1

1 And Mo’aḇ revolted against Yisra’ĕl after the death of Aḥaḇ.

2 And Aḥazyah fell through the lattice of his upper room in Shomeron, and was injured, and sent messengers and said to them, “Go, inquire of Ba‛al-Zeḇuḇ, the mighty one of Eqron, if I shall recover from this injury.”

3 But a messenger of יהוה spoke to Ěliyah the Tishbite, “Rise up, go up to meet the messengers of the sovereign of Shomeron, and say to them, ‘Is it because there is no Elohim in Yisra’ĕl that you are going to inquire of Ba‛al-Zeḇuḇ, the mighty one of Eqron?’

4 “So therefore, thus said יהוה, ‘You are not going to get out of the bed to which you have gone up, for you shall certainly die.’ ” And Ěliyah went.

5 And the messengers returned to him, and he said to them, “Why have you come back?”

6 And they said to him, “A man came up to meet us, and said to us, ‘Go, return to the sovereign who sent you, and say to him, “Thus said יהוה, ‘Is it because there is no Elohim in Yisra’ĕl that you are sending to inquire of Ba‛al-Zeḇuḇ, the mighty one of Eqron? Therefore you are not going to get out of the bed to which you have gone up, for you shall certainly die.’” ’ ”

7 And he said to them, “What was the man like who came up to meet you and spoke to you these words?”

8 And they answered him, “He was a hairy man, and wore a leather girdle around his waist.” And he said, “It is Ěliyah the Tishbite.”

9 He then sent to him a captain of fifty with his fifty men. And he went up to him, and see, he was sitting on the top of a hill. And he spoke to him, “Man of Elohim, the sovereign has said, ‘Come down!’ ”

10 And Ěliyahu answered and said to the captain of fifty, “And if I am a man of Elohim, let fire come down from the heavens and consume you and your fifty men.” And fire came down from the heavens and consumed him and his fifty.

11 He then sent another captain of fifty with his fifty men to him. And he answered and said to him, “Man of Elohim, this is what the sovereign said, ‘Come down at once!’ ”

12 And Ěliyah answered and said to them, “If I am a man of Elohim, let fire come down from the heavens and consume you and your fifty men.” And a fire of Elohim came down from the heavens and consumed him and his fifty.

13 And again he sent a third captain of fifty with his fifty men. And the third captain of fifty went up, and came and fell on his knees before Ěliyahu, and pleaded with him, and said to him, “Man of Elohim, please let my life and the life of these fifty servants of yours be precious in your eyes.

14 “See, fire has come down from the heavens and burned up the first two captains of fifties with their fifties. But let my life be precious in your eyes.”

15 And the Messenger of יהוה said to Ěliyahu, “Go down with him; do not be afraid of him.” So he rose up and went down with him to the sovereign,

16 and spoke to him, “Thus said יהוה, ‘Because you have sent messengers to inquire of Ba‛al-Zeḇuḇ, the mighty one of Eqron, is it because there is no Elohim in Yisra’ĕl to inquire of His word? Therefore you are not going to get out of the bed to which you have gone up, for you shall certainly die.’ ”

17 And he died, according to the word of יהוה which Ěliyahu had spoken. And Yehoram reigned in his place, in the second year of Yehoram son of Yehoshaphat sovereign of Yehuḏah, for he had no son.

18 And the rest of the acts of Aḥazyahu which he did, are they not written in the book of the annals of the sovereigns of Yisra’ĕl?

2

1 And it came to be, when יהוה was to take up Ěliyahu to the heavens by a whirlwind, that Ěliyahu went with Elisha from Gilgal.

2 And Ěliyahu said to Elisha, “Please remain here, for יהוה has sent me on to Bĕyth Ěl.” And Elisha said, “As יהוה lives, and as your being lives, I do not leave you!” And they went down to Bĕyth Ěl.

3 And the sons of the prophets who were at Bĕyth Ěl came out to Elisha, and said to him, “Do you know that יהוה is taking away your master from your head?” And he said, “I also know, be silent!”

4 And Ěliyahu said to him, “Elisha, please remain here, for יהוה has sent me on to Yeriḥo.” And he said, “As יהוה lives, and as your being lives, I do not leave you!” And they came into Yeriḥo.

5 And the sons of the prophets who were at Yeriḥo came to Elisha and said to him, “Do you know that יהוה is taking away your master from over you today?” And he said, “I also know, be silent!”

6 And Ěliyahu said to him, “Please remain here, for יהוה has sent me on to the Yardĕn.” And he said, “As יהוה lives, and as your being lives, I do not leave you!” And the two of them went on.

7 And fifty men of the sons of the prophets went and stood facing them at a distance, while the two of them stood by the Yardĕn.

8 And Ěliyahu took his mantle, and rolled it up, and struck the water. And it was divided this way and that, so that the two of them passed over on dry ground.

9 And it came to be, when they had passed over, that Ěliyahu said to Elisha, “Ask what I am to do for you, before I am taken away from you!” And Elisha said, “Please let a double portion of your spirit be upon me.”

10 And he said, “You have made it hard to ask, yet if you see me when I am taken from you, it is yours; but if not, it is not.”

11 And it came to be, as they continued on and spoke, that see, a chariot of fire with horses of fire which separated the two of them. And Ěliyahu went up by a whirlwind into the heavens.

12 And Elisha saw it, and he cried out, “My father, my father, the chariot of Yisra’ĕl and its horsemen!” And he saw him no more. Then he took hold of his garments and tore them into two pieces.

13 And he took up the mantle of Ěliyahu that had fallen from him, and went back and stood by the bank of the Yardĕn.

14 And he took the mantle of Ěliyahu that had fallen from him, and struck the water, and said, “Where is יהוה Elohim of Ěliyahu?” And he struck the water, and it was divided this way and that, and Elisha passed over.

15 And when the sons of the prophets who were from Yeriḥo saw him, they said, “The spirit of Ěliyahu rests on Elisha.” And they came to meet him, and bowed to the ground before him.

16 And they said to him, “Look, there are fifty strong men with your servants. Please let them go and search for your master, lest the Spirit of יהוה has taken him up and cast him upon some mountain or into some valley.” And he said, “Send no one.”

17 But they pressed upon him till he was ashamed, and he said, “Send.” So they sent fifty men, and they searched for three days but did not find him.

18 And they returned to him, for he remained in Yeriḥo, and he said to them, “Did I not say to you, ‘Do not go’?”

19 And the men of the city said to Elisha, “Look, the site of this city is good, as my master sees, but the waters are spoilt, and the soil barren.”

20 And he said, “Bring me a new bowl, and put salt in it.” And they brought it to him.

21 And he went out to the source of the water, and threw salt in there, and said, “Thus said יהוה, ‘I have healed this water — no longer shall death or barrenness come from it.’ ”

22 And the waters were healed, to this day, according to the word of Elisha which he spoke.

23 And he went up from there to Bĕyth Ěl. And as he was going up the way, some youths came from the city and mocked him, and said to him, “Go up, baldhead! Go up, baldhead!”

24 And he turned around and looked at them, and pronounced a curse on them in the Name of יהוה. And two female bears came out of the forest and tore to pieces forty-two of the youths.

25 And from there he went to Mount Karmel, and from there he returned to Shomeron.

3

1 And Yehoram son of Aḥaḇ began to reign over Yisra’ĕl at Shomeron in the eighteenth year of Yehoshaphat sovereign of Yehuḏah, and reigned twelve years.

2 And he did evil in the eyes of יהוה, but not like his father and mother; for he removed the statue of Ba‛al which his father had made.

3 But he clung to the sins of Yaroḇ‛am son of Neḇat, who had made Yisra’ĕl sin. He did not turn away from them.

4 And Mĕysha sovereign of Mo’aḇ was a sheep-breeder, and he paid the sovereign of Yisra’ĕl one hundred thousand lambs and the wool of one hundred thousand rams.

5 And it came to be, when Aḥaḇ died, that the sovereign of Mo’aḇ revolted against the sovereign of Yisra’ĕl.

6 And Sovereign Yehoram went out of Shomeron at that time and mustered all Yisra’ĕl.

7 And he went and sent to Yehoshaphat sovereign of Yehuḏah, saying, “The sovereign of Mo’aḇ has revolted against me. Do you go with me to fight against Mo’aḇ?” And he said, “I go up. I am as you are, my people as your people, my horses as your horses.”

8 And he said, “Which way do we go up?” And he said, “By way of the Wilderness of Eḏom.”

9 And the sovereign of Yisra’ĕl went, and the sovereign of Yehuḏah and the sovereign of Eḏom, and went round a journey of seven days. And there was no water for the army, nor for the cattle that followed them.

10 And the sovereign of Yisra’ĕl said, “What? Has יהוה called these three sovereigns to give them into the hand of Mo’aḇ.”

11 And Yehoshaphat said, “Is there no prophet of יהוה here? Then let us inquire of יהוה through him.” One of the servants of the sovereign of Yisra’ĕl then answered and said, “Elisha son of Shaphat is here, who poured water out on the hands of Ěliyahu.”

12 And Yehoshaphat said, “The word of יהוה is with him.” And the sovereign of Yisra’ĕl and Yehoshaphat and the sovereign of Eḏom went down to him.

13 And Elisha said to the sovereign of Yisra’ĕl, “What have I to do with you? Go to the prophets of your father and the prophets of your mother.” And the sovereign of Yisra’ĕl said to him, “No, for יהוה has called these three sovereigns to give them into the hand of Mo’aḇ.”

14 And Elisha said, “As יהוה of hosts lives, before whom I stand, if it were not that I regard the presence of Yehoshaphat sovereign of Yehuḏah, I would not look at you nor see you.

15 “And now, bring me a harpist.” And it came to be, when the harpist played, that the hand of יהוה came upon him.

16 And he said, “Thus said יהוה, ‘Make this wadi ditches — ditches.’

17 “For thus said יהוה, ‘You are not going to see wind, nor rain. Yet that wadi is to be filled with water, so that you, your cattle, and your beasts shall drink.’

18 “And this shall be but a light matter in the eyes of יהוה. And He shall give Mo’aḇ into your hand.

19 “And you shall strike every walled city and every choice city, and shall cut down every good tree, and stop up every fountain of water, and ruin every good piece of land with stones.”

20 And it came to be in the morning, when the grain offering was offered, that see, water came by way of Eḏom, and the land was filled with water.

21 And when all Mo’aḇ heard that the sovereigns had come up to fight against them, all who were able to bear arms and older were gathered, and they stood at the border.

22 And they rose up early in the morning, and the sun was shining on the water. And the Mo’aḇites saw the water on the other side as red as blood.

23 And they said, “This is blood. The sovereigns have indeed struck swords and have killed one another. And now, Mo’aḇ, to the spoil!”

24 And they came to the camp of Yisra’ĕl, and Yisra’ĕl rose up and struck the Mo’aḇites, so that they fled before them. And striking they struck the Mo’aḇites.

25 And they broke down the cities, and each man threw a stone on every good piece of land and filled it. And they stopped up all the fountains of water and cut down all the good trees, until only the stones of Qir Ḥaraseth was left. And the slingers went round and struck it.

26 And when the sovereign of Mo’aḇ saw that the battle was too strong for him, he took with him seven hundred men who drew swords, to break through to the sovereign of Eḏom, but they could not,

27 then took his eldest son who would have reigned in his place, and offered him as an ascending offering upon the wall. And there was great wrath against Yisra’ĕl. And they left him and returned to the land.

4

1 And a certain woman of the wives of the sons of the prophets cried out to Elisha, saying, “Your servant my husband is dead, and you know that your servant feared יהוה. And the lender has come to take my two sons to be his slaves.”

2 And Elisha said to her, “What should I do for you? Inform me, what do you have in the house?” And she said, “Your female servant has none at all in the house except a pot of oil.”

3 And he said, “Go, borrow vessels from everywhere, from all your neighbours, empty vessels, do not get a few.

4 “And when you have come in, you shall shut the door behind you and your sons. Then pour it into all those vessels, and set aside the filled ones.”

5 So she went from him and shut the door behind her and her sons, who brought the vessels to her, and she poured it out.

6 And it came to be, when the vessels were filled, that she said to her son, “Bring me another vessel.” But he said to her, “There is not another vessel.” And the oil ceased.

7 So she went and informed the man of Elohim, and he said, “Go, sell the oil and pay your debt. And you and your sons live on the rest.”

8 And it came to be on a day that Elisha went to Shunĕm, where there was a prominent woman, and she took hold of him to eat some food. And it came to be, as often as he passed by, that he turned in there to eat some food.

9 And she said to her husband, “Look, I know that this is a set-apart man of Elohim, who passes by us continually.

10 “Please, let us make a small upper room on the wall, and let us put a bed for him there, and a table and a chair and a lampstand. And it shall be, whenever he comes to us, let him turn in there.”

11 And it came to be on a day that he came there, and he turned in to the upper room and lay down there.

12 And he said to Gĕḥazi his servant, “Call this Shunammite woman.” So he called her, and she stood before him.

13 And he said to him, “Please say to her, ‘Look, you have gone to all this trouble for us. What is there to be done for you? Should I speak on your behalf to the sovereign or to the commander of the army?’ ” And she answered, “I am dwelling among my own people.”

14 And he said, “What then is to be done for her?” And Gĕḥazi answered, “Well, she has no son, and her husband is old.”

15 And he said, “Call her.” So he called her, and she stood in the doorway.

16 And he said, “About this appointed time next year you shall embrace a son.” And she said, “No, my master, man of Elohim, do not lie to your female servant!”

17 And the woman conceived, and bore a son when the appointed time had come, of which Elisha had spoken to her.

18 And the child grew. And it came to be on a day that he went out to his father, to the reapers,

19 and he said to his father, “My head, my head!” And he said to a servant, “Take him to his mother.”

20 So he took him and brought him to his mother, and he sat on her knees till noon, and died.

21 And she went up and laid him on the bed of the man of Elohim, and shut the door on him, and went out.

22 And she called to her husband, and said, “Please send me one of the young men and one of the donkeys, so that I hurry to the man of Elohim and return.”

23 And he said, “Why are you going to him today? It is neither the new moon nor the sabbath.” And she said, “It is well!”

24 And she saddled the donkey and said to her servant, “Drive and go, do not slow down, except I speak to you.”

25 And she went, and came to the man of Elohim at Mount Karmel. And it came to be, when the man of Elohim saw her at a distance, that he said to his servant Gĕḥazi, “See, the Shunammite woman.

26 “Please run now to meet her, and say to her, ‘Is it well with you? Is it well with your husband? Is it well with the child?’ ” And she answered, “It is well.”

27 And she came to the man of Elohim at the hill, and she took hold of him by the feet, but Gĕḥazi came near to push her away. But the man of Elohim said, “Leave her alone, for her being is bitter in her, and יהוה has hidden it from me, and has not revealed it to me.”

28 And she said, “Did I ask a son of my master? Did I not say, ‘Do not deceive me’?”

29 And he said to Gĕḥazi, “Gird up your loins, and take my staff in your hand, and go. When you meet anyone, do not greet him, and when anyone greets you, do not answer him. And you shall lay my staff on the face of the child.”

30 And the mother of the child said, “As יהוה lives, and as your being lives, I do not leave you.” And he rose and followed her.

31 And Gĕḥazi went on ahead of them, and laid the staff on the face of the child. But there was no voice and there was no hearing, so he went back to meet him, and reported to him, saying, “The child has not awakened.”

32 And Elisha came into the house and saw the child was dead, lying on his bed,

33 and he went in, and shut the door behind the two of them, and prayed to יהוה.

34 And he went up and lay on the child, and put his mouth on his mouth, and his eyes on his eyes, and his hands on his hands, and stretched himself out on the child, and the flesh of the child became warm.

35 And he returned and walked back and forth in the house, then went up and stretched himself out on him. And the child sneezed seven times, and the child opened his eyes.

36 And he called Gĕḥazi and said, “Call this Shunammite.” So he called her. And she came in to him, and he said, “Pick up your son.”

37 Then she went in and fell at his feet, and bowed herself to the ground, and picked up her son and went out.

38 And Elisha returned to Gilgal. And the scarcity of food was in the land, and the sons of the prophets were sitting before him. And he said to his servant, “Put on the large pot, and cook stew for the sons of the prophets.”

39 And one went out to the field to gather plants, and found a wild vine, and gathered wild cucumbers from it, filling the skirt of his garment, and came and sliced them into the pot of stew, though they did not know what they were.

40 They then served it to the men to eat. And it came to be, as they were eating the stew, that they cried out and said, “O man of Elohim, there is death in the pot!” And they were unable to eat it.

41 And he said, “Then bring some flour.” And he put it into the pot, and said, “Serve it to the people to eat.” And there was no evil matter in the pot.

42 Now a man came from Ba‛al Shalishah, and brought the man of Elohim bread of the first-fruits, twenty loaves of barley bread, and newly ripened grain in his knapsack. And he said, “Give it to the people to eat.”

43 And his servant said, “What? Do I set this before one hundred men?” And he said, “Give it to the people to eat. For thus said יהוה, ‘Eat and have some left over.’ ”

44 And he set it before them, and they ate and had some left over, according to the word of יהוה.

5

1 And Na‛aman, commander of the army of the sovereign of Aram, was a great man in the eyes of his master, and highly respected, because by him יהוה had given deliverance to Aram. And he was a brave man, but leprous.

2 And the Arameans had gone out on raids, and had brought back captive a young girl from the land of Yisra’ĕl, and she served the wife of Na‛aman.

3 And she said to her mistress, “If only my master were with the prophet who is in Shomeron! Then he would recover him of his leprosy.”

4 And Na‛aman went in and reported to his master, saying, “Thus and thus spoke the girl who is from the land of Yisra’ĕl.”

5 And the sovereign of Aram said, “Go, enter, and let me send a letter to the sovereign of Yisra’ĕl.” And he went and took with him ten talents of silver, and six thousand pieces of gold, and ten changes of garments.

6 And he brought the letter to the sovereign of Yisra’ĕl, which said, “And now, when this letter comes to you, see I have sent Na‛aman my servant to you, so that you shall recover him of his leprosy.”

7 And it came to be, when the sovereign of Yisra’ĕl read the letter, that he tore his garments and said, “Am I Elohim, to kill and keep alive, that this man sends a man to me to recover him of his leprosy? For consider now, and see how he is seeking an occasion with me!”

8 And it came to be, when Elisha the man of Elohim heard that the sovereign of Yisra’ĕl had torn his garments, that he sent to the sovereign, saying, “Why have you torn your garments? Please let him come to me, so that he knows that there is a prophet in Yisra’ĕl.”

9 So Na‛aman came with his horses and chariot, and he stood at the entrance of the house of Elisha.

10 And Elisha sent a messenger to him, saying, “Go, and you shall wash seven times in the Yardĕn, that your flesh might be restored to you, and be clean.”

11 But Na‛aman became wroth, and went away and said, “See, I said to myself, ‘He would certainly come out to me, and stand and call on the Name of יהוה his Elohim, and wave his hand over the place, and recover the leprosy.’

12 “Are not the Aḇanah and the Pharpar, the rivers of Dammeseq, better than all the waters of Yisra’ĕl? Could I not wash in them and be clean?” And he turned and went away in a rage.

13 And his servants came near and spoke to him, and said, “My father, if the prophet had spoken to you a great matter, would you not have done it? How much more then, when he says to you, ‘Wash, and be clean’?”

14 Then he went down and dipped seven times in the Yardĕn, according to the word of the man of Elohim. And his flesh was restored like the flesh of a little child, and he was clean.

15 And he returned to the man of Elohim, he and all his company, and came and stood before him and said, “See, now I know that there is no Elohim in all the earth, except in Yisra’ĕl. And now, please take a gift from your servant.”

16 But he said, “As יהוה lives, before whom I stand, I do not accept it.” And he pressed on him to accept it, but he refused.

17 Then Na‛aman said, “If not, please let your servant be given two mule-loads of earth, for no longer is your servant going to make an ascending offering and slaughtering to other mighty ones, but to יהוה.

18 “יהוה grant forgiveness to your servant in this matter: when my master goes into the house of Rimmon to worship there, and he leans on my hand, and I bow down in the house of Rimmon; when I bow down in the house of Rimmon, יהוה, please grant forgiveness to your servant in this matter.”

19 And he said to him, “Go in peace.” And he went from him some distance.

20 And Gĕḥazi, the servant of Elisha the man of Elohim, said, “Look, my master has spared Na‛aman this Aramean, while not receiving from his hands what he brought. But as יהוה lives, I shall run after him and take whatever from him.”

21 And Gĕḥazi pursued Na‛aman. And when Na‛aman saw him running after him, he came down from the chariot to meet him, and said, “Is there peace?”

22 And he said, “Peace. My master has sent me, saying, ‘Look, even now two young men of the sons of the prophets have come to me from the mountains of Ephrayim. Please give them a talent of silver and two changes of garments.’ ”

23 And Na‛aman said, “Please accept two talents.” And he urged him, and bound two talents of silver in two bags, with two changes of garments, and handed them to two of his servants. And they bore them ahead of him.

24 And when he came to the high place, he took them from their hand, and stored them away in the house, and let the men go, and they went.

25 And he went in and stood before his master, and Elisha said to him, “Where did you go, Gĕḥazi?” And he said, “Your servant did not go anywhere.”

26 But he said to him, “Did not my heart go with you when the man turned back from his chariot to meet you? Is it time to accept silver and to accept garments, and olive-trees and vineyards, and sheep and cattle, and male and female servants?

27 “So let the leprosy of Na‛aman cling to you and your descendants forever.” And he went out from him as leprous as snow.

6

1 And the sons of the prophets said to Elisha, “See, the place where we dwell with you is too small for us.

2 “Please, let us go to the Yardĕn, and let every man take a log from there, and let us make there a place to dwell.” And he answered, “Go.”

3 Then the one said, “Please undertake to go with your servants.” And he answered, “I shall go.”

4 And he went with them, and they came to the Yardĕn, and they cut down trees.

5 And it came to be, as one was cutting down a tree, that the iron axe head fell into the water. And he cried out and said, “Oh my master, for it was borrowed!”

6 And the man of Elohim said, “Where did it fall?” And he showed him the place. And he cut off a stick, and threw it in there, and made the iron float.

7 And he said, “Pick it up.” And he reached out his hand and took it.

8 And the sovereign of Aram was fighting against Yisra’ĕl, and took counsel with his servants, saying, “My camp is in such and such a place.”

9 And the man of Elohim sent to the sovereign of Yisra’ĕl, saying, “Be on guard, do not pass this place, for the Arameans are coming down there.”

10 The sovereign of Yisra’ĕl then sent to the place of which the man of Elohim had spoken to him, and warned him, so that he was on his guard there, not once, and not twice.

11 And this greatly troubled the heart of the sovereign of Aram. And he called his servants and said to them, “Declare to me! Who of us is for the sovereign of Yisra’ĕl?”

12 And one of his servants said, “None, my master, O sovereign, for Elisha, the prophet who is in Yisra’ĕl, declares to the sovereign of Yisra’ĕl the words that you speak in your bedroom.”

13 And he said, “Go and see where he is, so that I send and get him.” And it was reported to him, saying, “See, he is in Dothan.”

14 And he sent horses and chariots and a great army there, and they came by night and surrounded the city.

15 And the servant of the man of Elohim rose early and went out, and saw an army, surrounding the city with horses and chariots. And his servant said to him, “Oh, my master! What do we do?”

16 And he answered, “Do not fear, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them.”

17 And Elisha prayed, and said, “יהוה, I pray, open his eyes and let him see.” And יהוה opened the eyes of the young man, and he looked and saw the mountain covered with horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.

18 And when they came down to him, Elisha prayed to יהוה, and said, “Strike this nation with blindness, I pray.” And He struck them with blindness according to the word of Elisha.

19 And Elisha said to them, “This is not the way, nor is this the city. Follow me, and let me bring you to the man whom you seek.” But he led them to Shomeron.

20 And it came to be, when they had come to Shomeron, that Elisha said, “יהוה, open the eyes of these men so that they see.” And יהוה opened their eyes, and they looked and saw they were in the midst of Shomeron!

21 And when the sovereign of Yisra’ĕl saw them, he said to Elisha, “My father, should I strike? Should I strike?”

22 But he said, “Do not strike. Do you strike those whom you have taken captive with your sword and your bow? Set food and water before them and let them eat and drink and go to their master.”

23 And he made a great feast for them. And after they ate and drank, he let them go, and they went to their master. And the bands of Aramean raiders came no more into the land of Yisra’ĕl.

24 And after this it came to be that Ben-Haḏaḏ the sovereign of Aram mustered all his army, and went up and besieged Shomeron.

25 And there was a great scarcity of food in Shomeron. And see, they besieged it until a donkey’s head went at eighty pieces of silver, and one-fourth of a kab of dove droppings for five pieces of silver.

26 And it came to be, as the sovereign of Yisra’ĕl was passing by on the wall, a woman cried out to him, saying, “Help, my master, O sovereign!”

27 And he said, “If יהוה does not help you, where do I find help for you? From the threshing floor or from the winepress?”

28 And the sovereign said to her, “What is troubling you?” And she answered, “This woman said to me, ‘Give your son and let us eat him today, and tomorrow we eat my son.’

29 “So we cooked my son, and ate him. And I said to her on the next day, ‘Give your son and let us eat him.’ But she has hidden her son.”

30 And it came to be, when the sovereign heard the words of the woman, that he tore his garments. And as he passed by on the wall, the people looked and saw the sackcloth on his body, underneath.

31 And he said, “Elohim do so to me and more also, if the head of Elisha son of Shaphat remains on him today.”

32 And Elisha was sitting in his house, and the elders were sitting with him. And the sovereign sent a man ahead of him, but before the messenger came to him, he said to the elders, “Do you see how this son of a murderer has sent someone to take away my head? Look, when the messenger comes, shut the door, and hold him fast at the door. Is not the sound of his master’s feet behind him?”

33 While he was still speaking with them, then see, the messenger came down to him, and he said, “Look, this evil is from יהוה, why should I wait for יהוה any longer?”

7

1 And Elisha said, “Hear the word of יהוה. Thus said יהוה, ‘About this time tomorrow a seah of fine flour for a sheqel, and two seahs of barley for a sheqel, at the gate of Shomeron.’ ”

2 And an officer on whose hand the sovereign leaned answered the man of Elohim and said, “Look, if יהוה is making windows in the heavens, shall this word come true?” And he said, “Look, you are about to see it with your eyes, but not eat of it.”

3 And there were four leprous men at the entrance of the gate. And they said to each other, “Why are we sitting here until we are dead?

4 “If we shall say, ‘Let us go into the city,’ the scarcity of food is in the city, and we shall die there. And if we sit here, we shall die. And now, come, let us surrender to the army of the Arameans. If they keep us alive, we live. And if they kill us, we shall die.”

5 So at twilight they rose up to go to the camp of the Arameans. And when they had come to the outskirts of the Aramean camp, look, no one was there.

6 For יהוה had caused the army of the Arameans to hear the noise of chariots and the noise of horses, the noise of a great army, and they said to each other, “Look, the sovereign of Yisra’ĕl has hired against us the sovereigns of the Ḥittites and the sovereigns of the Mitsrians to come against us!”

7 So they rose up and fled at twilight, and left the camp as it is — their tents, and their horses, and their donkeys — and they fled for their lives.

8 And when these lepers came to the outskirts of the camp, they went into one tent and ate and drank, and took from there silver and gold and garments, and went and hid them. And they came back and went into another tent, and took from there and went and hid it.

9 Then they said to each other, “We are not doing right. This day is a day of good news, and we are keeping silent. And if we wait until morning light, then evil shall come upon us. And now, come, let us go and inform the house of the sovereign.”

10 And they came and called to the gatekeepers of the city, and informed them, saying, “We went to the camp of Aram, and look, there is not a man or a voice of man, only horses tied and donkeys tied, and the tents as they were.”

11 And the gatekeepers called, and they informed the house of the sovereign inside.

12 So the sovereign rose up in the night and said to his servants, “Let me now inform you what the Arameans have done to us. They know that we are starving, so they have gone out of the camp to hide themselves in the field, saying, ‘When they come out of the city, we shall catch them alive, and enter into the city.’ ”

13 And one of his servants answered and said, “Please, let some take five of the horses that are left in the city. Look, they are like the entire crowd of Yisra’ĕl that are left in it, look, they are like the entire crowd of Yisra’ĕl left from those who are consumed. So let us send and see.”

14 They then took two chariots with horses. And the sovereign sent them in the direction of the camp of Aram, saying, “Go and see.”

15 And they went after them to the Yardĕn. And look, all the way was littered with garments and weapons which the Arameans had thrown away in their haste. And the messengers returned and reported to the sovereign.

16 Then the people went out and plundered the camp of Aram. So a seah of fine flour was for a sheqel, and two seahs of barley for a sheqel, according to the word of יהוה.

17 And the sovereign had appointed the officer on whose hand he leaned to be in charge of the gate. But the people trampled him in the gate, and he died, as the man of Elohim had said, who spoke when the sovereign came down to him.

18 And it came to be, as the man of Elohim had spoken to the sovereign, saying, “Two seahs of barley for a sheqel, and a seah of fine flour for a sheqel, at this time tomorrow in the gate of Shomeron,”

19 that officer answered the man of Elohim, and said, “Now look, if יהוה is making windows in the heavens, is it according to this word?” And he had said, “Look, you are about to see it with your eyes, but not eat of it.”

20 And so it came to be for him, for the people trampled him in the gate, and he died.

8

1 And Elisha spoke to the woman whose son he had restored to life, saying, “Rise up and go, you and your household, and sojourn wherever you do sojourn, for יהוה has called for a scarcity of food, and also, it is coming upon the land for seven years.”

2 And the woman rose up and did according to the word of the man of Elohim, and she went with her household and sojourned in the land of the Philistines, seven years.

3 And it came to be, at the end of seven years, that the woman returned from the land of the Philistines. And she went to cry out to the sovereign for her house and for her land.

4 And the sovereign was speaking to Gĕḥazi, the servant of the man of Elohim, saying, “Please relate to me all the great matters Elisha has done.”

5 And it came to be, as he was relating to the sovereign how he had restored the dead to life, that see, the woman whose son he had restored to life, was crying out to the sovereign for her house and for her land. And Gĕḥazi said, “My master, O sovereign, this is the woman, and this is her son whom Elisha restored to life.”

6 So the sovereign asked the woman, and she related to him. And the sovereign appointed a certain eunuch for her, saying, “Return all that was hers, and all the increase of the field from the day that she left the land until now.”

7 And Elisha came to Dammeseq, and Ben-Haḏaḏ sovereign of Aram was sick. And it was reported to him, saying, “The man of Elohim has come here.”

8 And the sovereign said to Ḥaza’ĕl, “Take a present in your hand, and go to meet the man of Elohim, and inquire of יהוה by him, saying, ‘Do I recover from this sickness?’ ”

9 And Ḥaza’ĕl went to meet him and took a present with him, of all the good wares of Dammeseq, forty camel-loads. And he came and stood before him, and said, “Your son Ben-Haḏaḏ sovereign of Aram has sent me to you, saying, ‘Do I recover from this sickness?’ ”

10 And Elisha said to him, “Go, say to him, ‘You shall certainly recover.’ But יהוה has shown me that he shall certainly die.”

11 And he looked at him steadily until he was ashamed. Then the man of Elohim wept.

12 And Ḥaza’ĕl said, “Why is my master weeping?” And he answered, “Because I know the evil that you are going to do to the children of Yisra’ĕl: Setting their strongholds on fire, and killing their young men with the sword, and dashing their children, and ripping open their women with child.”

13 And Ḥaza’ĕl said, “But what is your servant — a dog, that he should perform this great matter?” And Elisha answered, “יהוה has shown that you are to be sovereign over Aram!”

14 And he left Elisha, and came to his master, who said to him, “What did Elisha say to you?” And he answered, “He said to me that you shall certainly recover.”

15 And on the next day it came to be that he took a thick cloth and dipped it in water, and spread it over his face so that he died. And Ḥaza’ĕl reigned in his place.

16 And in the fifth year of Yoram son of Aḥaḇ sovereign of Yisra’ĕl — Yehoshaphat was sovereign of Yehuḏah — Yehoram son of Yehoshaphat began to reign as sovereign of Yehuḏah.

17 He was thirty-two years old when he began to reign, and he reigned eight years in Yerushalayim.

18 And he walked in the way of the sovereigns of Yisra’ĕl, as the house of Aḥaḇ had done, for the daughter of Aḥaḇ was his wife. And he did evil in the eyes of יהוה.

19 However, יהוה would not destroy Yehuḏah, for the sake of Dawiḏ His servant, as He promised him to give a lamp to him and his sons forever.

20 In his days Eḏom revolted from under the hand of Yehuḏah, and made a sovereign over themselves.

21 And Yoram passed over to Tsa‛ir, and all his chariots with him. And he rose by night and struck the Eḏomites who had surrounded him and the commanders of the chariots, but his people fled to their tents.

22 Yet Eḏom has been in revolt from under the hand of Yehuḏah to this day. Then Liḇnah revolted at the same time.

23 And the rest of the acts of Yoram, and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the annals of the sovereigns of Yehuḏah?

24 So Yoram slept with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in the City of Dawiḏ. And Aḥazyahu his son reigned in his place.

25 In the twelfth year of Yoram son of Aḥaḇ sovereign of Yisra’ĕl, Aḥazyahu son of Yehoram sovereign of Yehuḏah began to reign.

26 Aḥazyahu was twenty-two years old when he began to reign, and he reigned one year in Yerushalayim. And the name of his mother was Athalyahu, the granddaughter of Omri, sovereign of Yisra’ĕl.

27 And he walked in the way of the house of Aḥaḇ, and did evil in the eyes of יהוה, as the house of Aḥaḇ had done, for he was the son-in-law of the house of Aḥaḇ.

28 And he went with Yoram son of Aḥaḇ to battle against Ḥaza’ĕl sovereign of Aram at Ramoth Gil‛aḏ, and the Arameans struck Yoram.

29 And Sovereign Yoram went back to Yizre‛ĕl to recover from the wounds with which the Arameans had stricken him at Ramah, when he fought against Ḥaza’ĕl sovereign of Aram. Then Aḥazyahu son of Yehoram, the sovereign of Yehuḏah, went down to see Yoram son of Aḥaḇ in Yizre‛ĕl, for he was sick.

9

1 And Elisha the prophet called one of the sons of the prophets, and said to him, “Gird your loins and take this flask of oil in your hand, and go to Ramoth Gil‛aḏ.

2 “And you shall go there and look there for Yĕhu son of Yehoshaphat, son of Nimshi, and go in and make him rise up from among his brothers, and take him to an inner room,

3 “and take the flask of oil, and pour it on his head, and say, ‘Thus said יהוה, “I have anointed you sovereign over Yisra’ĕl.” ’ Then you shall open the door and flee, and do not wait.”

4 So the young man — the young man the prophet — went to Ramoth Gil‛aḏ,

5 and came in and saw the commanders of the army sitting. And he said, “I have a message for you, O commander.” And Yĕhu said, “For which one of us?” And he said, “For you, commander.”

6 And he rose up and went into the house. And he poured the oil on his head, and said to him, “Thus said יהוה Elohim of Yisra’ĕl, ‘I have anointed you sovereign over the people of יהוה, over Yisra’ĕl.

7 And you shall strike the house of Aḥaḇ your master, and I shall avenge the blood of My servants the prophets, and the blood of all the servants of יהוה, at the hand of Izeḇel.

8 And all the house of Aḥaḇ shall perish. And I shall cut off from Aḥaḇ all the males in Yisra’ĕl, both those shut up and those left at large.

9 And I shall give up the house of Aḥaḇ like the house of Yaroḇ‛am son of Neḇat, and like the house of Ba‛asha son of Aḥiyah.

10 And the dogs are going to eat Izeḇel in the portion of Yizre‛ĕl, with none to bury her.’ ” Then he opened the door and fled.

11 And Yĕhu came out to the servants of his master, and one said to him, “Is there peace? Why did this madman come to you?” And he said to them, “You know the man and his talk.”

12 And they said, “A lie! Reveal it to us now.” So he said, “Thus and thus he spoke to me, saying, ‘Thus said יהוה, “I have anointed you sovereign over Yisra’ĕl.” ’ ”

13 And they hurried, and each one took his garment and put it under him on the top of the steps. And they blew with the shophar, saying, “Yĕhu reigns!”

14 Thus Yĕhu son of Yehoshaphat, son of Nimshi, conspired against Yoram — now Yoram had been guarding Ramoth Gil‛aḏ, he and all Yisra’ĕl, against Ḥaza’ĕl sovereign of Aram.

15 But Sovereign Yehoram had returned to Yizre‛ĕl to recover from the wounds with which the Arameans had stricken him when he fought with Ḥaza’ĕl sovereign of Aram — Yĕhu now said, “If this is your desire, let no one leave or escape from the city to go and make it known in Yizre‛ĕl!”

16 And Yĕhu rode in a chariot and went to Yizre‛ĕl, for Yoram was laid up there. And Aḥazyah sovereign of Yehuḏah had come down to see Yoram.

17 And a watchman stood on the tower in Yizre‛ĕl, and he saw the company of Yĕhu as he came, and said, “I see a company of men.” And Yehoram said, “Get a horseman and send him to meet them, and let him say, ‘Is there peace?’ ”

18 And the horseman went to meet him, and said, “Thus said the sovereign, ‘Is there peace?’ ” And Yĕhu said, “What have you to do with peace? Turn around and follow me.” And the watchman spoke, saying, “The messenger went to them, but is not coming back.”

19 Then he sent out a second horseman who came to them, and said, “Thus said the sovereign, ‘Is there peace?’ ” And Yĕhu answered, “What have you to do with peace? Turn around and follow me.”

20 And the watchman spoke, saying, “He went up to them and is not coming back. And the driving is like the driving of Yĕhu son of Nimshi, for he drives madly!”

21 Then Yehoram said, “Hitch up.” And his chariot was hitched up. And Yehoram sovereign of Yisra’ĕl and Aḥazyahu sovereign of Yehuḏah went out, each in his chariot. And they went out to meet Yĕhu, and met him on the portion of Naḇoth the Yizre‛ĕlite.

22 And it came to be, when Yehoram saw Yĕhu, that he said, “Is there peace, Yĕhu?” But he answered, “What peace, as long as the whorings of your mother Izeḇel and her witchcraft are so many?”

23 Thereupon Yehoram turned his hands around and fled, and said to Aḥazyahu, “Treachery, O Aḥazyah!”

24 And Yĕhu drew his bow and struck Yehoram between his arms. And the arrow came out at his heart, and he sank down in his chariot.

25 And Yĕhu said to Biḏqar his officer, “Take him up, and throw him into the portion of the field of Naḇoth the Yizre‛ĕlite. Remember how you and I were riding together behind Aḥaḇ his father, and יהוה lifted up this pronouncement against him:

26 Have I not seen the blood of Naḇoth and the blood of his sons last night?’ declares יהוה. ‘And I shall repay you in this portion,’ declares יהוה. And now, take up, throw him on the portion, according to the word of יהוה.”

27 And Aḥazyah sovereign of Yehuḏah saw this and fled up the way to Bĕyth Haggan. And Yĕhu pursued him, and said, “Strike him, him too, in the chariot,” at the ascent to Gur, which is by Yiḇle‛am. And he fled to Meḡiddo, and died there.

28 Then his servants conveyed him in the chariot to Yerushalayim, and buried him in his burial-place with his fathers in the City of Dawiḏ.

29 And in the eleventh year of Yoram son of Aḥaḇ, Aḥazyah began to reign over Yehuḏah.

30 And Yĕhu came to Yizre‛ĕl, and Izeḇel heard of it. And she put paint on her eyes and adorned her head, and looked through a window.

31 And as Yĕhu came to the gate, she said, “Is it peace, Zimri, killer of your master?”

32 And he lifted up his face to the window and said, “Who is with me? Who?” And two, three eunuchs looked down to him.

33 And he said, “Throw her down.” And they threw her down, and some of her blood spattered on the wall and on the horses, and he trampled her under foot.

34 And he went in, and he ate and drank, and said, “Go now, see to this cursed one, and bury her, for she was a sovereign’s daughter.”

35 So they went to bury her, but all they found of her was the skull and the feet and the palms of the hands.

36 And they came back and informed him. And he said, “This is the word of יהוה, which He spoke by His servant Ěliyahu the Tishbite, saying, ‘In the portion of Yizre‛ĕl dogs are going to eat the flesh of Izeḇel,

37 and the corpse of Izeḇel shall be as dung on the surface of the field, in the portion of Yizre‛ĕl, so that they do not say, “This is Izeḇel.” ’ ”

10

1 And Aḥaḇ had seventy sons in Shomeron. And Yĕhu wrote letters and sent to Shomeron, to the rulers of Yizre‛ĕl, to the elders, and to the guardians of Aḥaḇ, saying,

2 And now, when this letter comes to you, since your master’s sons are with you, and you have chariots and horses, and a walled city, and weapons,

3 choose the best and most upright of your master’s sons, and set him on his father’s throne, and fight for your master’s house.

4 And they were greatly afraid, and said, “Look, two sovereigns have not stood before him, how do we stand, we?”

5 And he who was over the house, and he who was over the city, the elders also, and the guardians, sent to Yĕhu, saying, “We are your servants, and all that you say to us we do. We do not set up anyone to reign. Do what is good in your eyes.”

6 And he wrote a second letter to them, saying, If you are for me, and if you obey my voice, take the heads of the men, your master’s sons, and come to me at Yizre‛ĕl by this time tomorrow. Now the sovereign’s sons, seventy beings, were with the great men of the city, who brought them up.

7 And it came to be, when the letter came to them, that they took the sovereign’s sons and slew them, seventy men, and put their heads in baskets and sent them to him at Yizre‛ĕl.

8 Then a messenger came and informed him, saying, “They have brought the heads of the sovereign’s sons.” And he said, “Make them two heaps at the entrance of the gate until morning.”

9 And it came to be, in the morning, that he went out and stood, and said to all the people, “You are righteous. Look, I conspired against my master and killed him, but who struck all these?

10 “Know now that not one word of יהוה which יהוה spoke concerning the house of Aḥaḇ does fall to the ground, for יהוה has done what He spoke by His servant Ěliyahu.”

11 And Yĕhu struck all those left of the house of Aḥaḇ in Yizre‛ĕl, and all his great men and his friends and his priests, until he left him without a survivor.

12 And he rose up to go, and went to Shomeron. On the way, at Bĕyth Ěqeḏ of the Shepherds,

13 Yĕhu met the brothers of Aḥazyahu sovereign of Yehuḏah, and said, “Who are you?” And they answered, “We are brothers of Aḥazyahu, and we have come down to greet the sons of the sovereign and the sons of the sovereigness mother.”

14 And he said, “Take them alive!” So they took them alive, and slew them at the well of Bĕyth Ěqeḏ, forty-two men, and he left none of them.

15 And he left there and met Yehonaḏaḇ son of Rĕḵaḇ, coming to meet him, and blessed him and said to him, “Is your heart right, as my heart is toward your heart?” And Yehonaḏaḇ answered, “It is.” Yĕhu said, “If it is, give me your hand.” And he gave him his hand, and he took him up to him into the chariot.

16 And he said, “Come with me, and see my ardour for יהוה.” And they made him ride in his chariot.

17 And he came to Shomeron, and struck all those left of Aḥaḇ in Shomeron, till he had destroyed them, according to the word of יהוה which He spoke to Ěliyahu.

18 And Yĕhu gathered all the people and said to them, “Aḥaḇ served Ba‛al a little; Yĕhu serves him much.

19 “And now, call to me all the prophets of Ba‛al, all his servants, and all his priests. Let no one be missing, for I have a great slaughtering to make to Ba‛al. Anyone who is lacking shall not live!” But Yĕhu did this deceptively, in order to destroy the servants of Ba‛al.

20 And Yĕhu said, “Set apart an assembly for Ba‛al.” So they proclaimed it.

21 And Yĕhu sent throughout all Yisra’ĕl, and all the servants of Ba‛al came, so that there was not a man left who did not come. And they came into the house of Ba‛al, and the house of Ba‛al was filled from end to end.

22 And he said to him who was over the wardrobe, “Bring out garments for all the servants of Ba‛al.” And he brought out garments for them.

23 And Yĕhu and Yehonaḏaḇ son of Rĕḵaḇ went into the house of Ba‛al, and said to the servants of Ba‛al, “Search and see that no servants of יהוה are here with you, but only the servants of Ba‛al.”

24 So they went in to make slaughterings and ascending offerings. Now Yĕhu had appointed for himself eighty men on the outside, and had said, “The man who lets escape any of the men whom I have brought into your hands — his life for his life!”

25 And it came to be, when he had finished making the ascending offering, Yĕhu said to the guard and to the officers, “Go in, strike them, let no one come out!” And they struck them with the edge of the sword, and the guards and the officers threw them out, and went into the inner room of the house of Ba‛al,

26 and brought out the pillars of the house of Ba‛al and burned them,

27 and broke down the statue of Ba‛al, and broke down the house of Ba‛al and made it a latrine to this day.

28 Thus Yĕhu destroyed Ba‛al out of Yisra’ĕl.

29 However, Yĕhu did not turn away from the sins of Yaroḇ‛am son of Neḇat, who had made Yisra’ĕl sin, from the golden calves that were at Bĕyth Ěl and Dan.

30 And יהוה said to Yĕhu, “Because you have done well by doing what is right in My eyes, and have done to the house of Aḥaḇ all that was in My heart, your sons are going to sit on the throne of Yisra’ĕl to the fourth generation.”

31 But Yĕhu did not guard to walk in the Torah of יהוה Elohim of Yisra’ĕl with all his heart. For he did not turn away from the sins of Yaroḇ‛am, who had made Yisra’ĕl sin.

32 In those days יהוה began to cut off some in Yisra’ĕl. And Ḥaza’ĕl struck them throughout all the border of Yisra’ĕl,

33 from the Yardĕn to the sun-rising: all the land of Gil‛aḏ — the Gaḏites, and the Re’uḇĕnites, and the Menashshehites — from Aro‛ĕr, which is by the wadi Arnon, including Gil‛aḏ and Bashan.

34 And the rest of the acts of Yĕhu, and all that he did, and all his might, are they not written in the book of the annals of the sovereigns of Yisra’ĕl?

35 So Yĕhu slept with his fathers, and they buried him in Shomeron. And Yeho’aḥaz his son reigned in his place.

36 And the days that Yĕhu reigned over Yisra’ĕl in Shomeron were twenty-eight years.

11

1 And Athalyah was the mother of Aḥazyahu. And when she saw that her son was dead, she arose and destroyed all the offspring of the reign.

2 But Yehosheḇa, the daughter of Sovereign Yoram, sister of Aḥazyahu, took Yo’ash son of Aḥazyah, and stole him away from among the sons of the sovereign’s sons who were put to death. So they hid him and his nurse in the bedroom, from Athalyahu, and he was not put to death.

3 And he remained with her in hiding in the House of יהוה for six years, while Athalyah was reigning over the land.

4 And in the seventh year Yehoyaḏa sent and brought the commanders of hundreds, with the Karites and the runners, and brought them into the House of יהוה to him. And he made a covenant with them and took an oath from them in the House of יהוה, and showed them the son of the sovereign.

5 And he commanded them, saying, “This is what you are to do: One-third of you who come in on the Sabbath to be on guard in the sovereign’s house,

6 and one-third at the gate of Sur, and one-third at the gate behind the runners. And you shall be on guard in the house, lest it be broken down.

7 “And the two detachments of you who are going out on the Sabbath shall be on guard in the House of יהוה for the sovereign.

8 “And you shall surround the sovereign on all sides, every man with his weapons in his hand. And whoever comes within the ranks, let him be put to death. And be with the sovereign as he goes out and as he comes in.”

9 So the commanders of the hundreds did according to all that Yehoyaḏa the priest commanded. And each of them took his men who were going in on the Sabbath, with those who were going out on the Sabbath, and came to Yehoyaḏa the priest.

10 And the priest gave the commanders of hundreds the spears and shields which had belonged to Sovereign Dawiḏ, that were in the House of יהוה.

11 And the runners stood, every man with his weapons in his hand, all around the sovereign, from the right side of the House to the left side of the House, by the slaughter-place and the House.

12 And he brought out the son of the sovereign and put on him the diadem and the Witness. And they set him up to reign and anointed him, and they clapped their hands and said, “Let the sovereign live!”

13 And Athalyah heard the noise of the runners, the people, and she came to the people, into the House of יהוה,

14 and looked and saw the sovereign standing by a column, according to the ruling, and the chiefs and the trumpeters were beside the sovereign, and all the people of the land rejoicing and blowing trumpets. And Athalyah tore her garments and cried out, “Treason! Treason!”

15 And Yehoyaḏa the priest commanded the commanders of the hundreds, the officers of the army, and said to them, “Take her outside the ranks, and slay with the sword whoever follows her.” For the priest had said, “Do not let her be killed in the House of יהוה.”

16 So they took hold of her, and she went by way of the horses’ entrance to the sovereign’s house, and was put to death there.

17 And Yehoyaḏa made a covenant between יהוה and the sovereign and the people, to be the people of יהוה — also between the sovereign and the people.

18 And all the people of the land went to the house of Ba‛al, and broke it down. They completely broke up its slaughter-places and images, and killed Mattan the priest of Ba‛al before the slaughter-places. And the priest appointed inspectors over the House of יהוה,

19 and took the commanders of hundreds, and the Karites, and the runners, and all the people of the land. And they brought the sovereign down from the House of יהוה, and went by way of the gate of the runners to the sovereign’s house. And he sat on the throne of the sovereigns.

20 And all the people of the land rejoiced. And the city had rest, for they had slain Athalyahu with the sword in the sovereign’s house.

21 Yeho’ash was seven years old when he began to reign.

12

1 Yeho’ash began to reign in the seventh year of Yĕhu, and he reigned forty years in Yerushalayim. And his mother’s name was Tsiḇyah of Be’ĕrsheḇa.

2 And Yeho’ash did what was right in the eyes of יהוה all the days in which Yehoyaḏa the priest instructed him.

3 However, the high places were not taken away; the people still slaughtered and burned incense on the high places.

4 And Yeho’ash said to the priests, “All the silver of the set-apart gifts that are brought into the House of יהוה, the silver coming over, each man’s assessment silver, all the silver that a man purposes in his heart to bring into the House of יהוה,

5 let the priests take for themselves, each from his friend. And let them strengthen the breaches of the House, wherever there is a breach.”

6 And it came to be, by the twenty-third year of Sovereign Yeho’ash, that the priests had not strengthened the breaches of the House,

7 and Sovereign Yeho’ash called Yehoyaḏa the priest and the other priests, and said to them, “Why have you not strengthened the breaches of the House? And now, do not take any more silver from your friends, but give it for the breaches of the House.”

8 And the priests agreed that they would neither receive any more silver from the people, nor strengthen the breaches of the House.

9 And Yehoyaḏa the priest took a chest, and bored a hole in its lid, and set it beside the slaughter-place, on the right side as one comes into the House of יהוה. And the priests who guarded the door put there all the silver that was brought into the House of יהוה.

10 And it came to be, whenever they saw that there was much silver in the chest, that the sovereign’s scribe and the high priest came up and put it in bags, and counted the silver that was found in the House of יהוה,

11 and gave the silver, weighed out, into the hands of those who did the work, who had the oversight of the House of יהוה. And they paid it out to the carpenters and builders who worked on the House of יהוה,

12 and to stonemasons and stonecutters, and for buying timber and hewn stone to strengthen the breach of the House of יהוה, and for all that was paid out to strengthen the House.

13 However there were not made for the House of יהוה basins of silver, snuffers, sprinkling-bowls, trumpets, any objects of gold, or objects of silver, from the silver that was brought into the House of יהוה,

14 for they gave that to the workmen, and they strengthened the House of יהוה with it.

15 And they did not reckon with the men into whose hand they gave the silver to be paid to workmen, for they acted trustworthily.

16 The silver from the trespass offerings and the silver from the sin offerings was not brought into the House of יהוה. It belonged to the priests.

17 And Ḥaza’ĕl sovereign of Aram went up and fought against Gath, and captured it. And Ḥaza’ĕl set his face to go up to Yerushalayim.

18 And Yeho’ash sovereign of Yehuḏah took all the set-apart gifts that his fathers, Yehoshaphat and Yehoram and Aḥazyahu, sovereigns of Yehuḏah, had set apart, and his own set-apart gifts, and all the gold found in the treasuries of the House of יהוה and in the sovereign’s house, and sent them to Ḥaza’ĕl sovereign of Aram. Then he went away from Yerushalayim.

19 And the rest of the acts of Yo’ash, and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the annals of the sovereigns of Yehuḏah?

20 And his servants rose up and made a conspiracy, and smote Yo’ash in the house of Millo, which goes down to Silla.

21 For Yozaḵar son of Shim‛ath and Yehozaḇaḏ son of Shomĕr, his servants, struck him. So he died, and they buried him with his fathers in the City of Dawiḏ. And Amatsyah his son reigned in his place.

13

1 In the twenty-third year of Yo’ash son of Aḥazyahu, sovereign of Yehuḏah, Yeho’aḥaz son of Yĕhu began to reign over Yisra’ĕl in Shomeron, and reigned seventeen years.

2 And he did evil in the eyes of יהוה, and followed the sins of Yaroḇ‛am son of Neḇat, who had made Yisra’ĕl sin. He did not turn away from them.

3 And the displeasure of יהוה burned against Yisra’ĕl, and He gave them into the hand of Ḥaza’ĕl sovereign of Aram, and into the hand of Ben-Haḏaḏ son of Ḥaza’ĕl, all the days.

4 Then Yeho’aḥaz sought the face of יהוה. And יהוה listened to him, for He saw the oppression of Yisra’ĕl, because the sovereign of Aram oppressed them.

5 And יהוה gave Yisra’ĕl a saviour, so that they came out from under the hand of Aram. And the children of Yisra’ĕl dwelt in their tents as before.

6 However, they did not turn away from the sins of the house of Yaroḇ‛am, who had made Yisra’ĕl sin, but walked in them. Moreover, the Ashĕrah also remained in Shomeron.

7 For He left of the army of Yeho’aḥaz only fifty horsemen, and ten chariots, and ten thousand footmen, for the sovereign of Aram had destroyed them and made them like the dust at threshing.

8 And the rest of the acts of Yeho’aḥaz, and all that he did, and his might, are they not written in the book of the annals of the sovereigns of Yisra’ĕl?

9 So Yeho’aḥaz slept with his fathers, and they buried him in Shomeron. And Yo’ash his son reigned in his place.

10 In the thirty-seventh year of Yo’ash sovereign of Yehuḏah, Yeho’ash son of Yeho’aḥaz began to reign over Yisra’ĕl in Shomeron, sixteen years.

11 And he did evil in the eyes of יהוה. He did not turn away from all the sins of Yaroḇ‛am son of Neḇat, who had made Yisra’ĕl sin — he walked in it.

12 And the rest of the acts of Yo’ash, and all that he did, and his might with which he fought against Amatsyah sovereign of Yehuḏah, are they not written in the book of the annals of the sovereigns of Yisra’ĕl?

13 So Yo’ash slept with his fathers. And Yaroḇ‛am sat on his throne. And Yo’ash was buried in Shomeron with the sovereigns of Yisra’ĕl.

14 And Elisha had become sick with the sickness in which he died. And Yo’ash the sovereign of Yisra’ĕl came down to him, and wept over his face, and said, “O my father, my father, the chariots of Yisra’ĕl and their horsemen!”

15 And Elisha said to him, “Take a bow and some arrows.” And he took a bow and some arrows.

16 And he said to the sovereign of Yisra’ĕl, “Place your hand on the bow.” So he placed his hand, and Elisha placed his hands on the hands of the sovereign,

17 and said, “Open the east window.” And he had opened it and Elisha said, “Shoot.” And he shot. Then he said, “The arrow of deliverance of יהוה and the arrow of deliverance from Aram, for you shall strike Aram at Aphĕq until it is finished.”

18 Then he said, “Take the arrows,” and he took them. And he said to the sovereign of Yisra’ĕl, “Strike the ground,” and he struck three times, and stopped.

19 And the man of Elohim was wroth with him and said, “You should have struck five or six times, then you would have stricken Aram till its utter destruction. But now you shall strike Aram only three times.”

20 And Elisha died, and they buried him. And the raiding bands from Mo’aḇ came into the land in the spring of the year.

21 And it came to be, they were burying a man, and there they saw a raiding band, and cast the man in the burial-site of Elisha. And the man fell and touched the bones of Elisha, and came to life and stood on his feet.

22 And Ḥaza’ĕl sovereign of Aram oppressed Yisra’ĕl all the days of Yeho’aḥaz.

23 But יהוה showed favour to them, and had compassion on them, and turned toward them, for the sake of His covenant with Aḇraham, Yitsḥaq, and Ya‛aqoḇ, and would not destroy them or cast them from His presence as yet.

24 And Ḥaza’ĕl sovereign of Aram died. And Ben-Haḏaḏ his son reigned in his place.

25 And Yeho’ash son of Yeho’aḥaz recovered from the hand of Ben-Haḏaḏ, son of Ḥaza’ĕl, the cities which he had taken out of the hand of Yeho’aḥaz his father in battle. Yo’ash struck him three times, and he recovered the cities of Yisra’ĕl.

14

1 In the second year of Yo’ash son of Yo’aḥaz, sovereign of Yisra’ĕl, Amatsyahu son of Yo’ash, sovereign of Yehuḏah, began to reign.

2 He was twenty-five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned twenty-nine years in Yerushalayim. And his mother’s name was Yeho‛addin of Yerushalayim.

3 And he did what was right in the eyes of יהוה, but not like his father Dawiḏ. He did according to all his father Yo’ash did.

4 However, the high places were not taken away. The people still slaughtered and burned incense on the high places.

5 And it came to be, as soon as the reign was strengthened in his hand, that he struck his servants who had stricken his father the sovereign.

6 But he did not put to death the children of the strikers, according to what is written in the Book of the Torah of Mosheh, in which יהוה commanded, saying, “Fathers are not put to death for the children, and children are not put to death for the fathers, but each one is put to death for his own sin.”

7 He struck Eḏom in the Valley of Salt, ten thousand, and took Sela in battle, and called its name Yoqthe’ĕl to this day.

8 Amatsyah then sent messengers to Yeho’ash son of Yeho’aḥaz, son of Yĕhu, sovereign of Yisra’ĕl, saying, “Come, let us look each other in the face!”

9 And Yeho’ash sovereign of Yisra’ĕl sent to Amatsyahu sovereign of Yehuḏah, saying, “The thistle that was in Leḇanon sent to the cedar that was in Leḇanon, saying, ‘Give your daughter to my son as wife.’ And a wild beast that was in Leḇanon passed by and trampled the thistle.

10 “You have certainly stricken Eḏom, and your heart has lifted you up. Be esteemed and stay in your house. But why do you stir up yourself to evil, that you should fall — you and Yehuḏah with you?”

11 But Amatsyahu did not listen, so Yeho’ash sovereign of Yisra’ĕl went up, and he and Amatsyahu sovereign of Yehuḏah faced one another at Bĕyth Shemesh, which belongs to Yehuḏah.

12 And Yehuḏah was smitten before Yisra’ĕl, and they each fled to his tent.

13 And Yeho’ash sovereign of Yisra’ĕl caught Amatsyahu sovereign of Yehuḏah, son of Yeho’ash, son of Aḥazyahu, at Bĕyth Shemesh. And they came to Yerushalayim and he broke through the wall of Yerushalayim from the Gate of Ephrayim to the Corner Gate, four hundred cubits,

14 and took all the gold and silver, and all the objects that were found in the House of יהוה and in the treasuries of the sovereign’s house, and hostages, and returned to Shomeron.

15 And the rest of the acts of Yeho’ash which he did, and his might, and how he fought with Amatsyahu sovereign of Yehuḏah, are they not written in the book of the annals of the sovereigns of Yisra’ĕl?

16 So Yeho’ash slept with his fathers, and was buried in Shomeron with the sovereigns of Yisra’ĕl. And Yaroḇ‛am his son reigned in his place.

17 And Amatsyahu son of Yo’ash, sovereign of Yehuḏah, lived fifteen years after the death of Yeho’ash son of Yeho’aḥaz, sovereign of Yisra’ĕl.

18 And the rest of the acts of Amatsyahu, are they not written in the book of the annals of the sovereigns of Yehuḏah?

19 And they made a conspiracy against him in Yerushalayim, and he fled to Laḵish. And they sent after him to Laḵish and killed him there,

20 and brought him on horses, and he was buried at Yerushalayim with his fathers in the City of Dawiḏ.

21 And all the people of Yehuḏah took Azaryah, who was sixteen years old, and set him up to reign instead of his father Amatsyahu.

22 He built Ěylath and restored it to Yehuḏah, after the sovereign slept with his fathers.

23 In the fifteenth year of Amatsyahu son of Yo’ash, the sovereign of Yehuḏah, Yaroḇ‛am son of Yo’ash, the sovereign of Yisra’ĕl, began to reign in Shomeron, and reigned forty-one years.

24 And he did evil in the eyes of יהוה. He did not turn away from all the sins of Yaroḇ‛am son of Neḇat, who had made Yisra’ĕl sin.

25 He restored the border of Yisra’ĕl from the entrance of Ḥamath to the Sea of the Araḇah, according to the word of יהוה Elohim of Yisra’ĕl, which He had spoken through His servant Yonah son of Amittai, the prophet who was from Gath Ḥĕpher.

26 For יהוה saw that the affliction of Yisra’ĕl was very bitter. And there was no one, neither shut up nor left at large, to help Yisra’ĕl.

27 And יהוה had not said that He would blot out the name of Yisra’ĕl from under the heavens, but saved them by the hand of Yaroḇ‛am son of Yo’ash.

28 And the rest of the acts of Yaroḇ‛am, and all that he did, and his might, how he fought, and how he recovered Dammeseq and Ḥamath for Yehuḏah in Yisra’ĕl, are they not written in the book of the annals of the sovereigns of Yisra’ĕl?

29 So Yaroḇ‛am slept with his fathers, the sovereigns of Yisra’ĕl. And Zeḵaryah his son reigned in his place.

15

1 In the twenty-seventh year of Yaroḇ‛am sovereign of Yisra’ĕl, Azaryah son of Amatsyah, sovereign of Yehuḏah, began to reign.

2 He was sixteen years old when he began to reign, and he reigned fifty-two years in Yerushalayim. And his mother’s name was Yeḵolyahu of Yerushalayim.

3 And he did what was right in the eyes of יהוה, according to all that his father Amatsyahu did,

4 however, the high places were not taken away. The people still slaughtered and burned incense on the high places.

5 And יהוה smote the sovereign, so that he was a leper until the day of his death, and he dwelt in a separate house. And Yotham son of the sovereign was over the house, ruling the people of the land.

6 And the rest of the acts of Azaryahu, and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the annals of the sovereigns of Yehuḏah?

7 So Azaryah slept with his fathers, and they buried him with his fathers in the City of Dawiḏ. And Yotham his son reigned in his place.

8 In the thirty-eighth year of Azaryahu sovereign of Yehuḏah, Zeḵaryahu son of Yaroḇ‛am began to reign over Yisra’ĕl in Shomeron, for six new moons.

9 And he did evil in the eyes of יהוה, as his fathers had done. He did not turn away from the sins of Yaroḇ‛am son of Neḇat, who had made Yisra’ĕl sin.

10 And Shallum son of Yaḇĕsh conspired against him, and struck him in front of the people, and killed him, and reigned in his place.

11 And the rest of the acts of Zeḵaryah, see, they are written in the book of the annals of the sovereigns of Yisra’ĕl.

12 This was the word of יהוה which He spoke to Yĕhu, saying, “Your sons to the fourth generation are going to sit on the throne of Yisra’ĕl.” And it came to be so.

13 Shallum son of Yaḇĕsh began to reign in the thirty-ninth year of Uzziyah, the sovereign of Yehuḏah. And he reigned a month of days in Shomeron.

14 And Menaḥĕm son of Gaḏi went up from Tirtsah, and came to Shomeron, and struck Shallum son of Yaḇĕsh in Shomeron and killed him, and reigned in his place.

15 And the rest of the acts of Shallum, and the conspiracy which he led, see, they are written in the book of the annals of the sovereigns of Yisra’ĕl.

16 And Menaḥĕm struck Tiphsaḥ, and all who were there, and its borders, from Tirtsah. Because they did not open it to him, therefore he struck it. And he ripped open all the pregnant women.

17 In the thirty-ninth year of Azaryah sovereign of Yehuḏah, Menaḥĕm son of Gaḏi began to reign over Yisra’ĕl, ten years in Shomeron.

18 And he did evil in the eyes of יהוה. He did not turn away from the sins of Yaroḇ‛am son of Neḇat, who had made Yisra’ĕl sin, all his days.

19 Pul the sovereign of Ashshur came against the land. And Menaḥĕm gave Pul a thousand talents of silver, for his hand to be with him to strengthen the reign in his hand.

20 And Menaḥĕm exacted the silver of Yisra’ĕl, of all the mighty men of wealth, of each man fifty sheqels of silver, to give to the sovereign of Ashshur. And the sovereign of Ashshur turned back, and did not stay there in the land.

21 And the rest of the acts of Menaḥĕm, and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the annals of the sovereigns of Yisra’ĕl?

22 So Menaḥĕm slept with his fathers. And Peqaḥyah his son reigned in his place.

23 In the fiftieth year of Azaryah the sovereign of Yehuḏah, Peqaḥyah the son of Menaḥĕm began to reign over Yisra’ĕl in Shomeron, for two years.

24 And he did evil in the eyes of יהוה. He did not turn away from the sins of Yaroḇ‛am son of Neḇat, who had made Yisra’ĕl sin.

25 And Peqaḥ son of Remalyahu, a chief officer of his, conspired against him and struck him in Shomeron, in the high place of the sovereign’s house, along with Argoḇ and Aryĕh, and with him were fifty men of Gil‛aḏ. So he killed him and reigned in his place.

26 And the rest of the acts of Peqaḥyah, and all that he did, see, they are written in the book of the annals of the sovereigns of Yisra’ĕl.

27 In the fifty-second year of Azaryah sovereign of Yehuḏah, Peqaḥ son of Remalyahu began to reign over Yisra’ĕl in Shomeron, for twenty years.

28 And he did evil in the eyes of יהוה. He did not turn away from the sins of Yaroḇ‛am son of Neḇat, who had made Yisra’ĕl sin.

29 In the days of Peqaḥ sovereign of Yisra’ĕl, Tiḡlath-Pileser sovereign of Ashshur came and took Iyon, and Aḇĕl Bĕyth Ma‛aḵah, and Yanowaḥ, and Qeḏesh, and Ḥatsor, and Gil‛aḏ, and Galil, all the land of Naphtali, and took them into exile to Ashshur.

30 And Hoshĕa son of Ělah led a conspiracy against Peqaḥ son of Remalyahu, and struck him, and killed him, and reigned in his place in the twentieth year of Yotham son of Uzziyah.

31 And the rest of the acts of Peqaḥ, and all that he did, see, they are written in the book of the annals of the sovereigns of Yisra’ĕl.

32 In the second year of Peqaḥ son of Remalyahu, sovereign of Yisra’ĕl, Yotham son of Uzziyahu, sovereign of Yehuḏah, began to reign.

33 He was twenty-five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned sixteen years in Yerushalayim. And his mother’s name was Yerusha the daughter of Tsaḏoq.

34 And he did what was right in the eyes of יהוה. He did according to all that his father Uzziyahu did.

35 However, the high places were not taken away. The people still slaughtered and burned incense on the high places. He built the Upper Gate of the House of יהוה.

36 And the rest of the acts of Yotham, and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the annals of the sovereigns of Yehuḏah?

37 In those days יהוה began to send Retsin sovereign of Aram and Peqaḥ son of Remalyahu against Yehuḏah.

38 So Yotham slept with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in the City of Dawiḏ his father. And Aḥaz his son reigned in his place.

16

1 In the seventeenth year of Peqaḥ son of Remalyahu, Aḥaz son of Yotham, sovereign of Yehuḏah, began to reign.

2 Aḥaz was twenty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned sixteen years in Yerushalayim. And he did not do what was right in the eyes of יהוה his Elohim, as his father Dawiḏ had done.

3 But he walked in the way of the sovereigns of Yisra’ĕl, and he also made his son pass through the fire, according to the abominations of the nations whom יהוה had dispossessed from before the children of Yisra’ĕl.

4 And he slaughtered and burned incense on the high places, and on the hills, and under every green tree.

5 Then Retsin sovereign of Aram and Peqaḥ son of Remalyahu, sovereign of Yisra’ĕl, came up to Yerushalayim, to battle. And they besieged Aḥaz but were unable to overcome him.

6 At that time Retsin sovereign of Aram recovered Ěylath for Aram, and drove the men of Yehuḏah from Ěylath. And the Eḏomites went to Ěylath, and have dwelt there to this day.

7 And Aḥaz sent messengers to Tiḡlath-Pileser sovereign of Ashshur, saying, “I am your servant and your son. Come up and save me from the hand of the sovereign of Aram and from the hand of the sovereign of Yisra’ĕl, who are rising up against me.”

8 And Aḥaz took the silver and gold that was found in the House of יהוה, and in the treasuries of the house of the sovereign, and sent it as a present to the sovereign of Ashshur.

9 And the sovereign of Ashshur listened to him. And the sovereign of Ashshur went up against Dammeseq and captured it, and exiled it to Qir, and he killed Retsin.

10 And Sovereign Aḥaz went to meet Tiḡlath-Pileser sovereign of Ashshur at Dummeseq, and saw a slaughter-place that was at Dammaseq. And Sovereign Aḥaz sent to Uriyah the priest a sketch of the slaughter-place and its pattern, according to all its workmanship.

11 And Uriyah the priest built a slaughter-place according to all that Sovereign Aḥaz had sent from Dammeseq. And Uriyah the priest made it before Sovereign Aḥaz came from Dammeseq.

12 And when the sovereign came from Dammeseq, the sovereign saw the slaughter-place, and the sovereign approached the slaughter-place and made offerings on it.

13 And he burned his ascending offering and his grain offering. And he poured his drink offering and sprinkled the blood of his peace offerings on the slaughter-place.

14 And the bronze slaughter-place which was before יהוה he brought from the front of the House, from between the new slaughter-place and the House of יהוה, and put it on the north side of his slaughter-place.

15 And Sovereign Aḥaz commanded Uriyah the priest, saying, “On the great slaughter-place burn the morning ascending offering, and the evening grain offering, and the sovereign’s ascending offering, and his grain offering, with the ascending offering of all the people of the land, and their grain offering, and their drink offerings. And sprinkle on it all the blood of the ascending offering and all the blood of the slaughtering. And the bronze slaughter-place is for me to inquire by.”

16 And Uriyah the priest did according to all that Sovereign Aḥaz commanded.

17 And Sovereign Aḥaz cut off the side panels of the stands, and removed the basins from them. And he took down the Sea from the bronze oxen that were under it, and put it on a pavement of stones.

18 And the covered way which they had built in the House for the Sabbath, and the sovereign’s outer entrance, he took from the House of יהוה, because of the sovereign of Ashshur.

19 And the rest of the acts of Aḥaz which he did, are they not written in the book of the annals of the sovereigns of Yehuḏah?

20 So Aḥaz slept with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in the City of Dawiḏ. And Ḥizqiyahu his son reigned in his place.

17

1 In the twelfth year of Aḥaz sovereign of Yehuḏah, Hoshĕa son of Ělah began to reign over Yisra’ĕl in Shomeron, for nine years.

2 And he did evil in the eyes of יהוה, but not as the sovereigns of Yisra’ĕl who were before him.

3 Shalmaneser sovereign of Ashshur came up against him. And Hoshĕa became his servant, and rendered him a present.

4 But the sovereign of Ashshur found a conspiracy in Hoshĕa, for he had sent messengers to So, sovereign of Mitsrayim, and had not brought a present to the sovereign of Ashshur, as year by year. And the sovereign of Ashshur shut him up, and bound him in prison.

5 And the sovereign of Ashshur went through all the land, and went up to Shomeron and besieged it for three years.

6 In the ninth year of Hoshĕa, the sovereign of Ashshur captured Shomeron and exiled Yisra’ĕl to Ashshur, and settled them in Ḥalaḥ and Ḥaḇor, the River of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes.

7 Now this came to be because the children of Yisra’ĕl had sinned against יהוה their Elohim — who had brought them up out of the land of Mitsrayim, from under the hand of Pharaoh sovereign of Mitsrayim — and feared other mighty ones,

8 and walked in the laws of the nations whom יהוה had dispossessed from before the children of Yisra’ĕl, and of the sovereigns of Yisra’ĕl that they had made.

9 And the children of Yisra’ĕl secretly did against יהוה their Elohim matters that were not right, and they built for themselves high places in all their cities, from watchtower unto the walled city,

10 and set up for themselves pillars and Ashĕrim on every high hill and under every green tree,

11 and burned incense there on all the high places, like the nations whom יהוה had removed from their presence. And they did evil matters to provoke יהוה,

12 and served the idols, of which יהוה had said to them, “Do not do this.”

13 And יהוה warned Yisra’ĕl and Yehuḏah, through all of His prophets, and every seer, saying, “Turn back from your evil ways, and guard My commands and My laws, according to all the Torah which I commanded your fathers, and which I sent to you by My servants the prophets.”

14 But they did not listen and hardened their necks, like the necks of their fathers, who did not put their trust in יהוה their Elohim,

15 and rejected His laws and His covenant that He had made with their fathers, and His witnesses which He had witnessed against them, and went after worthlessness, and became worthless, and after the nations who were all around them, of whom יהוה had commanded them not to do like them.

16 And they left all the commands of יהוה their Elohim, and made for themselves a moulded image, two calves, and made an Ashĕrah and bowed themselves to all the host of the heavens, and served Ba‛al,

17 and caused their sons and daughters to pass through the fire, and practised divination and sorcery, and sold themselves to do evil in the eyes of יהוה, to provoke Him.

18 So יהוה was very enraged with Yisra’ĕl, and removed them from His presence — none was left but the tribe of Yehuḏah alone.

19 Yehuḏah, also, did not guard the commands of יהוה their Elohim, but walked in the laws of Yisra’ĕl which they made.

20 And יהוה rejected all the seed of Yisra’ĕl, and afflicted them, and gave them into the hand of plunderers, until He had cast them out from His presence.

21 For He tore Yisra’ĕl from the house of Dawiḏ, and they made Yaroḇ‛am son of Neḇat sovereign. And Yaroḇ‛am drove Yisra’ĕl from following יהוה, and made them commit a great sin.

22 And the children of Yisra’ĕl walked in all the sins of Yaroḇ‛am which he did. They did not turn away from them,

23 until יהוה removed Yisra’ĕl from His presence, as He spoke by all His servants the prophets. So Yisra’ĕl was exiled from their land to Ashshur, as it is to this day.

24 And the sovereign of Ashshur brought people from Baḇel, and from Kuthah, and from Awwa, and from Ḥamath, and Sepharwayim, and placed them in the cities of Shomeron instead of the children of Yisra’ĕl. And they took possession of Shomeron and dwelt in its cities.

25 And it came to be, at the beginning of their dwelling there, that they did not fear יהוה, and יהוה sent lions among them, which were killing among them.

26 And they spoke to the sovereign of Ashshur, saying, “The nations whom you have removed and placed in the cities of Shomeron do not know the right-ruling of the Elohim of the land. And He has sent lions among them, and see, they are slaying among them because they do not know the right-ruling of the Elohim of the land.”

27 And the sovereign of Ashshur commanded, saying, “Send one of the priests whom you exiled from there, to go there. Let him go and dwell there, and let him teach them the right-ruling of the Elohim of the land.”

28 And one of the priests whom they had exiled from Shomeron came and dwelt in Bĕyth Ěl, and taught them how to fear יהוה.

29 But every nation was making mighty ones of its own, and put them in the houses of the high places which the Shomeronim had made, every nation in the cities where they dwelt.

30 And the men of Baḇel made Sukkoth Benoth, and the men of Kuth made Nĕrḡal, and the men of Ḥamath made Ashima,

31 and the Awwites made Niḇḥaz and Tartaq. And the Sepharwites burned their children in fire to Aḏrammeleḵ and Anammeleḵ, the mighty ones of Sepharim.

32 They also feared יהוה, and from every class they made for themselves priests of the high places, who offered for them in the house of the high places.

33 They were fearing יהוה, and they were serving their own mighty ones, according to the ruling of the nations from among whom they had been exiled.

34 To this day they are doing according to the former rulings: they are not fearing יהוה, nor do they follow their laws or their right-rulings, or the Torah and command which יהוה had commanded the children of Ya‛aqoḇ, whose name He made Yisra’ĕl,

35 with whom יהוה had made a covenant and commanded them, saying, “Do not fear other mighty ones, nor bow down to them nor serve them nor slaughter to them;

36 but יהוה, who brought you up from the land of Mitsrayim with great power and with an outstretched arm, Him you shall fear, and to Him you shall bow yourselves, and to Him you shall slaughter.

37 “And guard to do forever the laws, and the right-rulings, and the Torah, and the command which He wrote for you. And do not fear other mighty ones.

38 “And do not forget the covenant that I have made with you, and do not fear other mighty ones.

39 “But fear יהוה your Elohim, so that He delivers you from the hand of all your enemies.”

40 And they did not obey, but did according to their former ruling.

41 So these nations were fearing יהוה, and served their carved images, both their children and their children’s children. As their fathers did, they are doing to this day.

18

1 And it came to be in the third year of Hoshĕa son of Ělah, sovereign of Yisra’ĕl, that Ḥizqiyah son of Aḥaz, sovereign of Yehuḏah, began to reign.

2 He was twenty-five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned twenty-nine years in Yerushalayim. And his mother’s name was Aḇi, daughter of Zeḵaryah.

3 And he did what was right in the eyes of יהוה, according to all that his father Dawiḏ did.

4 He took away the high places and broke the pillars, and cut down the Ashĕrah, and broke in pieces the bronze serpent which Mosheh had made, for until those days the children of Yisra’ĕl burned incense to it, and called it Neḥushtan.

5 He put his trust in יהוה Elohim of Yisra’ĕl, and after him was none like him among all the sovereigns of Yehuḏah, nor who were before him,

6 and he clung to יהוה. He did not turn away from following Him, but guarded His commands, which יהוה had commanded Mosheh.

7 And יהוה was with him — wherever he went he acted wisely. And he rebelled against the sovereign of Ashshur and did not serve him.

8 He struck the Philistines, as far as Azzah and its borders — from watchtower unto the walled city.

9 And it came to be in the fourth year of Sovereign Ḥizqiyahu, which was the seventh year of Hoshĕa son of Ělah, sovereign of Yisra’ĕl, that Shalmaneser sovereign of Ashshur came up against Shomeron and besieged it,

10 and they captured it at the end of three years. In the sixth year of Ḥizqiyah, that is the ninth year of Hoshĕa sovereign of Yisra’ĕl, Shomeron was captured.

11 And the sovereign of Ashshur exiled Yisra’ĕl to Ashshur, and placed them in Ḥalaḥ and Ḥaḇor, the River of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes,

12 because they did not obey the voice of יהוה their Elohim, but transgressed His covenant — all that Mosheh the servant of יהוה had commanded. And they did not obey nor do them.

13 And in the fourteenth year of Sovereign Ḥizqiyahu, Sanḥĕriḇ sovereign of Ashshur came up against all the walled cities of Yehuḏah and captured them.

14 And Ḥizqiyah sovereign of Yehuḏah sent to the sovereign of Ashshur at Laḵish, saying, “I have done wrong, turn away from me. I shall bear whatever you impose on me.” And the sovereign of Ashshur imposed upon Ḥizqiyah, the sovereign of Yehuḏah, three hundred talents of silver and thirty talents of gold.

15 And Ḥizqiyah gave him all the silver that was found in the House of יהוה and in the treasuries of the sovereign’s house.

16 At that time Ḥizqiyah cut off the doors of the Hĕḵal of יהוה, and the doorposts which Ḥizqiyah sovereign of Yehuḏah had overlaid, and gave it to the sovereign of Ashshur.

17 And the sovereign of Ashshur sent the Tartan, and the Raḇsaris, and the Raḇshaqĕh from Laḵish, with a great army against Yerushalayim, to Sovereign Ḥizqiyahu. And they went up and came to Yerushalayim. And when they had come up, they came and stood by the channel of the upper pool, which was on the highway to the Launderer’s Field.

18 And they called to the sovereign. And Elyaqim son of Ḥilqiyahu, who was over the household, and Sheḇnah the scribe, and Yo’aḥ son of Asaph, the recorder, came out to them.

19 And the Raḇshaqĕh said to them, “Please say to Ḥizqiyahu, ‘Thus said the great sovereign, the sovereign of Ashshur, “What is this trust in which you have trusted?

20 “You have spoken of having counsel and strength for battle, but they are only words of the lips! And in whom do you trust, that you rebel against me?

21 “Now look! You have put your trust in the staff of this crushed reed, Mitsrayim, on which if a man leans, it shall go into his hand and pierce it. So is Pharaoh sovereign of Mitsrayim to all who trust in him.

22 “But when you say to me, ‘We trust in יהוה our Elohim,’ is it not He whose high places and whose slaughter-places Ḥizqiyahu has taken away, and said to Yehuḏah and Yerushalayim, ‘Bow yourselves before this slaughter-place in Yerushalayim’?” ’

23 “And now, I urge you, give a pledge to my master the sovereign of Ashshur, then I give you two thousand horses, if you are able to put riders on them!

24 “And how do you turn back the face of one commander of the least of my master’s servants, and trust in Mitsrayim for chariots and horsemen?

25 “Have I now come up without יהוה against this place to destroy it? יהוה said to me, ‘Go up against this land, and you shall destroy it.’ ”

26 Then said Elyaqim son of Ḥilqiyahu, and Sheḇnah, and Yo’aḥ to the Raḇshaqĕh, “Please speak to your servants in Aramaic, for we understand it. And do not speak to us in the language of Yehuḏah, in the ears of the people on the wall.”

27 And the Raḇshaqĕh said to them, “Has my master sent me to your master and to you to speak these words, and not to the men sitting on the wall to eat their own dung and drink their own urine, with you?”

28 And the Raḇshaqĕh stood and called out with a loud voice in the language of Yehuḏah, and spoke and said, “Hear the word of the great sovereign, the sovereign of Ashshur!

29 “Thus said the sovereign, ‘Do not let Ḥizqiyahu deceive you, for he is unable to deliver you out of his hand,

30 and do not let Ḥizqiyahu make you trust in יהוה, saying, “יהוה shall certainly deliver us, and this city is not given into the hand of the sovereign of Ashshur.” ’

31 “Do not listen to Ḥizqiyahu, for thus said the sovereign of Ashshur, ‘Make peace with me by a present and come out to me, and let each of you eat from his own vine and each from his own fig tree, and each of you drink the waters of his own cistern,

32 until I come. Then I shall take you away to a land like your own land, a land of grain and new wine, a land of bread and vineyards, a land of olive-trees and honey, and live, and not die. But do not listen to Ḥizqiyahu, when he misleads you, saying, “יהוה shall deliver us.”

33 Has any of the mighty ones of the nations at all delivered its land from the hand of the sovereign of Ashshur?

34 Where are the mighty ones of Ḥamath and Arpaḏ? Where are the mighty ones of Sepharwayim and Hĕna and Iwwah? Did they deliver Shomeron from my hand?

35 Who among all the mighty ones of the lands have delivered their land out of my hand, that יהוה should deliver Yerushalayim from my hand?’ ”

36 But the people were silent and did not answer him a word, for the command of the sovereign was, “Do not answer him.”

37 And Elyaqim son of Ḥilqiyah, who was over the household, and Sheḇnah the scribe, and Yo’aḥ son of Asaph, the recorder, came to Ḥizqiyahu with their garments torn, and they reported to him the words of the Raḇshaqĕh.

19

1 And it came to be, when Sovereign Ḥizqiyahu heard it, that he tore his garments, and covered himself with sackcloth, and went into the House of יהוה,

2 and sent Elyaqim, who was over the household, and Sheḇnah the scribe, and the elders of the priests, covering themselves with sackcloth, to Yeshayahu the prophet, son of Amots.

3 And they said to him, “Thus said Ḥizqiyahu, ‘This day is a day of distress and rebuke and scorn, for the children have come to birth but there is no power to bring forth.

4 It could be that יהוה your Elohim does hear all the words of the Raḇshaqĕh, whom his master the sovereign of Ashshur has sent to reproach the living Elohim, and shall rebuke the words which יהוה your Elohim has heard. Therefore lift up your prayer for the remnant that is left.’ ”

5 And the servants of Sovereign Ḥizqiyahu came to Yeshayahu,

6 and Yeshayahu said to them, “Say this to your master, ‘Thus said יהוה, “Do not be afraid of the words which you have heard, with which the servants of the sovereign of Ashshur have reviled Me.

7 “See, I am putting a spirit upon him, and he shall hear a report and return to his own land. And I shall cause him to fall by the sword in his land.” ’ ”

8 And the Raḇshaqĕh returned and found the sovereign of Ashshur fighting against Liḇnah, for he had heard that he had left Laḵish.

9 And when the sovereign heard concerning Tirhaqah sovereign of Kush, “See, he has come out to fight against you,” he again sent messengers to Ḥizqiyahu, saying,

10 “Speak to Ḥizqiyahu sovereign of Yehuḏah, saying, ‘Do not let your Elohim in whom you trust deceive you, saying, “Yerushalayim is not given into the hand of the sovereign of Ashshur.”

11 See, you have heard what the sovereigns of Ashshur have done to all lands by putting them under the ban. And are you going to be delivered?

12 Have the mighty ones of the nations delivered those whom my fathers have destroyed: Gozan and Ḥaran and Retseph, and the sons of Ěḏen who were in Telassar?

13 Where is the sovereign of Ḥamath, and the sovereign of Arpaḏ, and the sovereign of the city of Sepharwayim, Hĕna, and Iwwah?’ ”

14 And Ḥizqiyahu received the letters from the hand of the messengers, and read them, and went up to the House of יהוה. And Ḥizqiyahu spread it before יהוה.

15 And Ḥizqiyahu prayed before יהוה, and said, “O יהוה Elohim of Yisra’ĕl, the One who dwells between the keruḇim, You are Elohim, You alone, of all the reigns of the earth. You have made the heavens and earth.

16 “Incline Your ear, O יהוה, and hear. Open Your eyes, O יהוה, and see. And hear the words of Sanḥĕriḇ, which he has sent to reproach the living Elohim.

17 “Truly, יהוה, the sovereigns of Ashshur have laid waste the nations and their lands,

18 and have put their mighty ones into the fire, for they were not mighty ones, but the work of men’s hands, wood and stone, and destroyed them.

19 “And now, O יהוה our Elohim, I pray, save us from his hand, so that all the reigns of the earth know that You are יהוה Elohim, You alone.”

20 Then Yeshayahu son of Amots sent to Ḥizqiyahu, saying, “Thus said יהוה Elohim of Yisra’ĕl, ‘I have heard that which you have prayed to Me against Sanḥĕriḇ sovereign of Ashshur.’

21 “This is the word which יהוה has spoken concerning him, ‘The maiden, the daughter of Tsiyon, has despised you, mocked you; the daughter of Yerushalayim has shaken her head behind you!

22 Whom have you reproached and reviled? Against whom have you raised a voice, and lifted up your eyes on high? Against the Set-apart One of Yisra’ĕl!

23 By the hand of your messengers you have reproached יהוה, and said, “With my many chariots I have come up to the height of the mountains, to the sides of Leḇanon. And I cut down its tall cedars, its choice cypress trees. And I enter its remotest parts, its thickest forest.

24 I have dug and drunk strange water, and with the soles of my feet I dry up all the streams of defence.”

25 Have you not heard long ago, I made it; from days of old I formed it? Now I have brought it to be, that you should make walled cities ruinous heaps.

26 And their inhabitants were powerless, they were overthrown and put to shame, they were as the grass of the field and the green plants, as the grass on the house-tops and withered before it came up.

27 But I know your sitting down, and your going out and your coming in, and your rage against Me.

28 Because your rage against Me and your pride have come up to My ears, I shall put My hook in your nose and My bridle in your lips, and I shall turn you back by the way which you came.

29 And this is the sign for you: This year you eat what grows of itself, and in the second year what springs from that, and in the third year sow and reap and plant vineyards and eat their fruit.

30 And the remnant who have escaped of the house of Yehuḏah shall again take root downward, and be fruitful.

31 For out of Yerushalayim comes forth a remnant, and those who escape from Mount Tsiyon — the ardour of יהוה does this.’

32 “Therefore thus said יהוה concerning the sovereign of Ashshur, ‘He does not come into this city, nor does he shoot an arrow there, nor does he come before it with shield, nor does he build a siege mound against it.

33 By the way that he came, by the same he turns back. And he does not come into this city,’ declares יהוה.

34 And I shall defend this city, to save it for My own sake and for the sake of Dawiḏ My servant.’ ”

35 And it came to be in that night that the messenger of יהוה went out, and struck in the camp of Ashshur one hundred and eighty-five thousand. And they rose up early in the morning and saw all of them dead bodies.

36 And Sanḥĕriḇ sovereign of Ashshur broke camp and went away, and turned back, and remained in Ninewĕh.

37 And it came to be, as he was bowing himself in the house of Nisroḵ his mighty one, that his sons Aḏrammeleḵ and Shar’etser struck him with the sword, and they escaped into the land of Ararat. And his son Ěsarḥaddon reigned in his place.

20

1 In those days Ḥizqiyahu was sick unto death. And Yeshayahu the prophet, son of Amots, went to him and said to him, “Thus said יהוה, ‘Command your house, for you are going to die, and not live.’ ”

2 And he turned his face toward the wall, and prayed to יהוה, saying,

3 “I pray to You, O יהוה, remember how I have walked before You in truth and with a perfect heart, and have done what was good in Your eyes.” And Ḥizqiyahu wept bitterly.

4 And it came to be, before Yeshayahu had gone out into the middle court, that the word of יהוה came to him, saying,

5 “Return and say to Ḥizqiyahu the leader of My people, ‘Thus said יהוה, the Elohim of Dawiḏ your father, “I have heard your prayer, I have seen your tears. See, I am going to heal you. On the third day go up to the House of יהוה.

6 “And I shall add to your days fifteen years, and deliver you and this city from the hand of the sovereign of Ashshur, and shall defend this city for My own sake, and for the sake of Dawiḏ My servant.” ’ ”

7 And Yeshayahu said, “Take a cake of figs.” And they took and laid it on the boil, and he recovered.

8 And Ḥizqiyahu said to Yeshayahu, “What is the sign that יהוה does heal me, and that I shall go up to the House of יהוה the third day?”

9 And Yeshayahu said, “This is the sign for you from יהוה, that יהוה does the word which He has spoken: shall the shadow go forward ten degrees or go backward ten degrees?”

10 And Ḥizqiyahu said, “It would be easy for the shadow to go down ten degrees; no, but let the shadow go backward ten degrees.”

11 And Yeshayahu the prophet cried out to יהוה, and He brought the shadow ten degrees backward, by which it had gone down on the sundial of Aḥaz.

12 At that time Beroḏaḵ-Balaḏan son of Balaḏan, sovereign of Baḇel, sent letters and a present to Ḥizqiyahu, for he heard that Ḥizqiyahu had been sick.

13 And Ḥizqiyahu listened to them, and showed them all his treasure house, the silver and the gold, and the spices and the precious ointment, and all his armoury, and all that was found among his treasures. There was not an object in his house or in all his rule that Ḥizqiyahu did not show them.

14 And Yeshayahu the prophet came to Sovereign Ḥizqiyahu, and said to him, “What did these men say, and from where did they come to you?” And Ḥizqiyahu said, “They came from a distant land, from Baḇel.”

15 And he said, “What have they seen in your house?” And Ḥizqiyahu answered, “They saw all that is in my house; there is not an object among my treasures that I did not show them.”

16 And Yeshayahu said to Ḥizqiyahu, “Hear the word of יהוה:

17 See, the days are coming when all that is in your house, and what your fathers have treasured up until this day, shall be brought to Baḇel — no object is to be left,’ said יהוה.

18 And they are going to take away some of your sons who are to be born to you, whom you bring forth, and they shall be eunuchs in the palace of the sovereign of Baḇel.’ ”

19 And Ḥizqiyahu said to Yeshayahu, “The word of יהוה which you have spoken is good!” And he said, “Is it not so, if peace and truth are to be in my days?”

20 And the rest of the acts of Ḥizqiyahu, and all his might and how he made a pool and a channel and brought water into the city, are they not written in the book of the annals of the sovereigns of Yehuḏah?

21 So Ḥizqiyahu slept with his fathers. And Menashsheh his son reigned in his place.

21

1 Menashsheh was twelve years old when he began to reign, and he reigned fifty-five years in Yerushalayim. And his mother’s name was Ḥephtsiḇah.

2 And he did evil in the eyes of יהוה, according to the abominations of the nations whom יהוה dispossessed before the children of Yisra’ĕl.

3 For he turned and built the high places which Ḥizqiyahu his father had destroyed, and raised up slaughter-places for Ba‛al, and made an Ashĕrah, as Aḥaḇ sovereign of Yisra’ĕl had done, and he bowed himself to all the host of the heavens and served them.

4 And he built slaughter-places in the House of יהוה, of which יהוה had said, “In Yerushalayim I put My Name.”

5 And he built slaughter-places for all the host of the heavens in the two courtyards of the House of יהוה.

6 And he made his son pass through the fire, and practised magic, and used divination, and consulted spiritists and mediums. He did much evil in the eyes of יהוה, to provoke Him.

7 And he placed a carved image of Ashĕrah that he had made in the House of which יהוה had said to Dawiḏ and to Shelomoh his son, “In this house and in Yerushalayim, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Yisra’ĕl, I put My Name forever,

8 and no more shall I cause the feet of Yisra’ĕl to move from the soil which I gave their fathers — only if they guard to do according to all that I have commanded them, and according to all the Torah that My servant Mosheh commanded them.”

9 But they did not obey, and Menashsheh led them astray to do more evil than the nations whom יהוה had destroyed before the children of Yisra’ĕl.

10 And יהוה spoke by His servants the prophets, saying,

11 “Because Menashsheh sovereign of Yehuḏah has done these abominations, having done more evil than all the Amorites who were before him, and also made Yehuḏah sin with his idols,

12 therefore thus said יהוה Elohim of Yisra’ĕl, ‘See, I am bringing such evil upon Yerushalayim and Yehuḏah that both ears of those who hear of it shall tingle.

13 And I shall stretch over Yerushalayim the measuring line of Shomeron and the plummet of the house of Aḥaḇ, and shall wipe Yerushalayim as one wipes a dish, wiping it and turning it upside down.

14 And I shall forsake the remnant of My inheritance and give them into the hand of their enemies. And they shall be for a prey and for a plunder to all their enemies,

15 because they have done evil in My eyes, and have provoked Me since the day their fathers came out of Mitsrayim, even to this day.’ ”

16 And also, Menashsheh shed very much innocent blood, until he had filled Yerushalayim from one end to another, besides his sin with which he made Yehuḏah sin, in doing evil in the eyes of יהוה.

17 And the rest of the acts of Menashsheh, and all that he did, and the sin that he committed, are they not written in the book of the annals of the sovereigns of Yehuḏah?

18 So Menashsheh slept with his fathers, and was buried in the garden of his own house, in the garden of Uzza. And his son Amon reigned in his place.

19 Amon was twenty-two years old when he began to reign, and he reigned two years in Yerushalayim. And the name of his mother was Meshullemeth the daughter of Ḥaruts of Yoteḇah.

20 And he did evil in the eyes of יהוה, as his father Menashsheh had done,

21 and walked in all the ways that his father had walked, and served the idols that his father had served, and bowed himself to them,

22 and forsook יהוה Elohim of his fathers, and did not walk in the way of יהוה.

23 And the servants of Amon conspired against him, and killed the sovereign in his own house.

24 But the people of the land struck all those who had conspired against Sovereign Amon, and the people of the land set up his son Yoshiyahu to reign in his place.

25 And the rest of the acts of Amon which he did, are they not written in the book of the annals of the sovereigns of Yehuḏah?

26 And he was buried in his burial-place in the garden of Uzza. And his son Yoshiyahu reigned in his place.

22

1 Yoshiyahu was eight years old when he began to reign, and he reigned thirty-one years in Yerushalayim. And his mother’s name was Yeḏiḏah the daughter of Aḏayah of Botsqath.

2 And he did what was right in the eyes of יהוה, and walked in all the ways of his father Dawiḏ, and did not turn aside, right or left.

3 And it came to be, in the eighteenth year of Sovereign Yoshiyahu, that the sovereign sent Shaphan the scribe, son of Atsalyahu, son of Meshullam, to the House of יהוה, saying,

4 “Go up to Ḥilqiyahu the high priest, and let him weigh the silver which has been brought into the House of יהוה, which the doorkeepers have gathered from the people.

5 “And let them give it into the hand of those doing the work, who are the overseers in the House of יהוה. And let them give it to those who are in the House of יהוה doing the work, to strengthen the breach of the house,

6 to carpenters and to builders and to stonemasons, and to buy timber and hewn stone to strengthen the house.

7 “However, let not the silver given into their hand be reckoned with them, for they are acting trustworthily.”

8 And Ḥilqiyahu the high priest said to Shaphan the scribe, “I have found the Book of the Torah in the House of יהוה.” And Ḥilqiyah gave the book to Shaphan, and he read it.

9 And Shaphan the scribe came to the sovereign, and brought word to the sovereign again, saying, “Your servants have gathered the silver that was found in the house, and have given it into the hand of those who do the work, who oversee the House of יהוה.”

10 And Shaphan the scribe informed the sovereign, saying, “Ḥilqiyah the priest has given me a book.” And Shaphan read it before the sovereign.

11 And it came to be, when the sovereign heard the words of the Book of the Torah, that he tore his garments,

12 and the sovereign commanded Ḥilqiyah the priest, and Aḥiqam son of Shaphan, and Aḵbor son of Miḵayah, and Shaphan the scribe, and Asayah a servant of the sovereign, saying,

13 “Go, inquire of יהוה for me, for the people and for all Yehuḏah, concerning the words of this book that has been found. For great is the wrath of יהוה that is kindled against us, because our fathers have not obeyed the words of this book, to do according to all that is written concerning us.”

14 Then Ḥilqiyahu the priest, and Aḥiqam, and Aḵbor, and Shaphan, and Asayah went to Ḥuldah the prophetess, the wife of Shallum son of Tiqwah, son of Ḥarḥas, keeper of the wardrobe. Now she was dwelling in Yerushalayim in the Second Quarter. And they spoke with her.

15 And she said to them, “Thus said יהוה Elohim of Yisra’ĕl, ‘Say to the man who sent you to Me,

16 “Thus said יהוה, ‘See, I am bringing evil on this place and on its inhabitants, all the words of the book which the sovereign of Yehuḏah has read,

17 because they have forsaken Me and burned incense to other mighty ones to provoke Me with all the works of their hands. And so My wrath shall be kindled against this place and not be quenched.’” ’

18 “And to the sovereign of Yehuḏah, who sent you to inquire of יהוה, say this to him, ‘Thus said יהוה Elohim of Yisra’ĕl, “As for the words which you have heard,

19 because your heart was tender, and you humbled yourself before יהוה when you heard what I spoke against this place and against its inhabitants, that they would become a ruin and a curse, and did tare your garments and wept before Me, I also have heard,” declares יהוה.

20 “Therefore, see, I am gathering you to your fathers, and you shall be gathered to your burial-site in peace, so that your eyes do not see all the evil I am bringing on this place.” ’ ” And they brought word to the sovereign.

23

1 And the sovereign sent, and they gathered all the elders of Yehuḏah and Yerushalayim to him.

2 And the sovereign went up to the House of יהוה with all the men of Yehuḏah, and all the inhabitants of Yerushalayim with him, and the priests and the prophets and all the people, both small and great. And he read in their hearing all the words of the Book of the Covenant which had been found in the House of יהוה.

3 And the sovereign stood by the column and made a covenant before יהוה, to follow יהוה and to guard His commands and His witnesses and His laws, with all his heart and all his being, to establish the words of this covenant that were written in this book. And all the people stood to the covenant.

4 Then the sovereign commanded Ḥilqiyahu the high priest, and the priests of the second order, and the doorkeepers, to bring out of the Hĕḵal of יהוה all the objects that were made for Ba‛al, and for Ashĕrah, and for all the host of the heavens. And he burned them outside Yerushalayim in the fields of Qiḏron, and took their ashes to Bĕyth Ěl.

5 And he put down the black-robed priests whom the sovereigns of Yehuḏah had appointed to burn incense on the high places in the cities of Yehuḏah and in the places all around Yerushalayim, and those who burned incense to Ba‛al, to the sun, and to the moon, and to the constellations, and to all the host of the heavens.

6 And he brought out the Ashĕrah from the House of יהוה, to the wadi Qiḏron outside Yerushalayim, and burned it at the wadi Qiḏron and ground it to ashes, and threw its ashes on the burial-sites of the sons of the people.

7 And he broke down the houses of the male cult prostitutes that were in the House of יהוה, where the women wove tapestries for the Ashĕrah.

8 And he brought all the priests from the cities of Yehuḏah, and defiled the high places where the priests had burned incense, from Geḇa to Be’ĕrsheḇa, and broke down the high places at the gates which were at the entrance of the Gate of Yehoshua the governor of the city, which were to the left of the city gate.

9 However, the priests of the high places did not come up to the slaughter-place of יהוה in Yerushalayim, but they ate unleavened bread among their brothers.

10 And he defiled Topheth, which is in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, so that no man could make his son or his daughter pass through the fire to Moleḵ.

11 And he did away with the horses that the sovereigns of Yehuḏah had given to the sun, at the entrance to the House of יהוה, by the room of Nathan-Meleḵ the eunuch, that were in the court. And he burned the chariots of the sun with fire.

12 And the slaughter-places that were on the roof of the upper room of Aḥaz, which the sovereigns of Yehuḏah had made, and the slaughter-places which Menashsheh had made in the two courtyards of the House of יהוה, the sovereign broke down, and rushed from there, and threw their dust into the wadi Qiḏron.

13 And the sovereign defiled the high places that were before Yerushalayim, which were on the right hand of the Mountain of Destruction, which Shelomoh sovereign of Yisra’ĕl built for Ashtoreth the abomination of the Tsiḏonians, and for Kemosh the abomination of the Mo’aḇites, and for Milkom the abomination of the children of Ammon.

14 And he broke in pieces the pillars and cut down the Ashĕrim, and filled their places with the bones of men.

15 And also the slaughter-place that was at Bĕyth Ěl, and the high place which Yaroḇ‛am son of Neḇat made, by which he made Yisra’ĕl sin, both that slaughter-place and the high place he broke down. And he burned the high place and ground it to dust, and burned the Ashĕrah.

16 Then Yoshiyahu turned, and saw the burial-sites that were there on the mountain. And he sent and took the bones out of the burial-sites and burned them on the slaughter-place, and defiled it according to the word of יהוה which the man of Elohim proclaimed, who proclaimed these words.

17 And he said, “What tombstone is this that I see?” And the men of the city said to him, “It is the burial-site of the man of Elohim who came from Yehuḏah and proclaimed these matters which you have done against the slaughter-place of Bĕyth Ěl.”

18 And he said, “Let him alone, let no one move his bones.” So they left his bones alone, with the bones of the prophet who came from Shomeron.

19 And Yoshiyahu also took away all the houses of the high places that were in the cities of Shomeron, which the sovereigns of Yisra’ĕl had made to provoke. And he did to them according to all the deeds he did in Bĕyth Ěl.

20 And he slaughtered all the priests of the high places who were there, on the slaughter-places, and burned men’s bones on them, and went back to Yerushalayim.

21 And the sovereign commanded all the people, saying, “Prepare the Pĕsaḥ to יהוה your Elohim, as it is written in this Book of the Covenant.”

22 For such a Pĕsaḥ had not been prepared since the days of the rulers who ruled Yisra’ĕl, nor in all the days of the sovereigns of Yisra’ĕl and the sovereigns of Yehuḏah,

23 but in the eighteenth year of Sovereign Yoshiyahu this Pĕsaḥ was prepared before יהוה in Yerushalayim.

24 And also, Yoshiyahu put away those who consulted mediums and spiritists, and the household mighty ones and idols, and all the abominations that were seen in the land of Yehuḏah and in Yerushalayim, in order to establish the words of the Torah which were written in the book that Ḥilqiyahu the priest found in the House of יהוה.

25 And before him there was no sovereign like him, who turned back to יהוה with all his heart, and with all his being, and with all his might, according to all the Torah of Mosheh; and after him none rose up like him.

26 However, יהוה did not turn from the fierceness of His great wrath, with which His wrath burned against Yehuḏah, because of all the provocations with which Menashsheh had provoked Him.

27 And יהוה said, “Even Yehuḏah I shall remove from My presence, as I have removed Yisra’ĕl, and I shall reject this city Yerushalayim which I have chosen, and the House of which I said, ‘My Name is there.’ ”

28 And the rest of the acts of Yoshiyahu, and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the annals of the sovereigns of Yehuḏah?

29 In his days Pharaoh Neḵo sovereign of Mitsrayim went up against the sovereign of Ashshur, to the River Euphrates. And Sovereign Yoshiyahu went out to him, and he killed him at Meḡiddo when he saw him.

30 And his servants conveyed his body in a chariot from Meḡiddo, and brought him to Yerushalayim, and buried him in his own burial-place. And the people of the land took Yeho’aḥaz son of Yoshiyahu, and anointed him, and set him up to reign in his father’s place.

31 Yeho’aḥaz was twenty-three years old when he began to reign, and he reigned three new moons in Yerushalayim. And his mother’s name was Ḥamutal the daughter of Yirmeyahu of Liḇnah.

32 And he did evil in the eyes of יהוה, according to all that his fathers did.

33 And Pharaoh Neḵo imprisoned him at Riblah in the land of Ḥamath, to keep him from reigning in Yerushalayim. And he imposed on the land a fine of one hundred talents of silver and a talent of gold.

34 And Pharaoh Neḵo set up Elyaqim son of Yoshiyahu to reign in place of his father Yoshiyahu, and changed his name to Yehoyaqim. And Pharaoh took Yeho’aḥaz and went to Mitsrayim, and he died there.

35 And Yehoyaqim gave the silver and gold to Pharaoh. Only, he taxed the land to give silver according to the mouth of Pharaoh. He exacted the silver and gold from the people of the land, from every one according to his assessment, to give it to Pharaoh Neḵo.

36 Yehoyaqim was twenty-five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned eleven years in Yerushalayim. And his mother’s name was Zeḇiḏah the daughter of Peḏayah of Rumah.

37 And he did evil in the eyes of יהוה, according to all that his fathers did.

24

1 In his days Neḇuḵaḏnetstsar sovereign of Baḇel came up, and Yehoyaqim became his servant for three years. And he turned and rebelled against him.

2 And יהוה sent against him raiding bands of Kasdim, and raiding bands of Aram, and raiding bands of Mo’aḇ, and raiding bands of the children of Ammon. And He sent them against Yehuḏah to destroy it, according to the word of יהוה which He had spoken by His servants the prophets.

3 Only at the mouth of יהוה this came upon Yehuḏah, to remove them from His presence, because of the sins of Menashsheh, according to all that he did,

4 and also because of the innocent blood that he shed. For he filled Yerushalayim with innocent blood, which יהוה would not forgive.

5 And the rest of the acts of Yehoyaqim, and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the annals of the sovereigns of Yehuḏah?

6 So Yehoyaqim slept with his fathers. And Yehoyaḵin his son reigned in his place.

7 And the sovereign of Mitsrayim did not come out of his land again, for the sovereign of Baḇel had taken all that belonged to the sovereign of Mitsrayim from the wadi of Mitsrayim to the River Euphrates.

8 Yehoyaḵin was eighteen years old when he began to reign, and he reigned in Yerushalayim three new moons. And his mother’s name was Neḥushta the daughter of Elnathan of Yerushalayim.

9 And he did evil in the eyes of יהוה, according to all that his father did.

10 At that time the servants of Neḇuḵaḏnetstsar sovereign of Baḇel came up against Yerushalayim, and the city was besieged.

11 And Neḇuḵaḏnetstsar sovereign of Baḇel came against the city, as his servants were besieging it.

12 And Yehoyaḵin sovereign of Yehuḏah, and his mother, and his servants, and his heads, and his eunuchs went out to the sovereign of Baḇel. And the sovereign of Baḇel, in the eighth year of his reign, took him prisoner.

13 And he took from there all the treasures of the House of יהוה and the treasures of the sovereign’s house, and he cut in pieces all the objects of gold which Shelomoh sovereign of Yisra’ĕl had made in the Hĕḵal of יהוה, as יהוה had said.

14 And he exiled all Yerushalayim, and all the officers and all the mighty brave men — ten thousand exiles — and all the craftsmen and smiths. None remained except the poorest people of the land.

15 And he exiled Yehoyaḵin to Baḇel. And the sovereign’s mother, and the sovereign’s wives, and his eunuchs, and the leading men of the land he exiled from Yerushalayim to Baḇel.

16 And all the mighty brave men, seven thousand, and craftsmen and smiths, one thousand, all who were strong and fit for battle, these the sovereign of Baḇel brought to Baḇel into exile.

17 And the sovereign of Baḇel set up Mattanyah, Yehoyaḵin’s uncle, to reign in his place, and changed his name to Tsiḏqiyahu.

18 Tsiḏqiyahu was twenty-one years old when he began to reign, and he reigned eleven years in Yerushalayim. And his mother’s name was Ḥamutal the daughter of Yirmeyahu of Liḇnah.

19 And he did evil in the eyes of יהוה, according to all that Yehoyaqim did.

20 For this took place in Yerushalayim and Yehuḏah because of the displeasure of יהוה, until He had cast them out from His presence. And Tsiḏqiyahu rebelled against the sovereign of Baḇel.

25

1 And it came to be in the ninth year of his reign, in the tenth new moon, on the tenth of the new moon, that Neḇuḵaḏnetstsar sovereign of Baḇel and all his army came against Yerushalayim and encamped against it, and they built a siege wall against it all around.

2 And the city was besieged until the eleventh year of Sovereign Tsiḏqiyahu.

3 By the ninth of the new moon the scarcity of food had become so severe in the city that there was no food for the people of the land.

4 Then the city wall was breached, and all the men of battle fled at night by way of the gate between two walls, which was by the sovereign’s garden, even though the Kasdim were still encamped all around against the city. And the sovereign went by way of the desert plain.

5 And the army of the Kasdim pursued the sovereign, and overtook him in the desert plains of Yeriḥo, and all his army was scattered from him.

6 And they seized the sovereign and brought him up to the sovereign of Baḇel at Riblah, and they pronounced sentence on him.

7 And they slew the sons of Tsiḏqiyahu before his eyes, and put out the eyes of Tsiḏqiyahu, and bound him with bronze shackles, and took him to Baḇel.

8 And in the fifth new moon, on the seventh of the new moon, which was the nineteenth year of Sovereign Neḇuḵaḏnetstsar sovereign of Baḇel, Neḇuzaraḏan the chief of the guard, a servant of the sovereign of Baḇel, came to Yerushalayim.

9 And he burned the House of יהוה and the house of the sovereign, and all the houses of Yerushalayim — even every great house he burned with fire.

10 And all the army of the Kasdim who were with the chief of the guard broke down the walls of Yerushalayim all around.

11 And Neḇuzaraḏan the chief of the guard took into exile the rest of the people who were left in the city and the deserters who deserted to the sovereign of Baḇel, with the rest of the multitude.

12 But the chief of the guard left some of the poor of the land as vinedressers and farmers.

13 And the bronze columns that were in the House of יהוה, and the stands and the bronze Sea that were in the House of יהוה, the Kasdim broke in pieces, and took their bronze away to Baḇel.

14 And they took the pots, and the shovels, and the snuffers, and the ladles, and all the bronze utensils the priests used in the service.

15 And the chief of the guard took the fire holders and the basins which were of solid gold and solid silver.

16 The bronze of all these utensils was beyond measure — the two columns, the one Sea, and the stands, which Shelomoh had made for the House of יהוה.

17 The height of one column was eighteen cubits, and the capital on it was of bronze. And the height of the capital was three cubits, and the network and pomegranates all around the capital were all of bronze. And the second column was the same, with a network.

18 And the chief of the guard took Serayah the chief priest, and Tsephanyahu the second priest, and the three doorkeepers.

19 And out of the city he took a certain eunuch who was appointed over the men of battle, and five men of those who saw the sovereign’s face, who were found in the city, and the chief scribe of the army who mustered the people of the land, and sixty men of the people of the land who were found in the city.

20 And Neḇuzaraḏan, chief of the guard, took them and made them go to the sovereign of Baḇel at Riblah.

21 And the sovereign of Baḇel struck them and put them to death at Riblah in the land of Ḥamath. So he exiled Yehuḏah from its own land.

22 And he appointed Geḏalyahu son of Aḥiqam, son of Shaphan, over the people who were left in the land of Yehuḏah, whom Neḇuḵaḏnetstsar sovereign of Baḇel had left.

23 And all the commanders of the armies, they and their men, heard that the sovereign of Baḇel had appointed Geḏalyahu. And they came to Geḏalyahu at Mitspah, even Yishma‛ĕl son of Nethanyah, and Yoḥanan son of Qarĕaḥ, and Serayah son of Tanḥumeth the Netophathite, and Ya‛azanyahu the son of a Ma‛aḵathite, they and their men.

24 And Geḏalyahu swore to them and their men, and said to them, “Do not be afraid of the servants of the Kasdim. Dwell in the land and serve the sovereign of Baḇel, and let it be well with you.”

25 And in the seventh new moon it came to be that Yishma‛ĕl son of Nethanyah, son of Elishama, of the seed of the reign, came with ten men and struck Geḏalyahu that he died, and the Yehuḏim, and the Kasdim who were with him at Mitspah.

26 And all the people rose up, small and great, and the commanders of the armies, and went to Mitsrayim, for they were afraid of the Kasdim.

27 And it came to be in the thirty-seventh year of the exile of Yehoyaḵin sovereign of Yehuḏah, in the twelfth new moon, on the twenty-seventh of the new moon, that Ewil-Meroḏaḵ sovereign of Baḇel, in the year that he began to reign, released Yehoyaḵin sovereign of Yehuḏah from prison,

28 and spoke kindly to him, and set his throne above the throne of the sovereigns who were with him in Baḇel,

29 and changed his prison garments. And he ate bread continually before the sovereign all the days of his life.

30 And as his allowance, a continual allowance was given to him from the sovereign, a quota for each day, all the days of his life.