the seventh day of the month , which is the nineteenth year of king Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon , came Nebuzaradan , captain of the guard , a servant of the king of Babylon , unto Jerusalem : * And he burnt the house of the LORD , and the king 's house , and all the houses of Jerusalem , and every great man 's house burnt he with fire . * And all the army of the Chaldees , that were with the captain of the guard , brake down the walls of Jerusalem round about . * Now the rest of the people that were left in the city , and the fugitives that fell away to the king of Babylon , with the remnant of the multitude , did Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard carry away . * But the captain of the guard left of the poor of the land to be vinedressers and husbandmen . * And the pillars of brass that were in the house of the LORD , and the bases , and the brasen sea that was in the house of the LORD , did the Chaldees break in pieces , and carried the brass of them to Babylon . * And the pots , and the shovels , and the snuffers , and the spoons , and all the vessels of brass wherewith they ministered , took they away . * And the firepans , and the bowls , and such things as were of gold , in gold , and of silver , in silver , the captain of the guard took away . * The two pillars , one sea , and the bases which Solomon had made for the house of the LORD ; the brass of all these vessels was without weight . * The height of the one pillar was eighteen cubits , and the chapiter upon it was brass : and the height of the chapiter three cubits ; and the wreathen work , and pomegranates upon the chapiter round about , all of brass : and like unto these had the second pillar with wreathen work . * And the captain of the guard took Seraiah the chief priest , and Zephaniah the second priest , and the three keepers of the door : * And out of the city he took an officer that was set over the men of war , and five men of them that were in the king 's presence , which were found in the city , and the principal scribe of the host , which mustered the people of the land , and threescore men of the people of the land that were found in the city : * And Nebuzaradan captain of the guard took these , and brought them to the king of Babylon to Riblah : * And the king of Babylon smote them , and slew them at Riblah in the land of Hamath . So Judah was carried away out of their land . * And as for the people that remained in the land of Judah , whom Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had left , even over them he made Gedaliah the son of Ahikam , the son of Shaphan , ruler . * And when all the captains of the armies , they and their men , heard that the king of Babylon had made Gedaliah governor , there came to Gedaliah to Mizpah , even Ishmael the son of Nethaniah , and Johanan the son of Careah , and Seraiah the son of Tanhumeth the Netophathite , and Jaazaniah the son of a Maachathite , they and their men . * And Gedaliah sware to them , and to their men , and said unto them , Fear not to be the servants of the Chaldees : dwell in the land , and serve the king of Babylon ; and it shall be well with you . * But it came to pass in the seventh month , that Ishmael the son of Nethaniah , the son of Elishama , of the seed royal , came , and ten men with him , and smote Gedaliah , that he died , and the Jews and the Chaldees that were with him at Mizpah . * And all the people , both small and great , and the captains of the armies , arose , and came to Egypt : for they were afraid of the Chaldees . * And it came to pass in the seven and thirtieth year of the captivity of Jehoiachin king of Judah , in the twelfth month , on the seven and twentieth day of the month , that Evilmerodach king of Babylon in the year that he began to reign did lift up the head of Jehoiachin king of Judah out of prison ; * And he spake kindly to him , and set his throne above the throne of the kings that were with him in Babylon ; * And changed his prison garments : and he did eat bread continually before him all the days of his life . * And his allowance was a continual allowance given him of the king , a daily rate for every day , all the days of his life .

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