不认识圣经，就是不认识基督，不认识基督，就是不认识基督所建立的天主教会。
旧约·列王纪下
共25章:
第一章(18)
阿哈齐雅患病求神
1:1
阿哈布死后，摩阿布就背叛了以色列。
1:2
阿哈齐雅在撒玛黎雅从楼上的栏杆上跌下来就病了，遂打发使者，吩咐他们说：「你们去求问厄刻龙的神巴耳则步布，我这病还能好吗﹖」
1:3
上主的使者对提市贝人厄里亚说：「快起身，去迎撒玛黎雅王的使者，问他们说：你们去求问厄刻龙的神巴耳则步布，难道在以色列没有天主吗﹖
1:4
为此，上主这样说：你再不能从你所上的床上下来，你必定要死。」厄里亚就去了。
使者回报凶兆
1:5 使者回来见了君王，阿哈齐雅问他们说：「你们为什么回来了？」
1:6
他们回答说：「有一个人迎上我们来，对我们说：你们回去见打发你们来的君王，对他说：上主这样说：你派人去求问厄刻龙的神巴耳则步布，难道在以色列没有天主吗﹖为此，你再不能从你所上的床上下来，你必定要死。」
1:7
君王问他们说：「迎上你们，且告诉你们这些话的是怎样的一个人﹖」
1:8
他们回答说，「是一个身穿皮毛衣，腰束皮带的人。」君王说：「这一定是提市贝人厄里亚。」
遣人拘捕先知
1:9
王遂派五十夫长，带领五十人，去见厄里亚。他上去见厄里亚，厄里亚正坐在山顶上。五十夫长便对厄里亚说：「天主的人，王命你下去。」
1:10
厄里亚回答五十夫长说：「如果我是天主的人，愿火从天降下，吞噬你和你这五十人！」果然有火从天降下，吞噬了他和那五十人。
1:11
王又另派一个五十夫长，带领五十人，去见厄里亚。五十夫长上去对厄里亚说：「天主的人！王这样吩咐：要你快下山！」
1:12
厄里亚回答说：「如果我是天主的人，愿火从天降下，吞噬你和你这五十人。」果然天主的火从天降下，吞噬了他和那五十人。
1:13
王又派第三个五十夫长，带领五十人去。这第三个五十夫长上去，一来到就屈膝跪在厄里亚面前，哀求他说：「天主的人，愿我的生命和我这五十人的生命，在你眼中有点价值！
1:14
有火从天降下，吞噬了前两个五十夫长，和他们每人带领的五十人；现在，愿我的生命在你眼中有点价值！」
1:15
上主的使者对厄里亚说：「你同他下去，不必害怕。」厄里亚就起身同他一起下去见君王，
1:16
对君王说：「上主这样说：由于你打发使者去求问厄刻龙的神巴耳则步布，好象在以色列没有天主可以向他求问指示一样，因此，你再不能从你所上的床上下来，你必定要死。」
阿哈齐雅逝世
1:17
阿哈齐雅果然如上主借着厄里亚所说的话死了；因为他没有儿子，他的兄弟耶曷兰继位为王，时在犹大王约沙法特的儿子约兰第二年。
1:18
阿哈齐雅其余的事迹，都记载在以色列列王实录上。
第二章(25)
厄里亚被提升天
2:1 上主要用旋风接厄里亚升天的时候，厄里亚和厄里叟正离开基耳加耳；
2:2
厄里亚对厄里叟说：「请你留在这里，因为上主派我到贝特耳去。」厄里叟却答说：「我指着永生的上主和你的性命起誓：我决不离开你。」于是二人下到贝特耳。
2:3
在贝特耳的先知弟子们出来见厄里叟说：「上主今天要接你的师傅离开你，你知道吗﹖」他回答说：「是，我知道，你们不要作声。」
2:4
厄里亚对厄里叟说：「厄里叟，请你留在这里，因为上主派我到耶里哥去。」他回答说：「我指着永生的上主和你的性命起誓：我决不离开你。」于是二人往耶里哥去了。
2:5
在耶里哥的先知弟子们前来，对厄里叟说:「上主今天要接你的师傅离开你，你知道吗﹖」他回答说：「是的，我知道，你们不要作声。」
2:6
厄里亚又对厄里叟说：「请你留在这里，因为上主派我到约但河去。」厄里叟回答说：「我指着永生的上主和你的性命起誓：我决不离开你。」二人于是继续前行。
2:7
先知弟子中有五十个人同去，远远站在他们对面，他们二人立在约旦河边，
2:8
厄里亚将自己的外衣卷起，击打河水，水即左右分开，他们二人从干地上走了过去。
2:9
过去以后，厄里亚对厄里叟说：「在我被接去离开你以前，我应该为你作什么，你尽管求罢！」厄里叟答说：「求你把你的精神给我两分。」
2:10
厄里亚说：「你求了一件难事；不过当我被接去离开你的时候，你若能看见我，你就可以得到；否则，你就不能得到。」
2:11
他们正边走边谈的时候，忽然有一辆火马拉的火车出现，把他们二人分开；厄里亚便乘着旋风升天去了。
厄里叟继承厄里亚
2:12 厄里叟一见，就呼喊说：「我父，我父！以色列的战车，以色列的骏马！」随后就再看不见他了；厄里叟遂抓住自己的衣服，撕成两半，
2:13
然后拾起厄里亚身上掉下来的外衣，回去站在约旦河边，
2:14
拿着从厄里亚身上掉下来的外衣击打河水说：「上主，厄里亚的天主在那里﹖」他一击打河水，河水就左右分开，厄里叟走了过去。
2:15
耶里哥的先知弟子们从对面看见了他，就说：「厄里亚的精神已降在厄里叟的身上了。」他们便前来迎接他，俯伏在地，叩拜他，
2:16
对他说：「你仆人中有五十个强壮的人，请让他们去寻找你的师傅，或者上主的神将他提去，丢在一座山上，或一个山谷里。」他回答说：「不必派他们去。」
2:17
但是他们迫得他不好意思，他这才说：「你们派人去罢！」他们于是派了五十个人去，寻找了三天，始终没有找到，
2:18
便回来见厄里叟，那时厄里叟还在耶里哥。厄里叟对他们说：「我不是对你们早说了，你们不必去吗﹖」
厄里叟改变水土
2:19 城中的人对厄里叟说：「请看，本城的地势很好，师傅也看见了，只是水不好，以致土产不熟即落。」
2:20
厄里叟说：「给我拿一只新碗来，里面放上些盐。」他们就给他拿了来；
2:21
他遂出去到水泉旁，将盐倒在水里说：「上主这样说：我已治好了这水，从此再也不会引起死亡和不熟早落的病。」
2:22
果然，照厄里叟所说的，那水直到今日常是好水。
幼童嘲笑先知受罚
2:23 厄里叟从那里上贝特耳去，当他沿路上去的时候，从城中出来一些小孩子，讥笑他说：「光头，上来！光头，上来！」
2:24
厄里叟回过头去看他们，因上主的名诅咒了他们；立即有两只狗熊从林中出来，咬死了其中四十二个孩子。
2:25
厄里叟从那里去了加尔默耳山，然后又从那里回了撒玛黎雅。
第三章(27)
以色列王耶曷兰
3:1 犹大王约沙法特十八年，阿哈布的儿子耶曷兰在撒玛黎雅登极作以色列王，在位凡十二年。
3:2
他行了上主视为恶的事，不过还不像他的父亲和母亲那样坏，因为他除去了他父亲所立的巴耳神柱，
3:3
只是对乃巴特的儿子雅洛贝罕使以色列陷于罪过的事，仍恋恋不舍，从未脱离。
摩阿布人背叛
3:4 摩阿布王默沙原是一个以畜牧为业的人，他经常以十万只羔羊和十万只公山羊毛，向以色列王进贡；
3:5
但在阿哈布死后，摩阿布王便背叛了以色列王。
3:6
那时，耶曷兰王从撒玛黎雅出来，检阅全以色列人，
3:7
以后派使者去见犹大王约沙法特说：「摩阿布王背叛了我，你愿意同我一起去攻打摩阿布吗﹖」约沙法特说：「愿意去；你怎样，我也怎样；我的人民就如同是你的人民，我的马就如同是你的马。」
3:8
约沙法特接着问说：「我们从那条路上去﹖」耶曷兰答说：「从厄东旷野那条路。」
3:9
于是以色列王、犹大王和厄东王出发，绕道而行，七天以后，军队和随行的一大队牲畜没有水喝。
3:10
以色列王说：「哎！上主召集这三个王子，原是将他们交在摩阿布手中啊！」
3:11
约沙法特问说：「这里有没有一位上主的先知，我们可以托他求问上主﹖」以色列王的一个臣仆回答说：「这里有沙法特的儿子厄里叟，就是常在厄里亚手上倒水的那一位。」
3:12
约沙法特说：「他必有上主的话。」以色列王、约沙法特和厄东王，于是一同下去见他。
3:13
厄里叟对以色列王说：「我和你有什么关系﹖你去找你父亲和你母亲的先知罢！」以色列王说：「不要这样说！上主召集了这三个王子，原是要将他们交于摩阿布手中啊！」
3:14
厄里叟说：「我指着我所服事的永生万军的上主起誓：我如果不是为了犹大王约沙法特的情面，我决不看你，也不睬你。
3:15
现在，你们给我叫一个弹琴的人来。」原来每逢乐师弹琴的时候，上主的手就临到他身上。
3:16
厄里叟说：「上主这样说：你们在这山谷中遍挖壕沟，
3:17
因为上主这样说：你们不见风，也不见雨，这山谷中却要充满了水，使你们、你们的军队和牲畜都有水喝。
3:18
这在上主看来还是小事，他还要将摩阿布交在你们手中，
3:19
使你们攻破所有设防的城市，砍倒所有的好树，杜塞所有的水泉，用石头毁坏所有的良田。」
3:20
果然，早上正献祭的时候，从厄东方面来了大水，遍地满了水。
摩阿布人惨败
3:21 全摩阿布人一听说三个王子前来进攻，就召集了所有能佩带武器的人，把守边界。
3:22
第二天早晨，日光照在水上，摩阿布人起来，看见对面的水红得象血，
3:23
遂说：「这是血！一定是那三个王子彼此混战，互相残杀。摩阿布，起来，前去夺取财物！」
3:24
及至他们到了以色列营地，以色列人即奋起迎敌，摩阿布人从他们面前逃走，他们就乘势追赶，击杀摩阿布人，
3:25
破坏了他们的城市，个个用石头拋满了他们的良田，杜塞了所有的水泉，砍倒了各种好树；只剩下克尔赫勒斯城，拋石头的人仍包围攻击那城。
3:26
摩阿布王见战事激烈，难以抵抗，就带领七百人，手持刀剑，企图突围，往投阿兰王，却没有成功；
3:27
于是将那要继承自己位的长子叫来，在城墙上祭杀了，作为全燔祭。这事使天主向以色列人大发忿怒；他们便离开摩阿布王，各自回了本地。
第四章(44)
增油的奇迹
4:1 有一个先知弟子的妻子，前来哀求厄里叟说：「你的仆人，我的丈夫死了，你知道你的仆人是一个敬畏上主的人；现在债主前来，要带走我的两个孩子，作他的奴隶。」
4:2
厄里叟对她说：「我能为你做什么﹖你告诉我：你家里还有什么﹖」她答说：「你的婢女家里除一瓶油外，什么也没有。」
4:3
厄里叟说：「你去，到外面向你所有的邻居借些空器皿，不要少借；
4:4
然后回家，关上门，你和你的儿子在家里，将油倒在所有的那些器皿内，把装满了的，放在一边。」
4:5
她于是辞别厄里叟，回去照办。她和她的儿子关上门，儿子给她递器皿，她只顾倒油，
4:6
器皿都装满了，她对儿子说：「再递给我器皿！」儿子答说：「没有了。」同时油也止住了。
4:7
妇人就去告诉天主的人。厄里叟对她说：「你去把油卖了，还你的债；剩下的，你和你的儿子可用来过活。」
复活死童
4:8 有一天，厄里叟路过叔能，那里有一个富贵的妇人，曾挽留他吃饭；因此，厄里叟每次路过那里，总到她家里吃饭。
4:9
妇人对丈夫说：「现在我看出：这个时常路过我们这里的天主的人，是位圣者。
4:10
我们可以在房顶上，给他盖一间小房，里面放一张床，一张桌子，一把椅子和一盏灯；这样，他几时来到我们这里，可在那里休息。」
4:11
一天，厄里叟又到了那里，就进入那间小房休息。
4:12
厄里叟吩咐自己的仆人革哈齐说：「你叫这位叔能妇人来。」仆人叫了妇人来，妇人站在先知面前，
4:13
厄里叟吩咐仆人说：「现在你对她说：看，你照顾我们既然这样周到，我们可为你作什么事呢﹖要不要我们在君王或军长前为你说句话﹖」那妇人答说：「我住在我本国人民中很平安。」
4:14
厄里叟就问革哈齐：「我们究竟能为她作什么﹖」革哈齐说：「可怜她没有儿子，丈夫又老了。」
4:15
厄里叟说：「快再叫她来！」仆人又将妇人叫来，这次她却站在门口，
4:16
厄里叟对她说：「明年这时，你必怀抱着一个儿子。」妇人答说：「我主，天主的人哪！不会！你别哄骗你的婢女！」
4:17
这妇人果然怀了孕；过了一年，在厄里叟对她所说的时候，生了一个儿子。
4:18
孩子渐渐长大，一天，他出去到收割的人那里找他父亲，
4:19
孩子忽然对他父亲喊说：「我的头啊！我的头啊！」他父亲吩咐仆人说：「把孩子送到他母亲那里去！」
4:20
仆人将他抱起，送给他母亲，孩子坐在母亲膝上，到了中午，就死了。
4:21
他母亲遂上了楼，将孩子放在天主的人的床上，关上门，出来，
4:22
叫自己的丈夫来说：「请你给我派一个仆人，牵一匹驴来，我要快去见见天主的人，就回来。」
4:23
她丈夫说：「为什么今天要去见他，既不是朔日，又不是安息日﹖」妇人答说：「你放心好了！」
4:24
于是，她把驴备好，对仆人说：「你快赶着走，我若不吩咐，在路上不要停下来。」
4:25
妇人于是来到加尔默耳山见天主的人。天主的人自远处看见她，就对自己的仆人革哈齐说：「看，那是叔能妇人！
4:26
现在你跑去迎接她，向她问安说：你好吗﹖你的丈夫好吗﹖你的孩子好吗﹖」她回答说：「好。」
4:27
妇人上到山上，来到天主的人跟前，就抱住他的脚；革哈齐前来想推开她，可是天主的人说：「由她罢！因为她心中很痛苦；上主隐瞒了我，什么也没有告诉我。」
4:28
那妇人说：「我何尝向我主求过一个儿子﹖我岂不是说过：你不要哄骗我吗﹖」
4:29
厄里叟对革哈齐说：「你束上腰，手里拿着我的棍杖前去；不论遇见谁，不要向他请安；不论谁向你请安，你也不要回答。你去把我的棍杖放在孩子的脸上。」
4:30
孩子的母亲说：「我指着永生的上主及你的性命起誓：你不去，我决不离开。」厄里叟就起身跟她去了。
4:31
革哈齐在他们以先去了。将棍杖放在孩子的脸上，但是没有声音，没有反应；他便回来见厄里叟，告诉他说：「孩子没有醒来。」
4:32
厄里叟一来到她家，看见孩子死了，躺在自己的床上，
4:33
就进去，关上门，房内只有他和孩子；先知先哀求了上主，
4:34
然后上床，伏在孩子身上，自己的口对住孩子的口，自己的眼对住孩子的眼，自己的手按住孩子的手，屈身伏在孩子身上，孩子的肉身便渐渐温暖了。
4:35
然后他下来，在屋内来回走了一趟；又上去，屈身伏在孩子身上，对着孩子呵了七口气，孩子就睁开了眼睛。
4:36
厄里叟叫革哈齐来，对他说：「你叫那叔能妇人来。」他便去叫那妇人，妇人就来了。厄里叟说：「抱起你的孩子来！」
4:37
妇人一进来，就俯伏在他脚前，叩首至地；然后起来，抱起自己的孩子出去了。
化毒物为食物
4:38 厄里叟又来到基耳加耳，那地方正遭受肌荒；众先知的弟子坐在他面前，他吩咐自己的仆人说：「你在火上放上一个火锅，给众先知的弟子煮些菜汤。」
4:39
有一个弟子出去到田间采菜，看见一棵野葡萄树，从上面采了一满兜野果子回来，切碎放在菜锅里，并不知道是什么东西。
4:40
以后，他们把菜汤倒出来给众人吃。众人一尝这菜汤，都喊叫说：「天主的人，锅里有致死的毒物啊！」众人都不能吃。
4:41
那时厄里叟说：「拿点面来！」他把面撒在锅里说：「倒出来给众人吃罢！」锅里就再没有什么毒了。
增饼奇迹
4:42 有一个人从巴耳沙里沙来，在自己的行囊里，给天主的人带来了初熟大麦作的二十个饼和一些新麦穗。厄里叟说：「分给众人吃罢！」
4:43
仆人说：「我怎能将这一点东西摆在一百人面前呢﹖」厄里叟说：「你尽管分给众人吃，因为上主这样说：众人吃了，还有剩余。」
4:44
于是仆人将食物摆在众人面前，他们都吃了，并且还有剩余，全应验了上主的话。
第五章(27)
纳阿曼癞病获愈
5:1 阿兰王的军长纳阿曼在他的主上面前，是个很受尊重宠爱的人，因为上主曾藉他使阿兰人获得胜利；这人虽英勇有为，无奈患了癞病。
5:2
阿兰人先前曾结队出外劫掠，从以色列地掳来一个少女，这少女做了服侍纳阿曼妻子的婢女；
5:3
她对自己的主母说：「哎！如果我的主人去见撒玛黎雅的先知，他一定会治好他的癞病。」
5:4
纳阿曼去告诉他的主上说：「以色列地的少女曾如此如此说。」
5:5
阿兰王说：「你去！我也给以色列王写一封信。」纳阿曼于是带了十「塔冷通」银子，六千「协刻耳」金子和十套礼服去了。
5:6
他给以色列王呈上信，信上说：「你收到这封信，就知道我打发我的臣仆纳阿曼来见你，是要你医好他的癞病。」
5:7
以色列王一念了这信，就撕裂自己的衣服说：「难道我是天主，能使人死使人活吗﹖这人竟然给送这个人来，叫我医好他的癞病！你们只要想一想，便可看出，他是找机会来与我寻衅。」
5:8
天主的人厄里叟听说以色列王撕裂了自己的衣服，便打发人去见君王说:「你为什么撕裂了你的衣服，叫他来见我他就会知道在以色列有先知」
5:9
纳阿曼于是乘坐车马来到厄里叟的屋门口，就停下了。
5:10
厄里叟派了一个使者对他说：「你去，在约旦河里洗七次，你的肌肉就会复原，得到洁净。」
5:11
纳阿曼生了气，且走且说：「看，我原想他会出来见我，站在我面前，呼求上主他的天主的名，在患处挥动他的手，治好这癞病。
5:12
大马士革的阿巴纳河和帕尔帕尔河，不比以色列所有的河水都好吗﹖我不能在那里洗得洁净吗﹖」他于是转过车来，气愤愤地走了。
5:13
他的仆人们前来对他说：「我父！如果先知吩咐你作一件难事，你岂不是也要做吗﹖何况他只对你说：你去洗洗，就洁净了呢！」
5:14
纳阿曼便下去，按照天主的人的话，在约旦河里浸了七次；他的肌肉就复了原，如同婴儿的肌肉一样，完全洁净了。
5:15
纳阿曼于是同他的全体随员，再回到天主的人那里，站在他面前说：「现在我确实知道：全世界只在以色列有天主。现在，请你收下你仆人的礼物罢！」
5:16
厄里叟回答说：「我指着我所服事的永生上主起誓：我决不接受。」纳阿曼再三催促他接受，厄里叟只有拒绝。
5:17
纳阿曼遂说：「你既不接受，至少请你让你的仆人装去两个骡子所能驮的土，因为你的仆人从此不再给别的神，只给上主奉献全燔祭和祭祀；
5:18
但有一件事，愿上主宽赦你的仆人：就是当我的主上进入黎孟庙宇叩拜时，常是搀扶着我的手，这样我也得随他在黎孟庙宇参拜。当我在黎孟庙宇参拜时，愿上主在这件事上赦免你的仆人！」
5:19
先知对他说：「你放心去罢！」
革哈齐贪财受罚
纳阿曼离开先知，已走了一段路。
5:20 那时，天主的人厄里叟的仆人革哈齐心里想：「我的主人白白放过了这个阿兰人纳阿曼，没有接受他所赠送的礼物；我指着永生的上主起誓：我一定要去追上他，向他要点东西。」
5:21
革哈齐遂去追赶纳阿曼。纳阿曼见他在后面追来，便下车迎接他说「都好吗﹖」
5:22
革哈齐回答说：「都好。我主人打发我来对你说：刚才有先知的两个青年弟子，从厄弗辣因山地来看我，请你给他们一「塔冷通」银子和两套礼服。」
5:23
纳阿曼说：「好，就请拿两「塔冷通」罢！」它再三催促革哈齐，将两「塔冷通」银子，放在两个布袋里；还有两套礼服。将这些东西交给两个仆人，叫他们在革哈齐前面拿着。
5:24
当革哈齐到了一座山岗上，便从他们手中接过来，藏在家里；然后辞别他们两人，让他们回去了。
5:25
当革哈齐进去侍立在主人面前时，厄里叟问他说：「革哈齐，你从那里来！」他回答说：「你仆人那里也没有去。」
5:26
先知对他说：「那人下车转来迎接你的时候，我的心岂没有跟你去吗﹖好罢！现在你既收下银子，自然也可以买衣服、橄榄园、葡萄园、牛、羊、仆婢了。
5:27
但是，纳阿曼的癫病也要附在你身上和你的后裔身上，直到永远。」革哈齐从厄里叟面前出来，就患了癞病，像雪那样白。
第六章(33)
使沉斧浮出
6:1 众先知的弟子对厄里叟说：「看，我们同你住的地方太窄小了，
6:2
请你让我们到约旦河去，每人取一根梁木，在那里建造我们的住所。」他答说：「你们去罢！」
6:3
其中一个人说：「请你也同你的仆人一起去！」厄里叟答说：「我去。」
6:4
先知便同他们一起去了。他们到了约旦河，就砍伐树木。
6:5
其中一个，砍木梁时，斧头掉在水里了，就大声叫喊说：哎呦！我主，这把斧子是借来的啊！」
6:6
天主的人问他说：「斧头掉在那里﹖」那人将那地方指给先知看。先知即砍下一块木头，丢在那里，使斧头浮了上来。
6:7
先知对他说：「你拿上来罢！」他就伸手拿了上来。
向以色列王告密
6:8 阿兰王同以色列交战时，与自己的臣仆商议说：要在某某地方埋伏。
6:9
但天主的人打发人去见以色列王说：「你要小心提防，不要经过某某地方，因为阿兰人已在那里设下埋伏。」
6:10
以色列王就派人去侦察天主的人警告他的地方；他就小心防备，不只一两次。
6:11
阿兰王为了此事心中颇为烦恼，遂将臣仆召来，对他们说：「难道你们不能告诉我：我们中谁支持以色列王吗﹖」
6:12
一个臣仆答说：「我主，大王！没有谁支持，只有以色列的先知厄里叟，将君王在密室里所谈的事，都告诉了以色列王。」
6:13
阿兰王说：「你们去看看他在那里，我好派人去捉拿。」有人告诉君王说：「他在多堂。」
诱陷阿兰军队
6:14 阿兰王就打发马队战车和强大的部队前去，夜间到了那里，将城围住。
6:15
天主的人的仆人清早起来出门时，看见军队车马将城包围了，就对先知说：「哎！我主，我们怎么办﹖」
6:16
先知答说：「不必害怕，因为偕同我们的，比他们的还多。」
6:17
厄里叟就祈祷说：「上主，求你开后他的眼，叫他看见。」上主就开了仆人的眼，他看见遍山都是火马车，围绕着厄里叟。
6:18
敌人下到先知那里的时候，厄里叟恳求上主说：「求你打击这个民族，使他们眼目失明。」上主果然照厄里叟的话打击了他们，使他们眼目失明。
6:19
厄里叟对他们说：「不是这条路，也不是这座城；你们跟我来，我要领你们到你们寻找的人那里去。」于是先知领他们到了撒玛黎雅。
善待诱陷的人
6:20 他们一进了撒玛黎雅，厄里叟就祈祷说：「上主，开启这些人的眼睛，叫他们看见。」上主果然开了他们的眼睛；他们一看，见自己竟在撒玛黎雅城内。
6:21
以色列王看见他们，就对厄里叟说：「我父，要杀死他们吗﹖」
6:22
厄里叟答说：「不要杀他们；你自己用弓剑掳来的人，你岂可杀死﹖你要为这些人预备饭和水，叫他们吃喝，然后让他们回到自己的主上那里去。」
6:23
君王就给他们预备了盛宴，叫他们吃了喝了，打发他们回到自己的主上那里去。从此，阿兰队伍再没有侵犯以色列地方。
撒玛黎雅被围
6:24 这事以后，阿兰王本哈达得集合了他所有的军队，上来围困撒玛黎雅。
6:25
撒玛黎雅被围困后，陷于严重的饥荒，甚至一个驴头，值八十「协刻耳」银子，四分之一「卡步」豆荚，值五「协刻耳」银子。
6:26
当以色列王从城墙上经过时，有一个妇人呼求他说：「我主大王，救救我罢！」
6:27
君王答说：「如果上主不救你，我怎能救你﹖靠禾场﹖靠酒池﹖」
6:28
君王问那妇人说：「你有什么事﹖」妇人答说：「这个女人曾对我说：把你的儿子交出来，我们今天吃；留下我的儿子，我们明天吃。
6:29
于是我们就把我的儿子煮着吃了。第二天我对那女人说：把你的儿子交出来给我们吃，她却把自己的儿子藏了起来。」
6:30
君王听了这妇人的话，就撕裂了自己的衣服，─当他正在城墙上经过，民众都看见了他贴身穿著苦衣，─
6:31
说「如果沙法特的儿子厄里叟的头，今天还留在他身上，愿天主严厉，且加倍严厉地惩罚我！」
厄里叟预言解围
6:32 那时厄里叟正坐在屋里，长老们同他坐在一起，君王派一个人在他以前去，但是这人还未来到，厄里叟就对长老们说：「你们看，这个凶手之子，竟派人来要斩我的头。你们注意，使者来到时，你们要把门关上，把他关在门外；在他后面不就是他主上的脚步声吗﹖」
6:33
先知还同他们说话的时候，君王就下到他那里说：「这灾难是由上主来的，我对上主还有什么指望﹖」
第七章(20)
7:1 厄里叟说：「请听上主的话：上主这样说：明天这个时候，在撒玛黎雅城门口，一「色阿」上等面粉只值一「协刻耳」，两「色阿」大麦，只值一「协刻耳。」
7:2
那个手扶君王的侍卫回答天主的人说：「纵使上主打开天上的闸，也不会有这样的事！」先知说：「你必亲眼看到，只是吃不上。」
阿兰军队弃营逃走
7:3 在城门口有四个癞病人，他们彼此说：「我们为什么在这里坐着等死呢﹖
7:4
如果我们决意进城去，城里也有饥荒，我们必死在那里；如果留在这里，我们也是一样死；不如去投到阿兰人营中，假如他们让我们活着，我们就活着；假如他们要杀我们，我们就死罢。」
7:5
他们于是在黄昏时起身，往阿兰人的营盘那里去；及至到了阿兰人的营盘边时，哦！那里一个人也没有了。
7:6
原来上主早已使阿兰人的营盘中听到战车马队和大军的喧嚣声，他们就彼此说：「呀！以色列王雇用了赫特人王和慕兹黎人王来攻打我们了。」
7:7
所以，他们在黄昏时，即起身逃走，丢下了他们的帐幕骡马，只顾逃命，留下营盘未动。
7:8
这些癞病人到了营盘边，进了一个帐幕，又吃又喝，将那里的金银和衣服拿走，去收藏起来；然后又回来，进了另一帐幕，拿走了那里的东西，去收藏起来。
癞病人报喜讯
7:9 以后，癞病人彼此说：「我们这样做得不对，今天原是报喜讯的日子，我们竟然不声不响；如果等到早晨天亮，我们就有罪了。来，现在我们就去向王室报信！」
7:10
他们于是去向把守城门的人喊叫，给他们报告说：「我们曾到过罢兰人的营盘，那里一个人也没有，也没有人声，只有栓着的马，栓着的驴；帐幕一点未动。」
7:11
把守城门的人就高声喊叫，向王室传报消息。
7:12
君王夜间起来，对自己的臣仆说：「现在让我给你们解释，阿兰人对我们所做的事：他们知道我们闹饥荒，所以离开营盘，埋伏在田间，心想：以色列人必由城里出来，那时，我们可将他们活活捉住，然后开进城去。」
7:13
有个臣仆回答说：「请叫人从这里所剩下的马中，牵出五匹来，无论怎样，同别的一样要死，倒不如派人去看看。
7:14
他们于是推出两辆战车，五匹马，君王就派他们去追赶阿兰军队说：「你们去看看！」
7:15
那些人追踪阿兰人，直到约旦河，见路上满是阿兰人在仓卒逃走中，丢下的衣服和装备；使者们便回来报告了君王。
先知预言的应验
7:16 人民便出来抢掠了阿兰人的营盘。于是，一「色阿」上等面粉，只值一「协刻耳，」两「色阿」大麦，只值一「协刻耳，」正应验了上主所说的话。
7:17
君王派定那手扶自己的侍卫，把守城门；但人民在城门口把他踏死了，应验了天主的人，在君王下来见他时，所说的话。
7:18
原来，天主的人对君王说过：「明天这个时候，在撒玛黎雅城门口，一『色阿』上等面粉，只值一『协刻耳，』两『色阿』大麦，只值一『协刻耳。』」
7:19
那侍卫曾回答天主的人说：「纵然上主打开天上的闸，也不会有这样的事！」先知答说：「你必亲眼看到，只是吃不上。」
7:20
这事果然发生在他身上了：人民在城门口把他踏死了。
第八章(29)
叔能妇人求回家产
8:1 厄里叟对自己曾复活其子的妇人说：「你和你的家人，应动身往你能居住的地方去侨居，因为上主已决定，这地快要遭受七年饥荒」
8:2
那妇人就立即照天主的人所说的话作了；她和她的家人动身走了，在培肋舍特人的地方，侨居了七年。
8:3
过了七年，这妇人从培肋舍特地方回来，便去求君王，要收回自己的房屋和田地。
8:4
那时，君王正与天主的人仆人革哈齐谈话，说：「请你将厄里叟作的一切大事，讲给我听！」
8:5
当革哈齐正向君王讲述先知如何复活死人的时候，恰好厄里叟曾复活其子的那妇人，前来求君王，要收回自己的房产和田地，革哈齐就说：「我主，大王！这就是那妇人，这就是厄里叟所复活的那儿子。」
8:6
君王问那妇人，妇人便将那件事告诉了君王；君王于是将她的事，委托给一个宦官，吩咐他说：「凡这妇人的一切，和自从她离开此地直到今日，田地里的一切出产，都应归还给她。」
厄里叟预言哈匝耳为王
8:7 厄里叟来到大马士革时，阿兰王本哈达得正在患病，有人告诉君王说：「天主的人到这里来了。」
8:8
君王对哈匝耳说：「你随身带些礼物，去拜见天主的人，托他求问上主，我这病还能好吗﹖」
8:9
哈匝耳就带了四十匹骆驼，满载着大马士革出产的上等礼品，前去拜见先知；到了以后，就站在先知面前说：「你的弟子阿兰王本哈达得打发我来问你：我这病还能好吗﹖」
8:10
厄里叟对他说：「你去告诉他：一定会好；但上主指示我：他一定要死。」
8:11
厄里叟定睛凝视哈匝耳，直使哈匝耳感到惭愧。这时天主的人就哭了。
8:12
哈匝耳问说：「我主，你为什么哭﹖」先知回答说：「因为我已知道你将要加于以色列子民的恶行：你要放火焚毁他们的堡垒，用刀杀死他们的青年，摔死他们的儿童，剖开他们的孕妇。」
8:13
哈匝耳说：「你的仆人算什么﹖只不过是一条狗，他如何能作出这样的大事﹖」厄里叟回答说：「上主已指示给我，你要作阿兰王。」
8:14
哈匝耳就离开厄里叟，回去见他的主上；君王问他说：「厄里叟对你说了些什么﹖」他回答说：「他告诉我：你一定会好。」
8:15
到了第二天，哈匝耳拿了被衾浸在水中蒙在君王的脸上，君王就这样死了；哈匝耳就篡位为王。
约兰为犹大王
8:16 以色列王阿哈布的儿子耶曷兰五年，犹大王约沙法特的儿子约兰登极为犹大王。
8:17
他即位时年三十二岁，在耶路撒冷为王八年。
8:18
他走了以色列王所走的道路，像阿哈布家所行的一样，因为他娶了阿哈布的女儿为妻，行了上主视为恶的事。
8:19
但是，上主为了他仆人达味的缘故，不愿消灭犹大，因为他曾向达味应许过，他的子孙中，要永远给他留下一盏明灯。
8:20
约兰年间，厄东人脱离了犹大的统治，自立为王；
8:21
那时，约兰率领自己所有的战车，到了匝依尔，乘夜间起来，冲出了包围他和那些战车长的厄东人，军民纔得逃回自己的帐幕。
8:22
这样，厄东人脱离了犹大的统治，直到今日。同时，里贝纳也背叛了犹大。
8:23
约兰其余的事迹，他的一切作为，都记载在犹大列王实录上。
8:24
约兰与列祖同眠后，与他的列祖葬在达味城；他的儿子阿哈齐雅继位为王。
阿哈齐雅为犹大王
8:25 以色列王阿哈布的儿子耶曷兰十二年，犹大王约兰的儿子阿哈齐雅登极为王。
8:26
他即位时，年二十二岁，在耶路撒冷作王一年。他的母亲名叫阿塔里雅，是以色列王敖默黎的孙女。
8:27
阿哈齐雅走了阿哈布家的道路，行了上主视为恶的事，同阿哈布家一样，因为他是阿哈布家的女婿。
8:28
他同阿哈布的儿子耶曷兰往辣摩特基肋阿得去，与阿兰王哈匝耳交战。阿兰人击伤了耶曷兰，
8:29
耶曷兰就回到依次勒耳，治疗他在辣摩特与阿兰人交战时所受的伤。犹大王约兰的儿子阿哈齐雅，由于阿哈布的儿子耶曷兰患病，就下到依次勒耳去探望他。
第九章(37)
耶胡受傅为王
9:1 那时，先知厄里叟叫一个先知弟子来，对他说：「你束上腰，手里拿着这瓶油，往辣摩特基肋阿得去，
9:2
一到了那里，就去求见尼默史的孙子约沙法特的儿子耶胡；得见后，叫他离开同僚，领踢进入一间内室，
9:3
将这瓶油倒在他的头上说：上主这样说：我傅你为以色列王。然后，开门逃走，不要逗留。」
9:4
那青年人，即那青年先知就往辣摩特基肋阿得去了。
9:5
他到了那里，看见众将军都在坐，青年人遂说：「将军，我有话对你说。」耶胡问说：「我们中，你要对那一个说话﹖」他答说：「将军，就是你。」
9:6
耶胡站起来，进了内室，那青年人就将油倒在他头上，对他说：「上主以色列的天主这样说：我傅你为上主的人民以色列的君王。
9:7
你要消灭你主上阿哈布的家，使我在依则贝耳身上，为我的仆人先知和上主的一切仆人报血仇。
9:8
阿哈布的全家必要丧亡；我要消灭以色列凡属于阿哈布的一切男人，无论是自由的，或不自由的。
9:9
我要使阿哈布家像乃巴特的儿子雅洛贝罕家，又像阿希雅的儿子巴厄沙家一样；
9:10
于依则贝耳，狗要在依次勒耳的田间吞食她，没有人来埋葬。」那青年人说完，就开门逃走了。
9:11
耶胡出来回到他主上的臣仆那里，他们问他说：「一切都好吗﹖那疯子来见你有什么事﹖」耶胡答说：「你们应认识这个人，也知道他说些什么。」
9:12
他们说：「定说些胡话！请给我们说说！」耶胡遂说：「他如此如此告诉我说：上主这样说：我傅你为以色列王。」
9:13
他们一听，急忙将各自己的衣服铺在光台阶他的脚下，吹角喊说：「耶胡作王了！」
耶胡造反
9:14 尼默史的孙子约沙法特的儿子耶胡于是背叛了耶曷兰?つ鞘保吕荚柿烊陨腥嗽诶蹦μ鼗甙⒌茫钥拱⒗季豕讯?
15 但耶曷兰已回了依次勒耳，治疗他与阿兰王哈匝耳交战时，被阿兰人所射的创伤?ひ担骸溉绻饧潞夏忝堑男囊猓敲淳筒灰萌魏稳颂映龀侨ィ揭来卫斩ㄐ拧！?
16
耶胡于是亲自驾车去了依次勒耳，因为耶曷兰正在那里卧病未起；犹大王阿哈齐雅也下到那里去探望他。
9:17
站在依次勒耳堡垒上的守兵，见有耶胡的兵队来到，就喊叫说：「我看见了一大队人马！」耶曷兰下令说：「叫一个骑兵来，派他去探问他们说：都平安吗﹖」
9:18
骑兵就去迎接耶胡说：「王问：都平安吗﹖」耶胡答说：「平安不平安与你何干﹖转到我后面去！」守兵随号报告说：「使者到了他们那里，却没有回来。」
9:19
耶曷兰又打发第二个骑兵去，这骑兵到了他们那里说：「王问：都平安吗﹖」耶胡答说：「平安不平安与你何干？转到我后面去！
9:20
守兵随后有报告说：他到了他们那里，也没有回来；那驾车法很像尼默史的孙子耶胡的驾驶法，驾得很狂猛。」
耶胡射杀耶曷兰
9:21 耶曷兰遂即吩咐说：「套车！」人就套好他的车。以色列王耶曷兰和犹大王阿哈齐雅出来，各自上车，去迎接耶胡，在依次勒耳人纳波特的庄田那里，迎上了他。
9:22
耶曷兰一见耶胡就问说：「耶胡！都平安吗﹖」耶胡回答说：「你母亲依则贝耳的淫行和妖术那样多，还有什么平安﹖」
9:23
耶曷兰即刻转车逃走，对阿哈齐雅说：「阿喝齐雅，他反了！」
9:24
耶胡用手拉弓，射中了耶曷兰两臂之间，箭从心窝穿出，耶曷兰就倒在车上。
9:25
耶胡吩咐自己的侍卫彼德卡说：「将他抬起，丢在依次肋耳人纳波特的庄田里！你该记得：当我你二人一起驾车跟随他父亲阿哈布时，上主即向他宣布了这个神谕：「
9:26
昨天我确实看见了纳波特和他儿子们的血，上主的断语；我必要在这块田地里报复你，上主的断语。所以现在，你要照上主的话，将他抬起，丢在这块田地里。」
耶胡射杀阿哈齐雅
9:27 犹大王阿哈齐雅见了这事，就向贝特干逃去，耶胡追赶他，吩咐说：「也将他射杀在车上！」果然，在离依贝肋罕不远的古尔山坡上，把他射伤；他逃到默基多，就死在那里。
9:28
他的臣仆用车把他送到耶路撒冷，与祖先葬在达味城，他自己的坟墓里。
9:29
阿哈齐雅登极为犹大王，是在阿哈布的儿子耶曷兰在位第十一年。
依则贝耳惨死
9:30 当耶胡来到依次勒耳时，依则贝耳就听说了，遂画眉梳头，从窗户往外眺望，
9:31
见耶胡进城门的时候，她便问说：「弒杀主上的齐默黎，你平安吗﹖」
9:32
耶胡举目看那窗户说：「谁拥护我﹖谁﹖」有两三个太监从窗户里往下看他。
9:33
耶胡说：「把她推下来！」他们便把她推下来，她的血溅在墙上和马身上；马在她身上踏过。
9:34
耶胡进去，吃喝完了，吩咐说：「你们去料理那可诅咒的女人，将她埋葬，因为她究竟是君王的女儿。」
9:35
但是，当他们去埋葬她时，只找到了她的头盖、脚和手掌，
9:36
遂回来告诉耶胡。耶胡说：「这正应验了上主藉自己的仆人提市贝人厄里亚所说的话：在依次勒耳的庄田里，狗要吞食依则贝耳的肉；
9:37
依则贝耳的尸首要成为依次勒耳田地里的粪土，以致人不能说：这是依则贝耳。」
第十章(36)
杀阿哈布的子孙
10:1 阿哈布的子孙阿哈布在撒玛黎雅尚有七十个孙子，为此，耶胡写信给撒玛黎雅城中的首领、长老和阿哈布子孙的师保，说：「
10:2
你们主上的子孙，既然都同你们在一起，又有车马、坚城和武器；那么，这信一到你们手中，
10:3
你们就在你们主上的子孙中，选出一位最好最能干的，坐上他父亲的宝座，来为你们主上的家作战。」
10:4
但是，他们都很害怕说：「哎！两位君王尚且不能抵抗他，我们又怎能抵抗﹖」
10:5
因此，家臣、市长、长老和师保，便派人去见耶胡说：「我们是你的仆人，凡你吩咐的，我们都必照办。我们不选立任何人作王；你看着怎样好，就怎样办罢！」
10:6
耶胡又给他们写了第二封信：「如果你们拥护我，愿听从我的号令；那么，明天这个时候，你们就带着你们主上的子孙的头，到依次勒耳来见我。」君王的七十个子孙，其时都教养在城中的官绅家中。
10:7
这封信一到，他们便将君王的七十个子孙全都杀了，把他们的头放在篮子里，送到依次勒耳耶胡那里。
10:8
有使者来报告耶胡说：「他们将君王子孙的头送来了。」耶胡即下令说：「将头分成两堆，放在城门口，直到明天早晨。」
10:9
第二天早晨，耶胡出来，站着对全民众说：「你们都没有罪。看，我背叛了我的主上，且杀了他，但是，这些人是谁杀的呢﹖
10:10
你们也知道上主的话，即上主论及阿哈布家所说的话，一句也没有落空；上主藉他仆人厄里亚所说的话，都实现了。」
10:11
然后，耶胡把阿哈布家在依次勒耳所剩下的人，所有的亲属、友人和司祭，全都杀了，一个也没有留下。
杀犹大王族
10:12 以后，耶胡起程往撒玛黎雅去了。途中经过牧人聚集地贝特厄刻得时，
10:13
遇见犹大王阿哈齐雅的兄弟，就问他们说：「你们是谁﹖」他们回答说：「我们是阿哈齐雅的兄弟，现在下去向君王和太后的儿子请安。」
10:14
耶胡遂下令说：「将他们活活捉住！」随从就将他们活活捉住，在贝特厄刻得井旁把他们杀了，共计四十二人，一个也没有留下。
10:15
耶胡从那里起身前行，又遇见勒加布的儿子约纳达布前来迎接他；耶胡向他请安，问他说：「你对我的心是否如同我对你的心那样诚实？」约纳达布答说：「是的」。耶胡说：「如果是这样，请你伸出手来。」他就向耶胡伸过手去；耶胡就拉他上车，坐在自己身旁，
10:16
对他说：「你跟我来，看看我对天主是怎样的热诚。」于是叫他坐上他自己的车。
10:17
到了撒玛黎雅，就照上主对厄里亚所说的话，将阿哈布家在撒玛黎雅剩下的人，全都杀了。
杀敬拜巴耳的人
10:18 耶胡召集了全国人民，对他们说：「阿哈布事奉巴耳不够热心，我耶胡要更热心事奉他。
10:19
所以现在，你们去召集所有巴耳的先知，所有敬拜巴耳的人，和所有的司祭，都到我这里来，一个也不要缺席，因为我要向巴耳奉献大祭；谁缺席，谁就不能生存。」这原是耶胡运用的诡计，想消灭所有敬拜巴耳的人。
10:20
耶胡下令说：「你们要为巴耳召开一个圣会！」他们就宣布召开。
10:21
耶胡派人走遍全以色列；凡敬百拜巴耳的人都来了，没有一个缺席不来的；他们都进了巴耳庙，巴耳庙内全挤满了人。
10:22
耶胡对管祭衣的人说：「为所有敬拜巴耳的人，拿出衣服来！」那人就给他们拿出衣服来。
10:23
耶胡和勒加布的儿子约纳达布进了巴耳庙，对敬拜巴耳的人说：「你们要搜查看看，这里不要有事奉雅威的人同你们在一起，只准敬拜巴耳的人。」
10:24
他们于是进去奉献牺牲和全燔祭。耶胡预先在外已派定八十人，对他们说：「谁若让我交于你们手中的一个人逃走，就要他以命抵命。」
10:25
全燔祭奉献完毕，耶胡吩咐卫兵和军官说：「你们进去击杀，一个也不可叫他逃走！」卫兵和军官便用刀击杀了他们，把他们的尸体拋出，然后进入巴耳庙的内堂，
10:26
把巴耳庙内的神柱搬出来烧了，
10:27
推倒了巴耳偶像，拆毁了巴耳庙，使之成为一个厕所，直到今日。
耶胡为以色列王
10:28 '这样，耶胡将巴耳从以色列中铲除了；
10:29
但他仍没有离弃乃巴特的儿子雅洛贝罕使以色列陷于罪恶的罪：即那两头设在贝特耳和丹的金牛。
10:30
上主对耶胡说：「由于你好好执行了我视为义的事，照我心中所想的一切对待了阿哈布家，你的子孙要坐以色列的王位，直到第四代。」
10:31
但耶胡并没有全心谨守遵行上主以色列天主的法律，没有放弃雅洛贝罕使以色列陷于罪恶的罪。
10:32
那时，上主开始削弱以色列，哈匝耳也在四面边境上攻击以色列，
10:33
侵占了约旦河东基肋阿得全地，即加得人，勒乌本和默纳协人的地方，从阿尔农河附近的阿洛厄尔城，直到基肋阿得和巴商。
10:34
耶胡其余的事迹，他的一切作为和武功，都记载在以色列列王实录上。
10:35
耶胡与列祖同眠，人将他葬在撒玛黎雅；他的儿子约阿哈次继位为王。
10:36
耶胡在撒玛黎雅作以色列王，凡二十八年。
第十一章(20)
阿塔里雅垂廉听政
11:1 阿哈齐雅的母亲阿塔里雅见自己的儿子已死，便起来消灭王室所有的后裔。
11:2
但约兰王的女儿，阿哈齐雅的姊姊约舍巴，将阿哈齐雅的儿子约阿士，从被杀的王太子中偷了出来，把他和他的奶妈安置在寝室内，藏了起来，没有让阿塔里雅看见：这样纔没有被杀。
11:3
约阿士和他的奶妈，在上主的殿内隐藏了六年，当时由阿塔里雅主持国政。
约阿士登极
11:4 第七年，约雅达派人将众百夫长，加黎人队长和卫队长召来，领进上主的殿，与他们立约，在上主殿内起誓，然后引君王的儿子出来与他们相见，
11:5
同时吩咐他们说：「你们应这样行事，在安息日进宫值班的三分之一，要照例守卫王宫，
11:6
另三分之一守卫稣尔门，另三分之一把守守卫者的后门；仍照旧值班守卫圣殿。
11:7
在安息日从上主殿内下班的两队，仍应在上主的殿内戒备，
11:8
各人要手里拿着武器环绕君王。擅入防线的，即将他杀死；君王出入时，你们要紧随不离。」
11:9
百夫长就按照司祭约雅达所吩咐的一切去行，各自带领在安息日值班，和在安息日下班的士兵，来见司祭约雅达。
11:10
司祭便将上主殿内属达味王的刀枪和盾牌，交给了众百夫长。
11:11
卫兵每人手持武器，自殿右至殿左，面对祭坛和圣殿，环立在君王四周；
11:12
然后引出太子来，给他加冕，将约书交给他，立他为王，给他傅油，在场民众都鼓掌欢呼：「君王万岁！」
阿塔里雅被杀
11:13 阿塔里雅听见民众叫喊声，就进上主的殿，到民众前。
11:14
她一看，见君王照仪式站在高台上，官长和吹号角的，都站在君王两旁，所有当地人民欢乐吹号；阿塔里雅就撕裂了自己的衣服，喊叫说：「反了，反了！」
11:15
约雅达司祭即吩咐带领军队的众百夫长说：「将她从行列中赶出去，凡跟随她的，都用刀杀死。」原来司祭曾吩咐说：不可在上主的殿内杀她。
11:16
于是众人捉住她；当她由马门进入王宫时，就地将她杀了。
宗教改革
11:17 此后，约雅达使君王和人民与上主立约，作上主的人民；又使君王与人民立约。
11:18
然后，所有当地人民都到巴耳庙去，将庙拆毁，将祭坛推翻，将神像完全打碎，在祭台前斩了巴耳的司祭玛堂。司祭约雅达又调派士兵把守上主的殿，
11:19
以后，率领众百夫长、加黎人、卫兵和所有当地人民，请君王从上主的殿下来，经卫兵门进入王宫，请他坐在王位上。
11:20
全国人民都欢乐喜庆，京城也很平静。至于阿塔里雅，已在王宫死在刀下。
第十二章(22)
约阿士为犹大王
12:1 约阿士即位时，纔七岁；
12:2
他在耶胡第七年即位为王，在耶路撒冷作王凡四十年。他的母亲名叫漆彼雅，是贝耳舍巴人。
12:3
约阿士在司祭约雅达教导他期间，行了上主视为正义的事，只是没有废除高丘，人民仍在高丘上焚香献祭。
重修圣殿
12:5 约阿士对司祭说：「凡人向上主的殿缴纳作献仪的钱，不论是人丁赎金，或乐意捐献于上主殿中的钱，
12:6
司祭们都可以接收，每人也可向相识的人去劝捐；但司祭们应该修理圣殿需要修理的破坏之处。」
12:7
但是，直到约阿士王第二十三年，司祭尚未修理圣殿的破坏之处。
12:8
于是约阿士王将约雅达大司祭和其它司祭召来，问他们说：「你们为什么不修理圣殿破坏之处﹖现在你们不要再向相识的人收钱了；应把所有的钱交出，用来修理圣殿的破坏之处。」
12:9
司祭们就同意不再向人民收钱，也不再负责修理圣殿的破坏之处。
12:10
司祭约雅达于是拿来一个箱子，箱子上面开了一个口，安放在祭坛旁边，即在上主圣殿入口的右边，守门的司祭将所有献于上主圣殿的银钱，放入箱内。
12:11
几时看见箱内的钱够多了，君王的秘书和大司祭就上来，把钱倒出，数点上主殿内所有的银钱。
12:12
他们将秤好了的钱，交给上主殿内间监工的管理员，由他们发给在上主殿内工作的木匠和建筑工人，
12:13
泥水匠和石匠，或购买木料和凿刻好的石头，用来修补上主殿内的破坏之处；总之，用来作为修理圣殿的费用。
12:14
进献于上主殿内的银钱，并没有用来制造上主殿内的银盆、烛剪、盘子、号筒，或任何金银器皿，
12:15
只是将银钱交给工作人员，用来修理上主的殿。
12:16
也并不需要向那些经手收钱付给工人的人算账，因为他们做事忠信可靠。
12:17
至于献作赎过祭和赎罪祭的钱，不归于上主的殿，全归于司祭。
约阿士被暗杀
12:18 那时，阿兰王哈匝耳上来攻打加特，也攻下了，准备进攻耶路撒冷。
12:19
犹大王约阿士就将他祖先犹大王约沙法特、约兰和阿哈齐雅所奉献的圣物，同他自己奉献的圣物，以及上主圣殿和王宫的府库内储藏的金子，全部取出来，送给了阿兰王哈匝耳；哈匝耳就离开了耶路撒冷。
12:20
约阿士其余的事迹，他行的一切，都记载在犹大列王实录上。
12:21
约阿士的臣仆起来结党谋反，在约阿士下到米罗宫时，将他杀死；
12:22
杀他的是他的臣仆史默阿特的儿子约匝加尔和芍默尔的儿子约匝巴得。他死后，人将他葬在达味城，与祖先埋在一起；他的儿子阿玛责雅继位为王。
第十三章(25)
约阿哈次为以色列王
13:1 犹大王阿哈齐雅的儿子约阿士二十三年，耶胡的儿子约阿哈次在撒玛黎雅登极作以色列王，在位凡十七年。
13:2
他行了上主视为恶的事，随从了乃巴特的儿子雅洛贝罕使以色列陷于罪恶的罪，始终没有离开；
13:3
因此，上主向以色列大发忿怒，使他们不断处于阿兰王哈匝耳和哈匝耳的儿子本哈达得的权下。
13:4
约阿哈次便求上主开恩，上主俯听了他，因为他看见以色列实在遭受阿兰王的迫害。
13:5
上主就赐给以色列一位拯救者，救他们脱离阿兰的权下，使以色列子民像从前一样，安居乐业。
13:6
但是，他们仍不离开雅洛贝罕家使以色列陷于罪恶的罪，始终走这条路，并且在撒玛黎雅还是供着阿舍辣。
13:7
因此，上主没有给约阿哈次留下什么军队，只留下了五十骑兵，十辆车和一万步兵；因为阿兰王消灭了他们，使他们如同遭人践踏的尘土。
13:8
约阿哈次其余的事迹，他的伟大作为和他的英勇，都记载在以色列列王实录上。
13:9
约阿哈次与先祖同眠，葬在撒玛黎雅；他的儿子耶曷阿士继位为王。
耶曷阿士为以色列王
13:10 犹大王约阿士三十七年，约阿哈次的儿子耶曷阿士在撒玛黎雅登极作以色列王，在位凡十六年；
13:11
他行了上主视为恶的事，没有离开乃巴特的儿子雅洛贝罕使以色列陷于罪恶的罪，始终走了这条路。
13:12
耶曷阿士其余的事迹，他行的一切，以及他与犹大王阿玛责雅交战时所表现的英勇，都记载在以色列列王实录上。
13:13
耶曷阿士与列祖同眠，雅洛贝罕坐上了他的王位；耶曷阿士与以色列列王同葬在撒玛黎雅。
厄里叟逝世
13:14 那时，厄里叟患了不治之症，以色列王耶曷阿士下来看他，伏在他面上哭说：「我父，我父！以色列的战车，以色列的骏马！」
13:15
厄里叟对他说：「你取弓箭来！」他就取了弓箭来，
13:16
先知吩咐王说：「将你的手放在弓上！」他就把手放在弓箭上；厄里叟把自己的手按在君王的手上，
13:17
说「你打开朝东的窗户。」他就打开了。厄里叟吩咐说：「射箭！」他就射了箭。厄里叟说：「这是上主胜利的一箭；是战胜阿兰的一箭；你要在阿费克打败阿兰，直到将他消灭。」
13:18
厄里叟又说：「你另取几枝箭来。」他就取了来；先知对王说：「你向地射击！」他射击三次，就停止了。
13:19
天主的人向他发怒说：「你该射击五次或六次，纔能完全打败阿兰，直到将她消灭。但是现在，你只能三次击败阿兰。」
13:20
厄里叟死了，人安葬了他。第二年春，有一群摩阿布游击队来犯国土，
13:21
那时有人正去埋葬一个死人，忽然看见这群游击队，便将死人拋在厄里叟的坟墓里走了。那个死人一接触到厄里叟的骨骸，就复活站起来。
耶曷阿士三次战胜阿兰
13:22 约阿哈次年间，阿兰王哈匝耳常是压迫以色列人，
13:23
但上主因了同亚巴郎、依撒格和雅各伯所立的盟约，恩待、怜悯、眷顾了以色列人，不愿加以消灭，所以没有将他们从自己面前拋弃。
13:24
阿兰王哈匝耳死后，他的儿子本哈达得继位为王。
13:25
约阿哈次的儿子耶曷阿士从哈匝耳的儿子本哈达得手中，又夺回了他父亲约阿哈次在战争中所失去的城市；耶曷阿士三次击败了他，收复了以色列失去的城市。
第十四章(29)
阿玛责雅为犹大王
14:1 以色列王约阿哈次的儿子耶曷阿士二年，约阿士的儿子阿玛责雅登极为犹大王。
14:2
他登极时二十五岁，在耶路撒冷作王，凡二十九年；他的母亲名叫约阿当，是耶路撒冷人。
14:3
他行了上主视为正义的事，只是不如他的祖先达味，事事仿效他父亲约阿士，
14:4
仍然没有废除高丘，人民仍在高丘上焚香献祭。
14:5
及至王权已掌握在他手中之后，即将弒杀他父王的那些臣仆杀掉；
14:6
但没有处死凶手们的子女，因为照梅瑟法律书上的记载，上主曾吩咐说：「不可为儿子的罪处死父亲，亦不可为父亲的罪处死儿子；每人只应因自己的罪而死。」
14:7
阿玛责雅在盐谷击杀了一万厄东人，一战而攻占了色拉，改名叫约刻特耳，直到今日。犹大向以色列宣战。
14:8
那时，阿玛责雅派遣使者去见以色列王耶胡的孙子，约阿哈次的儿子耶曷阿士说：「来，让我们见个高低！」
14:9
以色列王耶曷阿士派人去对犹大王阿玛责雅说：「黎巴嫩的荆棘派使者对黎巴嫩的香柏说：将你的女儿嫁给我的儿子为妻！然而有一只黎巴嫩的野兽经过，将这棵荆棘践踏了。
14:10
你打败了厄东，就心高气傲吗﹖你安居家中引以为荣好了，又何必惹祸，使你和犹大一同丧亡﹖」
14:11
但是，阿玛责雅不肯听从，于是以色列王耶曷阿士就上来，在犹大的贝特舍默士与犹大王阿玛责雅相见了。
14:12
犹大为以色列击败，各自逃回帐幕去了。
14:13
以色列王耶曷阿士在贝特舍默士生擒了阿哈齐雅的孙子，约阿士的儿子犹大王阿玛责雅，带到耶路撒冷，将耶路撒冷的城墙，从厄弗辣因门到「角门，」拆了一个缺口，共四百肘；
14:14
又将上主殿内和王宫府库里所有的金银和一切器皿，都拿了去，并带了人质回撒玛黎雅。
14:15
耶曷阿士所行的其它事迹，及他与犹大王阿玛责雅交战时所表现的英勇，都记载在以色列列王实录上。
14:16
耶曷阿士与列祖同眠，与以色列列王同葬在撒玛黎雅。他的儿子雅洛贝罕继位为王。
阿玛责雅被杀
14:17 以色列王约阿哈次的儿子耶曷阿士死后，犹大王约阿士的儿子阿玛责雅，还活了十五年。
14:18
阿玛责雅其余的事迹，都记载在犹大列王实录上。
14:19
在耶路撒冷有人结党反抗他，他即逃往拉基士，但是叛党派人追到拉基士，在那里将他杀死，
14:20
将尸体用马驮回，葬在耶路撒冷达味城，与他的祖先埋在一起。
14:21
全犹大人民遂选立了十六岁的阿匝黎雅，继他父亲阿玛责雅为王。
14:22
在阿玛责雅王与他的祖先同眠以后，阿匝黎雅将厄拉特收回仍归犹大，加以重建。
雅洛贝罕第二
14:23 犹大王约阿士的儿子阿玛责雅十五年，以色列王耶曷阿士的儿子雅洛贝罕，在撒玛黎雅登极为王，在位凡四十一年。
14:24
他行了上主视为恶的事，没有离开乃巴特的儿子雅洛贝罕，使以色列陷于罪恶的种种罪恶。
14:25
他收复了以色列边境的疆域，从哈玛特渡口直到阿辣巴海，正如上主以色列的天主，藉他仆人加特赫斐尔人阿米泰的儿子约纳所说的话。
14:26
因为上主看见了以色列遭受压迫，极其痛苦；无论是自由的或不自由的，都没有了；也没有人援助以色列。
14:27
然而上主并没有意思，要从天下除去以色列的名字，因此，藉耶曷阿士的儿子雅洛贝罕拯救了他们。
14:28
雅洛贝罕其余的事迹，他行的一切，他交战时的英勇，以及他如何的攻下了大马士革和收复了哈玛特重归于以色列，都记载在以色列列王实录上。
14:29
雅洛贝罕与祖先以色列列王同眠后，他的儿子则加黎雅继位为王。
第十五章(38)
阿匝黎雅为犹大王
15:1 以色列王雅洛贝罕二十七年，阿玛责雅的儿子阿匝黎雅登极为犹大王。
15:2
他登极时十六岁，在耶路撒冷作王凡五十二年；他母亲名叫耶苛里雅，是耶路撒冷人。
15:3
阿匝黎雅行了上主视为正义的事，完全像他父亲阿玛责雅所行的一样，
15:4
只是高丘仍没有废除，人民仍在高丘上焚香献祭。
15:5
上主打击了君王，君王即患了癞病，直到他死的那一天，独自住在一所王宫里。那时，君王的儿子约堂代理朝事，统治国家的百姓。
15:6
阿匝黎雅其余的事迹，他行的一切，都记载在犹大列王实录上。
15:7
阿匝黎雅与祖先同眠，与祖先同葬在达味城；他的儿子约堂继位为王。
则加黎雅为以色列王
15:8 犹大王阿匝黎雅三十八年，雅洛贝罕的儿子则加黎雅在撒玛黎雅登极为以色列王，在位六个月；
15:9
他行了上主视为恶的事，像他的祖先所行的一样，没有离开乃巴特的儿子雅洛贝罕，使以色列陷于罪恶的罪。
15:10
雅贝士的儿子沙隆结党反叛他，在依贝肋罕杀了他，篡位为王。
15:11
则加黎雅其余的事迹都记载在以色列列王实录上。
15:12
这正应验了上主对耶胡所说的话：「你的子孙要坐以色列王位，直到第四代。」
沙隆为以色列王
15:13 犹大王乌齐雅三十九年，雅贝士的儿子沙隆登极为王，在撒玛黎雅作王一个月。
15:14
那时加狄的儿子默纳恒从提尔匝来到撒玛黎雅，在撒玛黎雅杀了雅贝士的儿子沙隆，篡位为王。
15:15
沙隆其余的事迹和他如何结党谋反，都记载在以色列列王实录上。
15:16
以后，默纳恒从提尔匝出发攻打塔普亚，又攻打其四境，因为人没有给他开城门，所以攻破以后，屠杀了城中所有的人，剖开了所有的孕妇。
默纳恒为以色列王
15:17 犹大王阿匝黎雅三十九年，加狄的儿子默纳恒登极为以色列王，在撒玛黎雅作王十年，
15:18
行了上主视为恶的事，在他有生之日，始终没有离开乃巴特的儿子雅洛贝罕，使以色列陷于罪恶的罪。
15:19
那时，亚述王普耳前来犯境，默纳恒就送给了普耳一千「塔冷通」银子，要求他扶持自己，巩固自己的王权。
15:20
默纳恒向以色列所有富豪征收银子，每人应缴纳五十「协刻耳，」为进献给亚述王。亚述王于是回去了，没有在境内停留。
15:21
默纳恒其余的事迹，他行的一切，都记载在以色列列王实录上。
15:22
默纳恒与祖先同眠后，他的儿子培卡希雅继位为王。
培卡希雅为色列王
15:23 犹大王阿匝黎雅五十年，默纳恒的儿子培卡希雅登极为以色列王，在撒玛黎雅作王两年。
15:24
他行了上主视为恶的事，没有离开乃巴特的儿子雅洛贝罕，使以色列陷于罪恶的种种罪恶。
15:25
他的军官，勒玛里雅的儿子培卡黑结党反叛他，同阿尔哥布和阿黎厄，以及与他同谋的五十个基肋阿得人，在撒玛黎雅王宫的堡垒内，将他杀死，篡位为王。
15:26
培卡希雅其余的事迹，他行的一切，都记载在以色列列王实录上。
培卡黑为以色列王
15:27 犹大王阿匝黎雅五十二年，勒玛里雅的儿子培卡黑登极为以色列王，在撒玛黎雅作王凡二十年。
15:28
他行了上主视为恶的事，没有离开乃巴特的儿子雅洛贝罕，使以色列陷于罪恶的种种罪恶。
15:29
以色列王培卡黑在位时，亚述王提革拉特丕肋色尔前来，侵占了依雍、阿贝耳贝特玛阿加、雅诺亚、刻德士、哈祚尔、基肋阿得、加里肋亚和纳斐塔里全地；并将这些地方的居民都掳往亚述。
15:30
乌齐雅的儿子约堂二十年，厄拉的儿子曷舍亚结党反叛勒玛里雅的儿子培卡黑，杀了他，篡位为王。
15:31
培卡黑其余的事迹，他行的一切，都记载在以色列列王实录上。
约堂为犹大王
15:32 以色列王勒玛里雅的儿子培卡黑二年，乌齐雅的儿子约堂登极为犹大王。
15:33
他登极时二十五岁，在耶路撒冷作王凡十六年；他的母亲名叫耶鲁沙，是匝多克的女儿。
15:34
约堂行了上主视为正义的事完全像他父亲乌齐雅所行的一样，
15:35
只是高丘仍没有废除，人民仍在高丘上焚香献祭；他建筑了上主圣殿的北门。
15:36
约堂其余的事迹，他行的一切，都记载在犹大列王实录上。
15:37
那时，上主已开始派阿兰王勒斤和勒玛里雅的儿子培卡黑来攻打犹大。
15:38
约堂与祖先同眠，与祖先同葬在他祖先达味城内；他的儿子阿哈次继位为王。
第十六章(20)
阿哈次为犹大王
16:1 勒玛里雅的儿子培卡黑十七年，约堂的儿子阿哈次登极为犹大王。
16:2
他登极时年二十岁，在耶路撒冷作王十六年。他没有像他祖先达味一样，行了上主视他的天主视为正义的事，
16:3
却走了以色列王的路，仿效上主从以色列子民面前赶走的异民的丑恶之事，令自己的儿女经火献神，
16:4
又在高处丘岭和绿树下，焚香献祭。
阿兰和以色列进攻犹大
16:5 那时，阿兰王勒斤和以色列王勒玛里雅的儿子培卡黑前来进攻耶路撒冷，围困阿哈次，却不能取胜。
16:6
就在这时，厄东王收回厄拉特重归厄东，将犹大人从厄拉特赶走；厄东人进入厄拉特，住在那里直到今日。
16:7
阿哈次派使者去见亚述王提革拉特丕肋色尔说：「我是你的仆人，你的儿子，请你上来救我脱离阿兰王和以色列王的手，因为他们来攻打我」
16:8
阿哈次拿出上主殿内和王宫府库内贮藏的金银来，送给亚述王作为礼品。
16:9
亚述王遂听从了他的要求，立即前去进攻大马士革，占领了那城，将那里的居民掳往克尔，杀了勒斤。
圣殿内另立祭坛
16:10 阿哈次曾去大马士革，会见亚述王提革拉特丕肋色尔，他看见了大马士革的祭坛，就给司祭乌黎雅送去了那座祭坛的图案模型，和详尽的制造法。
16:11
乌黎雅司祭完全照样依照阿哈次王从大马士革送来的祭坛式样，建筑了一座祭坛；乌黎雅司祭就在阿哈次王从大马士革回来以前，完全照样造好。
16:12
君王从大马士革回来，看见那座祭坛，就近前上去，
16:13
奉献了他的全燔祭和素祭，行了奠祭，将和平祭的血洒在祭坛上。
16:14
然后将上主面前的铜祭坛，从殿的前面，即从新祭坛和上主之殿的中间搬出来，放在祭坛的北边。
16:15
阿哈次王吩咐司祭乌黎雅说：「你应在这大祭坛上焚烧早晨的全燔祭，晚上的素祭，君王的全燔祭和素祭，地方上全体人民的全燔祭、素祭和奠祭；全燔祭的血和各种牺牲的血，你也应洒在这祭坛上；至于这铜祭坛，让我再加考虑」。
16:16
司祭乌黎雅就照阿哈次所吩咐的一切做了。
移去殿内的器皿
16:17 后来，阿哈次王又拆毁了盆座上的镶板，挪去了座上的铜盆，将铜牛上的铜海搬下，放在石铺的地上。
16:18
此外，为了亚述王的缘故，又拆除了在殿内建造的宝座，和君王从外面来到上主殿内的外门。
16:19
阿哈次其余的事迹，他行的一切都记载在犹大列王实录上。
16:20
阿哈次与祖先同眠，与祖先同葬在达味城；他的儿子希则克雅继位为王。
第十七章(41)
舍亚为以色列王
17:1 猷大王阿哈次十二年，厄拉的儿子曷舍亚在撒玛黎雅登极为以色列王，在位凡九年。
17:2
他行了上主视为恶的事，但不像他以前的以色列列王。
17:3
亚述王沙耳玛乃色上来攻打曷舍亚，他便向亚述王称臣纳贡。
17:4
后来亚述王发觉曷舍亚企图造反。原来曷舍亚曾派使者去见埃及王索阿，就不再向亚述王每年纳贡，所以亚述王将他拘捕，囚在监里。
17:5
随后，亚述王进军侵入全国，直逼撒玛黎雅，围攻了三年。
17:6
曷舍亚九年，亚述王攻陷了撒玛黎雅，把以色列人掳往亚述，把他们安置在哈拉黑和靠近哥仓河的哈波尔，以及玛待各城。
以色列亡国的原因
17:7 这是因为以色列子民犯罪，得罪了领他们离开埃及地，摆脱埃及王法郎之手的上主，他们的天主，而去敬拜了别的神，
17:8
随从了上主由以色列子民面前，所驱逐的异民的习俗，和以色列列王所规定的律例。
17:9
以色列子民作了不义的事，得罪了上主他们的天主：在他们所有的城中，从守望台直到设防的城，到处建有高丘；
17:10
在各高岗上，在所有的绿树下，竖有石柱和木偶；
17:11
在高丘上，依照上主从他们面前所驱逐的异民的习俗，焚香献祭，作恶激怒上主；
17:12
又敬拜偶像，虽然天主曾明明吩咐他们说：你们不可行这样的事！
17:13
上主曾借众先知和先见者警告以色列和犹大说：「你们应离弃你们的邪道，按照我给你们祖先所规定的，借我的仆人，众先知给你们传授的一切法律，遵守我的诫命和我的法令。」
17:14
他们却不听从，如同他们的祖先一样执拗，不肯相信上主他们的天主，
17:15
拒绝了上主的法律和他与他们祖先所订立的盟约，以及对他们所发出的警告；随从他们四周上主曾命令他们不可效法的异民，追求虚无，自己成为虚无；
17:16
拋弃了上主他们天主的一切命令，为自己铸造神像，即两个牛犊，制造木偶，敬拜天上万象，事奉巴耳，
17:17
使儿女经火献神，行占卜和法术，出卖自己，行上主视为恶的事，激怒上主；
17:18
因此，上主对以色列大发愤怒，将他们从自己面前赶走，只留下了犹大支派。
17:19
但是，犹大也没有遵守上主，他们天主的命令，反而也随从了以色列所行的习俗。
17:20
为此，上主拋弃了以色列所有的后裔，使他们受压迫，任人宰割，终于将他们从自己面前赶走。
17:21
的确，自从上主使以色列与达味家分裂以后，以色列便立了乃巴特的儿子雅洛贝罕为王；雅洛贝罕即引以色列远离了上主，使他们陷于重罪。
17:22
以色列子民遂追随雅洛贝罕所犯的一切罪恶，始终没有离开，
17:23
直到上主将以色列从自己面前赶走，正如上主藉自己的仆人众先知所说的话。因此，以色列由本国被掳往亚述，直到今日。
撒玛黎雅人的由来
17:24 亚术王从巴比伦、雇特、阿瓦、哈玛特和色法瓦因徙置一些人民，住在撒玛黎雅各城，以代替以色列人；这些人占据了撒玛黎雅，就住在各城内。
17:25
他们起初住在那里的时候，因为不敬畏上主，所以上主打发狮子来，咬死了他们一些人。
17:26
有人报告亚述王说：「你在撒玛黎雅各城徙置的人民，不知敬拜土神的礼仪，因此那神打发狮子来咬死了他们一些人，因为他们不知敬拜土神的礼仪。」
17:27
亚述王于是下令说：「你们叫一个从撒玛黎雅掳来的司祭回去，住在那里，教给他们敬拜土神的礼仪。」
17:28
于是，有一个从撒玛黎雅掳去的司祭回来，住在贝特耳，教给他们该怎么敬拜雅威。
17:29
虽然如此，各个民族仍然制造自己的神，供在撒玛黎雅人所建筑的高丘上的庙宇中；各个民族在自己所住的城内，供着自己的神。
17:30
巴比伦人制造了稣苛特贝诺特，雇特人制造了乃尔加耳，哈玛特人制造了阿史玛，
17:31
阿瓦人制造了尼贝哈次和塔尔塔克，色法瓦因人使儿女经火，献于色法瓦因的神阿德辣默肋客和阿纳默肋客；
17:32
同时他们也敬拜上主，从自己中间选派一些人作高丘上的司祭，在高丘上的庙宇内自己献祭。
17:33
这样，他们也敬拜上主，也奉事自己的神，从那一国徙置来的，就照那一国的礼仪。
17:34
直到今日，他们仍然依照先前的礼仪而行。雅各伯──上主给他改名为以色列──的子孙，也不全心敬畏上主，也不按照上主给他们所立的条例、礼仪、法律和诫命而行。
17:35
上主曾与他们立约，吩咐他们说：「你们不可敬拜别的神，也不可跪拜，也不可事奉，也不可向他们献祭；
17:36
只应敬拜那以强力和伸展的手臂，领你们离开埃地的上主，只应向他跪拜，向他献祭。
17:37
我为你们写定的条例、礼仪、法律和诫命，要时常谨守遵行，不可敬拜别的神。
17:38
我与你们立的盟约，不要忘记，也不要敬拜别的神，
17:39
只应敬拜上主你们的天主，他必拯救你们脱离你们一切仇敌的权势。」
17:40
然而，他们不听，仍然依照他们先前的礼仪而行。
17:41
这样，这些人民敬拜上主，又事奉他们的雕像；他们的子子孙孙也是如此：祖先怎样行，子孙也怎样行，直到今日。
后编犹大国晚年史(列下18-25)
第十八章(36)
希则克雅为犹大王
18:1 以色列王厄拉的儿子曷舍亚三年，阿哈次的儿子希则克雅登基为犹大王。
18:2
他登极时年二十五岁，在耶路撒冷作王凡二十九年；他的母亲名阿彼雅，是则加黎雅的女儿。
18:3
希则克雅行了上主视为正义的事，完全象他祖先达味所行的一样；
18:4
他废除了高丘，毁坏了石柱，砍倒了木偶，打碎了梅瑟所制造的铜蛇，因为直到那时，以色列子民仍向铜蛇焚香，称为乃胡市堂。
18:5
他信赖上主以色列的天主；在他前后的犹大列王中，没有一个可与他相比的。
18:6
他依靠上主，紧随不离，谨守上主颁给梅瑟的诫命。
18:7
因此，上主与他同在，他无论作什么，必都顺利，且摆脱了亚述王的羁绊，不再作他的藩属；
18:8
又击败了培肋舍特人，直追到迦萨，占领了他们的土地，攻取了守望台和坚城。
撒玛黎雅失陷
18:9 希则克雅王四年，即以色列王厄拉的儿子曷舍亚七年，亚述王沙耳玛乃色来进攻撒玛黎雅，围困了这城；
18:10
三年年底攻下，即希则克雅王六年，以色列王曷舍亚九年，撒玛黎雅失陷。
18:11
亚述王遂将以色列人掳往亚述，徙置在哈拉黑和靠近哥仓河的哈波尔，以及玛待各城内。
18:12
这是因为他们没有听从上主，他们天主的声音，违反了他的盟约：凡上主的仆人梅瑟所吩咐的，他们一概没有听从，也没有遵行。
亚述进攻犹大
18:13 希则克雅王十四年，亚述王散乃黑黎布前来进攻犹大的一切坚城，都占领了。
18:14
犹大王希则克雅于是派遣使者，到拉基士去见亚述王说：「我错了，请你退兵；凡你向我提出的条件，我都接受。」于是亚述王限令犹大王希则克雅缴纳三百「塔冷通」银子，三十「塔冷通」金子。
18:15
希则克雅只得把上主殿内，和王宫府库所有的银子都交出来。
18:16
同时，犹大王希则克雅将上主殿宇门上的金子和他自己包镶在门柱上的金子都剥下来，交给了亚述王。
大将军的恐吓
18:17 亚述王从拉基士打发元帅、卫队长和大将军率领大军到耶路撒冷去见希则克雅。他们就上到耶路撒冷，一来到，就站在上池的水沟旁，漂布田间的大路上，
18:18
求见君王。希耳克雅的儿子厄里雅金家宰，舍布纳书记和阿撒夫的儿子约阿黑史官，出来迎接他们。
18:19
大将军对他们说：「你们去告诉希则克雅说：大王，亚述王这样说：你所依靠的，算得什么依靠﹖
18:20
你想空口说话，就是战略和战斗的力量吗﹖如今你靠谁来背叛我﹖
18:21
我现在你看，你依靠的埃及是一根破裂的芦杖；谁依靠这杖，它就刺伤谁的手，且把手刺透；埃及王法郎对所有依靠他的人，就是这样。
18:22
假使你们对我说：我们依靠雅威我们的天主，希则克雅岂不是曾推翻他的高丘和祭坛，且对犹大和耶路撒冷说：你们只应在耶路撒冷的这祭坛前朝拜﹖
18:23
如今你可与我的主上亚述王打赌：我给你两千匹马，你是否能给这些马配上骑兵﹖
18:24
若不能，你怎敢拒绝我主上最小仆人中的一个军长，而去依靠埃及的战车和骑兵﹖
18:25
现在，我上来攻打毁灭这地，难道不是雅威的意思吗﹖雅威曾对我说：你上去攻打这地，加以毁灭！」
18:26
希耳克雅的儿子厄里雅金、舍布纳和约阿黑对大将军说：「请你对你的仆人说阿剌美话，因为我们都懂；你不要对我们说犹太话，因为城墙上的百姓能听到。」
18:27
大将军回答说：「难道我的主上打发我来，只对你的主上和你讲这些话，而不是对那些坐在城墙上，和你们一样该吃自己的粪，喝自己的尿的人，讲这些话吗﹖」
18:28
大将军于是站起来，仍用犹太话大声喊说：「你们听大王亚述王的话罢！
18:29
大王这样说：你们别上希则克雅的当，他决不能拯救你们脱离我的手；
18:30
也不要让希则克雅使你们依靠雅威说：雅威必会拯救我们，这城决不会落在亚述王的手中。
18:31
千万别听信希则克雅！原来亚述王曾这样说：你们要与我和好，出来归顺我，各人就可以吃自己的葡萄和无花果，各人也可以喝自己井里的水，
18:32
直到我来领你们到一个与你们本国一样的地方去，一个有五谷和新酒的地方，一个有食粮和葡萄树的地方，一个产橄榄油和蜂蜜的地方，叫你们生活下去，而不至于死亡。千万别听信希则克雅，因为他欺骗你们说：雅威必拯救我们。
18:33
万国的神中，有那一个由亚述王手中，拯救了自己的国土﹖
18:34
哈玛特和阿帕得的神在那里﹖色法瓦因、赫纳和依瓦的神在那里﹖撒玛黎雅地的神在那里﹖难道他们从我手中拯救了撒玛黎雅﹖
18:35
在这地域中的神，有那一个由我手中救出了自己的国土﹖难道雅威就能由我手中拯救耶路撒冷吗﹖」
18:36
人都不作声，一句话都没有回答他，因为君王有命，不要回答他。当下希耳克雅的儿子厄里雅金家宰、舍布纳书记和阿撒夫的儿子约阿黑史官，撕裂了自己的衣服，来见希则克雅，将那将军的话全部告诉了他。
希则克雅为犹大王
第十九章(37)
希则克雅同依撒意亚会商
19:1 希则克雅王一听这话，就撕破了自己的衣服，穿上苦衣，走进了上主的殿；
19:2
然后打发厄里雅金家宰，舍布纳书记和几位老司祭，穿著苦衣，去见阿摩兹的儿子依撒意亚先知，
19:3
对他说：「希则克雅这样说：今天是受苦难，受责罚，受侮辱的日子。因为婴儿到了要出生的时候，却没有产生的力量。
19:4
但愿上主你的天主听到那大将军的一切话，就是他的主上亚述王打发他来，辱骂永生的天主所说的话！愿上主你的天主听了那些话而加以惩罚！所以请你为剩下的遗民举行祈祷罢！」
19:5
希则克雅王的臣仆来到了依撒意亚前，
19:6
依撒意亚就对他们说：「你们要这样对你们的主上说：上主这样说：你听到亚述王的仆人们辱骂我的话，不要害怕！
19:7
我必叫他感到一种怕情，使他一听到某种消息，就返回本国；我要使他在本国内丧身刀下。」
亚述王再次恐吓
19:8 大将军回去时，正遇见亚述王去攻打里贝纳。原来他已听说君王离开了拉基士。
19:9
那时，散乃黑黎布听人说：雇士王提尔哈卡出来攻打他，就再派使者去见希则克雅，并吩咐说：「
19:10
你们要这样对犹大王希则克雅说：不要让你所依靠的天主哄骗你说：耶路撒冷决不会落在亚述王手中！
19:11
你必听说过亚述的列王对各国所行的事，将各国完全消灭了。你还能有救吗﹖
19:12
我的祖先所消灭的各民族，如哥仓、哈郎、勒责夫、以及在特拉撒尔的厄登子民，他们的神又何曾救了他们﹖
19:13
哈玛特王，阿帕得王，色法瓦因城的王，赫纳王和依瓦王，他们现今都在那里﹖」
希则克雅的祈祷
19:14 希则克雅从使者中接过信来，念了以后，就走进上主的殿，将那封信在上主面前展开，
19:15
然后，希则克雅恳求上主说：「上主，坐在革鲁宾上面的以色列的天主！惟独你是地上万国的天主，你创造了天地。
19:16
上主，请你侧耳倾听！上主，求你睁眼垂视，细听那打发使者辱骂永生天主的散乃黑黎布的话。
19:17
上主，的确，亚述王曾毁灭了所有的民族和他们的国家，
19:18
将他们的神像投入火中，因为它们不是神，只是人手造成的木石的作品，所以能被消灭。
19:19
但是现今，上主我们的天主，求你拯救我们脱离他的手，使地上万国都知道：惟独你是上主，天主！」
依撒意亚的预言
19:20 那时，阿摩兹的儿子依撒意亚打发人去见希则克雅说：「上主以色列的天主这样说：你既然论亚述王散乃黑黎布向我恳求，我已经俯听了你。
19:21
这就是上主论他所说的话：熙雍的贞女轻视你，嘲笑你；耶路撒冷的女子在你背后摇头。
19:22
你所辱骂，所诅咒的是谁﹖你提高声音，仰起眼睛攻击的是谁﹖是攻击以色列的圣者。
19:23
你藉你的使者辱骂了吾主，你说：我用我大批的车辆，登上了丛山的极峰，到黎巴嫩的绝顶，砍伐了其中最高的香柏，最好的青松；冲入了它的最深处，走进了果木的林园。
19:24
我掘了井喝了外邦的水，用我的脚掌踏干了埃及所有的河川。
19:25
难道你没有听说吗﹖很久以前我所计划的，昔日我所决定的，现在我就在实现，叫你毁坏坚城，化为废墟，
19:26
使城中的居民软弱无力，惊慌失措，有如田野的青草，有如青绿的嫩苗，有如屋顶被东风吹焦的小草。
19:27
但是，你或起或坐，或出或入，我都知道，
19:28
因为你对我的暴怒，和你的狂嚣已达到我的耳鼓，所以我要把环子穿在你的鼻子上，把辔头套在你的嘴上，从你来的路上将你牵回去。
19:29
这是给你的记号：今年你们要吃自然所生的，明年仍要吃自然所生的，第三年你们就要播种收割，栽种葡萄园，吃园中的果实。
19:30
犹大家的遗民，仍要向下生根，往上结实，
19:31
因为剩余的人将由耶路撒冷而出，逃脱的人将由熙雍山而来：万军上主的热诚必要成就这事。
19:32
为此，上主问亚述王这样说：他决不会进入这城，决不会向这城放射一箭，决不会持盾临于城下，也决不会起造土堆攻城。
19:33
他必要由来路回去，决不能进入这城：上主的断语。
19:34
为了我自己，为了我的仆人达味，我必要保护拯救这城。」
亚述王受惩罚
19:35 当天夜里，上主的使者出来，在亚述营里杀了十八万五千人。清晨人们起来，看见遍地都是死尸。
19:36
亚述王散乃黑黎布于是拔营，起程回国，住在尼尼微。
19:37
一日，他在自己的神尼色洛客庙内叩拜的时候，他的儿子阿德辣默肋客和沙勒责尔用剑刺杀了他，然后逃往阿辣辣特地方去了；他的儿子厄撒哈冬继位为王。
第二十章(21)
希则克雅患病祈祷
20:1 在那些日子内，希则克雅患病垂危，阿摩兹的儿子依撒意亚来看他，对他说：「上主这样说：快料理你的家务，因为你快要死，不能久活了。」
20:2
希则克雅就转面向墙，恳求上主说：「
20:3
上主，求你记忆我如何怀着忠诚齐全的心，在你面前行走；如何作了你视为正义的事。」然后希则克雅放声大哭。
20:4
依撒意亚出来，还没有走到中院，上主的话传于他说：「
20:5
你回去，告诉我人民的领袖希则克雅说：上主，你祖先达味的天主这样说：我听见了你的祈祷，见到了你的眼泪。看，我必要治好你，第三天你就能上上主的殿。
20:6
我要在你的寿数上多加十五年，且由亚述王手中拯救你和这座城；为了我自己和我的仆人达味，我必保护这座城。」
20:7
依撒意亚遂吩咐说：「拿一块无花果饼来。」人就拿来，贴在疮口上；君王就好了。
灵验的征兆
20:8 希则克雅对依撒意亚说：「有什么征兆，上主要治好我，第三天我就能上上主的殿﹖」
20:9
依撒意亚回答说：「这就是上主给你的征兆，上主必实践他所说的话：你要日影向前进十度，还是要往后退十度﹖」
20:10
希则克雅答说：「日影向前进十度太容易，我不要；我要日影倒退十度。」
20:11
先知依撒意亚呼求上主，上主就使射在阿哈次日晷上的日影倒退了十度。
巴比伦的使者来访
20:12 那时，巴比伦王巴拉丹的儿子默洛达客捌拉丹派人来见希则克雅，呈上书信和礼物，因为他听说希则克雅患病又好了。
20:13
希则克雅非常高兴，就叫使者参观自己的宝库、金银、香料、珍膏和武器库，以及他府库内所有的财宝：凡他宫中和全国内所有的，希则克雅没有一样不叫他们不看的。
先知预言充军
20:14 依撒意亚先知遂来见希则克雅，对他说：「这些人说了什么﹖他们是从什么地方到你这里来的﹖」希则克雅回答说：「他们是从远方，从巴比伦来的。」
20:15
先知又问说：「他们在你宫中看见了什么﹖」希则克雅回答说：「凡我宫中所有的，他们都看了；凡我府库内所有的，没有一样我不叫他们不看的。」
20:16
依撒意亚遂对希则克雅说：「你听上主的话罢！
20:17
日子要到，凡你宫中所有的，及你祖先直到今日所积蓄的，都要被带到巴比伦去，什么也不会留下：上主说。
20:18
此外，由你所出，即你所生的子孙中也有一些要被掳去，在巴比伦王宫内充当太监。
20:19
希则克雅对依撒意亚说：「你所说的上主的话是合理的！」继而说：「惟愿我有生之日有平安，有安全！」
20:20
希则克雅其余的事迹，他的英勇和他怎样凿池筑沟，引水入城的事，都记载在犹大列王实录上。
20:21
希则克雅与他的列祖同眠，他的儿子默纳舍继位为王。
第二十一章(26)
默纳舍为犹大王
21:1 默纳舍登极时才十二岁，在耶咯撒冷做王五十五年，他的母亲名叫赫斐漆巴。
21:2
他行了上主视为恶的事，仿效上主从以色列子民前所驱逐的异民所行的可耻之事，
21:3
重建了他父亲希则克雅所拆毁的高丘，为巴耳建立了祭坛，制造了木偶，像以色列王阿哈布所作的一样，且崇拜敬奉天上的万象，
21:4
虽然上主曾指着圣殿说过：「我要将我的名立在耶路撒冷。」但他仍在上主的殿内建立了一些祭坛，
21:5
又在上主殿宇的两庭院内，为天上万像建立了祭坛；
21:6
使自己的儿子经火献神，行占卜邪术，立招魂师和术士，不断行上主视为恶的事，惹上主发怒。
21:7
他又将自己制造的阿舍辣雕像，安放在上主的殿内，虽然上主论及这殿曾对达味的儿子撒罗满说：「我要在这殿内，和我在以色列各支派所选出的耶路撒冷立我的名，直到永远；
21:8
只要以色列谨守遵行我所吩咐他们的一切，及我仆人梅瑟所吩咐他们的一切法律，我决不再使以色列人的脚，离开我赐与他们祖先的土地。」
:9
但是，他们却不听从，甚至默纳舍诱惑他们行恶，甚于上主由以色列子民前所消灭的那些民族。
先知的警告
21:10 为此，上主藉他的仆人先知警告说：「
21:11
因为犹太王默纳舍行了这些可耻的事，甚于他以前的阿摩黎人所行的，以自己的神像引犹大犯罪。
21:12
所以上主以色列的天主这样说：看，我要使这样的灾祸降在耶路撒冷和犹大，使听见的人两耳都要齐鸣。
21:13
我要用测量撒玛黎雅的绳索，和测量阿哈布家的铅锤，来测量耶路撒冷，要擦净耶路撒冷如同人擦净盘子一样，擦净之后，就翻过来；
21:14
我要拋弃作我产业的遗民，将他们交于敌人手中，使他们成为一切敌人的掠物与胜利品。
21:15
因为他们自从他们的祖先出离埃及那一天起，直到今日，行了我视为恶的事，使我发怒。」
默纳舍逝世
21:16 默纳舍除了使犹大陷于罪恶，行了上主视为恶的事以外，还流了许多无辜者的血，使耶路撒冷血流成河，从这边流到那边。
21:17
默纳舍其余的事迹，他行的一切，所犯的罪恶，都记载在犹大列王实录上。
21:18
默纳舍与他的列祖同眠，埋葬在王宫花园，即乌匝花园里；他的儿子阿孟继位为王。
阿孟为犹大王
21:19 阿孟登极时，年二十二岁，在耶路撒冷作王两年；他的母亲名叫默叔肋默特，是约特巴人哈鲁兹的女儿。
21:20
他行了上主认为视为恶的事。全像他父亲默纳舍所行的一样；
21:21
走了他父亲所走的的路，事奉敬拜了他父亲所事奉的偶像，
21:22
离弃了上主他祖先的天主，未随上主的道路。
21:23
阿孟的臣仆共谋造反，在宫内将君王杀了；
21:24
但地方上的人民起来，杀了所有反叛阿孟王的人，立了他的儿子约史雅继位为王。
21:25
阿孟所作的其它事迹，都记载在犹大列王实录上。
21:26
他也葬在乌匝花园内自己的坟墓里；他的儿子约史雅继位为王。
第二十二章(20)
约史雅为犹大王
22:1 约史雅登基时才八岁，在耶路撒冷作王凡三十一年，他的母亲名叫耶狄达，是波兹卡特人阿达雅的女儿。
22:2
他行了上主视为正义的事，在一切事上，走了他祖先达味的路。不偏左也不偏右。
22:3
约史雅为王十八年时，派默叔蓝的孙子，阿匝里雅的儿子。沙番书记到上主的殿里去，吩咐他说：「
22:4
你上去见大司祭希耳克雅，请他将献于上主圣殿，和守门人由人民收来的银钱结算清濋，
22:5
交给那些在上主殿内监工的人，叫他们发给那些在上主殿内工作和修理圣殿破坏地方的工人，
22:6
即木匠、工人和泥水匠，或购买修理圣殿的木料和凿好的石头。
22:7
银子交给他们之后，不必再同他们算帐，因为他们都是办事很忠信的人。」
法律书的发现
22:8 大司祭希耳克雅对沙番书记说：「我在上主殿内发现了法律书。」希耳克雅将这卷书交给了沙番，沙番读了。
22:9
沙番书记遂来见君王，向君王报告说：「你的仆人已将圣殿内所有的银钱倒出来，交给了那些在上主殿内监工的人。」
22:10
沙番书记继而又向君王报告说：「大司祭希耳克雅交给我一卷书。」沙番就在君王面前朗读了那书。
22:11
君王一听了法律书上的话，就撕裂了自己的衣服，
22:12
即刻吩咐大司祭希耳克雅，沙番的儿子阿希甘，米加的儿子阿革波尔，沙番书记和君王的臣仆阿撒雅说：「
22:13
你们为我，为人民，为全犹大，去求问上主关于所发现的书上的话；因为我们的祖先没有听从这卷书上的话，也没有按造这卷书上所记载的去实行，所以上主对我们大发忿怒。」
女先知胡耳达的神谕
22:14 大司祭希耳克雅、阿希甘、阿革波尔、沙番和阿撒雅，于是去见住在耶路撒冷新市区，哈尔哈斯的孙子，提刻瓦的儿子，管理祭衣的沙隆的妻子，女先知胡耳达，向她说
明了来意以后，
22:15 她就回答他们说：「上主以色列的天主这样说：你们去回报那派你们来见我的人说说：
22:16
上主这样说：看，我必要依照犹大王所读的那卷书上的一切话：使灾祸降在这地方和这地方的居民身上，
22:17
因为他们舍弃了我，向别的神焚香。凡他们所做的，无不惹我动怒；所以我的怒火要向这地方发作，总不熄灭。
22:18
至于那派你们来求问上主的犹大王，你们要这样对他说：上主以色列的天主这样说：你既然听了这些话，
22:19
既然一听见我指着这地和这地上的居民，说他们必要成为令人惊骇和诅咒的对象，你就动了心，在我面前自卑自贱，撕裂了自己的衣服，在我面前痛哭，因此我也应允了你：上主的断语。
22:20
我要使你与你的祖先团聚，你要平安归到你的坟墓里，你的眼睛也不会见到我在这地方所要降的一切灾祸。」他们回去向君王报告了这话。
第二十三章(37)
重立盟约
23:1 君王于是派人召集犹大和耶路撒冷所有的长老来到他跟前。
23:2
君王同所有的犹大人、耶路撒冷的居民、众司祭、众先知、全体人民，不分贵贱大小，上了上主圣殿，将在上主殿内寻获的约书上的一切话，读给他们听。
23:3
君王站在高台上，在上主面前立约，要全心全意跟随上主，遵守他的诫命、典章和法律，履行这卷书上所记载的盟约的话；全体人民一致接受了这盟约。
宗教改革
23:4 君王于是吩咐大司祭希耳克雅和副大司祭以及守门的，将那些为巴耳，为阿舍辣和为天上万象所制造的祭器，都从上主殿内搬出，在耶路撒冷外克德龙谷的田野中焚烧了，把灰烬带到贝特耳去。
23:5
君王废除了以前犹大王派定在犹大各城，和耶路撒冷周围高丘上焚香的僧侣，以及向巴耳、太阳、月亮和黄道带，并天上万象焚香的人；
23:6
又将木偶从上主的殿内搬到耶路撒冷城外克德龙谷，在克德龙谷焚烧了，磨碎成灰，将灰撒在平民的坟墓上；
23:7
拆毁了上主殿内庙倡的房舍，妇女们为木偶编织衣服的地方。
23:8
又从犹大各城将所有的司祭召来，破坏了司祭们焚香的高丘，从革巴直到贝尔舍巴；拆毁了城门左边，市长约叔亚门前的羊神祭坛。
23:9
无论如何，高丘的司祭，不能上耶路撒冷上主的祭坛，只能在自己的兄弟中间分食无酵饼。
23:10
约史雅又破坏了本希农山谷中的托斐特，免得再有人火祭子女，献给摩肋客。
23:11
又将以前犹大王在上主圣殿门前，靠近太监乃堂默肋客住宅的廊房里，献于太阳的骏马除去；也用火烧掉了奉献给太阳的车辆。
23:12
以前犹大王在阿哈次的楼房顶上所建筑的祭坛，和默纳舍在上主圣殿两庭院内建筑的祭坛，君王也都拆掉捣毁，把碎块倒在克德龙谷里。
23:13
从前以色列王撒罗满在耶路撒冷东，橄榄山南，为漆东人的可恶之物阿市托勒特，为摩阿布人的可恶之物革摩士，为阿孟子民的可恶之物米耳公所建立的高丘，君王一概破坏了；
23:14
又打碎了石柱，砍断了木偶，用人骨填满了那些地方。
向北方推行改革
23:15 此外，那使以色列陷于罪恶的乃巴特的儿子雅洛贝罕，在贝特耳所立的祭坛和高丘，约史雅也将这祭坛和高丘拆毁，将丘坛的石块打碎成灰，烧了木偶。
23:16
约史雅也将这祭坛转身，看见山上有坟墓，就派人掘出坟里的骨骸，放在祭坛上焚烧，污辱了这祭坛，应验了天主的人，当雅洛贝罕在庆节日站在这祭坛上时，所说的的话。约史雅再转身遥望，看见了曾预言这些事的天主的人的坟墓，
23:17
就问说：「我看见的是谁的墓碑﹖」城中的人回答说：「是天主的人的坟墓，他从犹大来，预言了你刚才对贝特耳祭坛所行的事」。
23:18
君王遂说：「让他安息吧！谁也不要移动他的骨骸！」因此人没有移动他的骨骸，也没有移动那位撒玛黎雅先知的骨骸。
23:19
从前以色列王在撒玛黎雅各口城内所建筑，而激怒上主的高丘庙宇，约史雅也一律除去，对这些庙宇所行的，完全像在贝特耳所行的一样。
23:20
凡在那里所有的高丘司祭，他都在祭坛上杀了，并在祭坛上焚烧了人骨，然后回了耶路撒冷。
庆祝逾越节
23:21 君王吩咐全体人民说：「你们要按照这约书所记载的，向上主你们的天主举行逾越节」。
23:22
实在，自从民长统治以色列时日以来，和在以色列各君王及犹大王当政期间，从来没有举行过像这样的一个逾越节，
23:23
只有在约史雅王十八年，在耶路撒冷向上主举行了这样的逾越节。
23:24
此外，凡在犹大地和耶路撒冷所见到的那些招魂的，行邪术的，忒辣芬和偶像，以及可憎恶之物，约史雅一概扫除，履行了司祭希耳克雅在上主殿内，所发见的书上所记载的法律。
23:25
在他以前没有人一个君王像他这样依照梅瑟的法律，全心全意全力归向上主；在他以后也没有兴起一个像他一样的。
23:26
虽然如此，上主仍未平息向犹大所发的盛怒烈火，因为默纳舍种种行事，太激怒了上主，
23:27
因此上主说：「我仍要由我面前除去犹大，如同我除去了以色列一样；我要拋弃我所选择的这座耶路撒冷城，和我所说我名必留其间的殿」。
约史雅阵亡
23:28 约史雅其余的事迹，他的一切作为，都记载在犹大列王实录上。
23:29
约史雅年间，埃及王法郎乃苛上到幼发拉的河，亚述王那里，约史雅出兵与他对抗，初次会战，就在默基多阵亡。
23:30
他的臣仆将他的尸体，用车从默基多运到耶路撒冷，葬在他自己的坟墓里；当地的人民推举约史雅的儿子约哈次，给他傅油，继承父位为王。
约阿哈次为犹大王
23:31 约阿哈次登极时年二十三岁，在耶路撒冷为王三个月，他的母亲名叫哈慕塔耳，是里贝纳人耶勒米雅的女儿。
23:32
他行了上主视为恶的事，完全像他祖先所行的一样。
23:33
法郎乃苛将他幽禁在哈玛特地的黎贝拉，不要他在耶路撒冷作王，并要那地方缴约一百「塔冷通」银子和十「塔冷通」金子作赔款。
23:34
以后，法郎乃苛立了约史雅的儿子厄里雅金继他父亲约史雅为王，给他改名叫约雅金；后将约阿哈次带到埃及去了，约阿哈次就死在那里。
23:35
约雅金将金银付给法郎，但为交付法郎要求的款项，只得向国家征税，要本国人民每人依照自己的家产，缴纳金银，送给法欴乃苛。
约雅金为犹大王
23:36 约雅金登极时年二十五岁，在耶路撒冷为王十一年；他的母亲名叫则步达，是鲁玛人培达雅的女儿。
23:37
他行了上主视为恶的事，全像他祖先所行的一样。
第二十四章(20)
24:1 约雅金年间，巴比伦王拿步高进犯，约雅金臣服了他三年，以后又背叛了他。
24:2
上主派加色丁、阿兰、摩阿布和阿孟人的杂军来，不断侵犯约雅金；上主派这些人来进攻消灭犹大，正如上主藉他的仆人先知们所说的话。
24:3
犹大遭遇这件事，确是由于上主的命令，因为衪要由自己面前拋弃犹大：这是因了默纳舍所犯的一切罪患，
24:4
也是因了他所流的无辜者的血，他使无辜者的血流满了耶路撒冷，上主不肯宽恕。
24:5
约雅金其余的事迹，他行的一切，都记载在犹大列王的实录上。
24:6
约雅金与祖先同眠后，他的儿子耶苛尼雅继位为王。
24:7
从此埃及王不敢再离开本国出征，因为巴比伦王征服了从埃及河直到幼发拉的河属于埃及的领土。
耶苛尼雅为犹大王
24:8 耶苛尼雅登极时年十八岁，在耶路撒冷作王三个月；他的母亲名叫乃胡市达，是耶路撒冷人厄耳纳堂的女儿。
24:9
他行了上主视为恶的事，全像他父亲所行的一样。
24:10
那时巴比伦王拿步高的臣仆前来围攻耶路撒冷。
24:11
当他的臣仆围攻耶路撒冷时，巴比伦王拿步高亲自来督战攻城。
24:12
犹大王耶苛尼雅和他的母亲臣仆、公卿以及太监，都出来投降巴比伦王；巴比伦王将他们掳去，时在巴比伦王在位第八年。
24:13
巴比伦王且抢去了上主殿内的一切宝藏，和王宫中的宝藏，打碎了以色列王撒罗满为上主圣殿所制的一切金器，正如上主所预言的；
24:14
也掳去了耶路撒冷的民众，所有的官绅和勇士，共一万人，以及所有的工匠和铁匠，只留下了地方上最穷苦的平民。
24:15
他将耶苛尼雅掳到巴比伦去，也将太后、后妃、君王的内侍，以及地方上的王公大人，都从耶路撒冷掳到巴比伦去。
24:16
一切有气力的人，人数约七千，工匠和铁匠，人数约一千，都是能打仗的勇士，巴比伦王都掳到巴比伦去。
24:17
巴比伦王立了耶苛尼雅的叔父玛塔尼雅代他为王，给他改名叫漆德克雅。
漆德克雅为犹大王
24:18 漆德克雅登极时年二十一岁，在耶路撒冷为王十一年；他的母亲名叫哈慕塔耳，是里贝纳人耶勒米雅的女儿。
24:19
他行了上主视为恶的事，全像约雅金所行的一样；
24:20
因此，上主向耶路撒冷和犹大大发愤怒，由自己面前将他们拋弃。以后漆德克雅背叛了巴比伦王。
第二十五章(30)
耶路撒冷失陷
25:1 漆德克雅为王九年十月十日，巴比伦王拿步高率领全军前进攻耶路撒冷，扎营围城，在城四周建筑了壁垒，
25:2
围攻京城，直到漆德克雅为王十一年。
25:3
是年四月九日，城中发生了严重的饥荒，当地人民已没有食粮，
25:4
京城遂被攻破。加色丁人还在围攻城时，君王和全体士兵，夜间出了靠近御园的双墙城门，逃往阿辣巴。
25:5
加色丁军队便追赶君王，在耶利哥旷野追上了；此时他的军队都已离开他逃散了。
25:6
加色丁军队擒获了君王，带他到黎贝拉去见巴比伦王。巴比伦王就宣判他的罪案，
25:7
且在漆德克雅眼前杀了他的儿子，也剜了他的眼，给他带上锁链，送往巴比伦去。
京城被毁
25:8 巴比伦王拿步高为王十九年五月七日，巴比伦王的大臣，卫队长乃步匝辣当来到了耶路撒冷，
25:9
烧毁了上主的殿、王宫和耶路撒冷所有的民房；凡是高大的建筑都用火烧了。
25:10
跟随卫长的所有加色丁军队，拆毁了耶路撒冷周围是城墙。
25:11
城中剩下的人民和已投降巴比伦王的人，以及其余的平民，卫队长乃步匝辣当都掳了去，
25:12
只留下当地一部分最穷的平民作园丁和农夫。
圣殿被劫
25:13 加色丁人又将上主殿前的铜柱，和上主殿内的铜座、铜海都打碎，把铜运往巴比伦；
25:14
此外，锅、铲、蜡剪、香盘，以及行礼的一切铜器，全都带走；
25:15
提炉、杯爵，凡是纯金纯银的，卫队长都拿走了。
25:16
撒罗满为上主的殿所制造的两根柱子，一个铜海和一些盆座，这一切器皿所用的铜，重量无法估计。
25:17
一根柱子高十八肘，上端有同柱头，高五肘，柱头四周有网子和石榴，全是铜的；另一根柱子相同，也有网子。
朝臣被杀
25:18 卫队长又擒获了大司祭色辣雅、副大司祭责法尼雅和三个门丁；
25:19
由城中掳去了一个管理军队的宦官，五个在城内搜到的君王的亲信，一个征募当地人民的军队的书记．和城中搜到的六十个当地平民。
25:20
卫队长乃步匝辣当捉住他们，带到黎贝拉去见巴比伦王；
25:21
巴比伦王就在哈玛特地的黎贝拉将他们杀了；从此，犹大人由本乡被掳去充军。
遗民的命运
25:22 巴比伦王拿步高对留在犹大地内的人民，派定了沙番的孙子，阿希甘的儿子革达里雅作他们的首长。
25:23
众军长和他们的士兵一听说巴比伦王委派了革达里雅为首长，乃塔尺雅的儿子依市玛耳，卡勒亚的儿子约哈南，乃托法人堂胡默特的儿子色辣雅，玛阿加人的儿子雅匝尼雅和他们的士兵，都来到米兹帕见革达里雅。
25:24
革达里雅遂对他们和他们的士兵起誓说：「你们不要害怕加色丁人的臣仆，安心住在此地，服事巴比伦王，就必能相安无事」。
25:25
但是到了七月，王家的后裔厄里沙玛的孙子，乃塔尼雅的儿子依市玛耳带了十个人前来，杀了革达里雅，和与他同在米兹帕的犹大人及加色丁人。
25:26
于是所有的人民，不分贵贱大小和众军长，因为害怕加色丁人，都起身逃往埃及去了。
耶苛尼雅蒙厚待
25:27 犹大王耶苛尼雅被掳后第三十七年十二月二十七日，巴比伦王厄威耳默洛达客在他登极元年，大赦犹大王耶苛尼雅，放他出狱，
25:28
亲切与他交谈，令他坐在与他一同在巴比伦的众王之上。
25:29
耶苛尼雅脱去囚服，以后一生日日与王共进饮食。
25:30
他的生活费用，在他有生之日，每天不断由巴比伦王供应。
BOOK ENDS. Seraphim, April 2009.
JB 2 KINGS Chapter 1
1:1 After the death of Ahab
Moab rebelled against Israel.
1:2 Ahaziah had fallen from
the balcony of his upper room in Samaria, and was lying ill; so he sent
messengers, saying to them, 'Go and consult Baalzebub the god of Ekron and ask
whether I shall recover from my illness'.
1:3 But the angel of Yahweh said
to Elijah the Tishbite, 'Up! Go and intercept the messengers of the king of
Samaria. Say to them, "Is there no God in Israel, for you to go and
consult Baalzebub the god of Ekron?
1:4 Yahweh says this: The bed
you have got into you will not get out of; you are certainly going to
die."' And Elijah set out.
1:5 The messengers returned to
the king, who said, 'Why have you come back?'
1:6 'A man came to meet us'
they answered 'and said, "Go back to the king who sent you and tell him:
Yahweh says this: Is there no God in Israel for you to go and consult Baalzebub
the god of Ekron? For this, the bed you have got into you will not get out of;
you are certainly going to die."'
1:7 He said, 'This man who met
you and said all this, what was he like?'
1:8 'A man wearing a hair
cloak' they answered 'and a leather loincloth.' 'It was Elijah the Tishbite' he
said.
1:9 He then sent a captain of
fifty soldiers with his contingent to Elijah, whom they found sitting on top of
the hill; the captain went up to him and said, 'Man of God, the king says,
"Come down"'.
1:10 Elijah answered the
captain, 'If I am a man of God, let fire come down from heaven and destroy both
you and your fifty men'. And fire came down from heaven and destroyed him and
his fifty men.
1:11 The king sent a second
captain of fifty to him, again with fifty men, and he too went up and said,
'Man of God, this is the king's order: "Come down at once"'.
1:12 Elijah answered them, 'If
I am a man of God, let fire come down from heaven and destroy both you and your
fifty men'. And fire came down from heaven and destroyed him and his fifty men.
1:13 Then the king sent a
third captain of fifty to him, with another fifty men. The third captain of
fifty came up to Elijah, fell on his knees before him and pleaded with him.
'Man of God,' he said 'let my life and the lives of these fifty servants of
yours have some value in your eyes.
1:14 Fire has fallen from
heaven and destroyed two captains of fifties, but let my life have some value
now in your eyes.'
1:15 The angel of Yahweh said
to Elijah, 'Go down with him; do not be afraid of him'. He rose and accompanied
him down to the king,
1:16 and said to him, 'Yahweh
says this, "Since you sent messengers to consult Baalzebub the god of
Ekron, the bed you have got into you will not get out of; you are certainly
going to die"'
1:17 And, in accordance with
the word of Yahweh that Elijah had uttered, he died. Since he had no son, his
brother Jehoram succeeded him, in the second year of Jehoram son of
Jehoshaphat, king of Judah.
1:18 The rest of the history
of Ahaziah, and his career, is not all this recorded in the Book of the Annals
of the Kings of Israel?
JB 2 KINGS Chapter 2
VI. THE ELISHA
CYCLE
A. ITS OPENING
Elijah is taken up
and Elisha succeeds him
2:1 This is what happened when
Yahweh took Elijah up to heaven in the whirlwind: Elijah and Elisha set out
from Gilgal,
2:2 and Elijah said to Elisha,
'Please stay here, for Yahweh is only sending me to Bethel'. But Elisha
replied, 'As Yahweh lives and as you yourself live, I will not leave you!' and
they went down to Bethel.
2:3 The brotherhood of
prophets who live at Bethel came out to meet Elisha and said, 'Do you know that
Yahweh is going to carry your lord and master away today?' 'Yes, I know,' he
said 'be quiet.'
2:4 Elijah said, 'Elisha,
please stay here, Yahweh is only sending me to Jericho'. But he replied, 'As
Yahweh lives and as you yourself live, I will not leave you!' and they went on
to Jericho.
2:5 The brotherhood of
prophets who live at Jericho went up to Elisha and said, 'Do you know that
Yahweh is going to carry your lord and master away today?' 'Yes, I know,' he
said 'be quiet.'
2:6 Elijah said, 'Elisha,
please stay here, Yahweh is only sending me to the Jordan'. But he replied, 'As
Yahweh lives and as you yourself live, I will not leave you!' And they went on
together.
2:7 Fifty of the brotherhood
of prophets followed them, halting some distance away as the two of them stood
beside the Jordan.
2:8 Elijah took his cloak,
rolled it up and struck the water; and the water divided to left and right, and
the two of them crossed over dry-shod.
2:9 When they had crossed,
Elijah said to Elisha, 'Make your request. What can I do for you before I am
taken from you?' Elisha answered, 'Let me inherit a double share of your
spirit'.[*a]
2:10 'Your request is a
difficult one' Elijah said. 'If you see me while I am being taken from you, it
shall be as you ask; if not, it will not be so.'
2:11 Now as they walked on,
talking as they went, a chariot of fire appeared and horses of fire, coming
between the two of them; and Elijah went up to heaven in the whirlwind.
2:12 Elisha saw it, and
shouted, 'My father! My father! Chariot of Israel and its chargers!' Then he
lost sight of him, and taking hold of his clothes he tore them in half.
2:13 He picked up the cloak of
Elijah which had fallen, and went back and stood on the bank of the Jordan.
2:14 He took the cloak of
Elijah and struck the water. 'Where is Yahweh, the God of Elijah?' he cried. He
struck the water, and it divided to right and left, and Elisha crossed over.
2:15 The brotherhood of
prophets saw him in the distance, and said, 'The spirit of Elijah has come to
rest on Elisha'; they went to meet him and bowed to the ground before him.
2:16 'Look,' they said 'your
servants have fifty strong men with them; let them go and look for your master;
the spirit of Yahweh may have taken him up and thrown him down on a mountain or
into a valley.' 'Send no one' he replied.
2:17 But they so shamed him
with their insistence that he consented. So they sent fifty men who searched
for three days without finding him.
2:18 They then came back to
Elisha who had stayed in Jericho; he said, 'Did I not tell you not to go?'
Two miracles of
Elisha
2:19 The men of the town said
to Elisha, 'The town is pleasant to live in, as my lord indeed can see, but the
water is foul and the country suffers from miscarriages'.
2:20 'Bring me a new bowl,' he
said 'and put some salt in it.' They brought it to him.
2:21 Then he went to the place
the water came from and threw salt into it. 'Thus Yahweh speaks,' he said
'"I make this water wholesome: neither death nor miscarriage shall come
from it any more".'
2:22 And the water was made
wholesome, and is so today, exactly as Elisha had said it would be.
2:23 From there he went up to
Bethel, and while he was on the road up, some small boys came out of the town
and jeered at him. 'Go up, baldhead!' they shouted 'Go up, baldhead!'
2:24 He turned round and
looked at them; and he cursed them in the name of Yahweh. And two she-bears
came out of the wood and savaged forty-two of the boys.
2:25 From there he went on to
Mount Carmel, and then returned to Samaria.
JB 2 KINGS Chapter 3
B. THE MOABITE WAR
Introduction to the
reign of Jehoram in Israel (852-841)
3:1 Jehoram son of Ahab became
king of Israel in Samaria in the eighteenth year of Jehoshaphat king of Judah,
and reigned for twelve years.[*a]
3:2 He did what is displeasing
to Yahweh, though not like his father and mother, for he did away with the
pillar of Baal that his father had made.
3:3 Nonetheless, he continued
to practise the sins into which Jeroboam son of Nebat had led Israel, and did
not give them up.
The expedition of
Israel and Judah against Moab
3:4 Mesha king of Moab was a
sheep-breeder and used to pay the king of Israel a hundred thousand lambs and
the wool of a hundred thousand rams in tribute.
3:5 But when Ahab died, the
king of Moab rebelled against the king of Israel.
3:6 At once King Jehoram went
out of Samaria and mustered all Israel. After
3:7 this he sent word to the
king of Judah, 'The king of Moab has rebelled against me. Will you join with me
fighting Moab?' 'I will' he replied. 'I am as ready as you, my men as your men,
my horses as your horses,'
3:8 and added 'which way are
we to attack?' 'Through the wilderness of Edom' the other answered.
3:9 So they set out, the king
of Israel, the king of Judah and the king of Edom. They followed a devious
route for seven days, until there was no water left for the troops or for the
beasts in their baggage train.
3:10 'Alas!' the king of
Israel exclaimed 'Yahweh has summoned us three kings, only to put us into the
power of Moab.'
3:11 But the king of Judah
said, 'Is there no prophet of Yahweh here for us to consult Yahweh through
him?' One of the king of Israel's servants answered, 'Elisha son of Shaphat is
here, who used to pour water on the hands of Elijah'.
3:12 'The word of Yahweh is
with him' the king of Judah said. So they went to him, the king of Israel, the
king of Judah and the king of Edom.
3:13 But Elisha said to the
king of Israel, 'What business have you with me? Go to the prophets of your
father and your mother.' 'No,' the king of Israel answered 'Yahweh has summoned
us three kings, only to put us into the power of Moab.'
3:14 Elisha replied, 'As
Yahweh Sabaoth lives, whom I serve, if I did not respect Jehoshaphat king of
Judah, I should not take any notice of you, or so much as look at you.
3:15 'Now bring me someone who
can play the lyre.'[*b] And as the musician played, the hand of Yahweh was laid
on him
3:16 and he said, 'Yahweh says
this, "Dig ditch on ditch in this wadi",
3:17 for Yahweh says,
"You shall see neither wind nor rain, but this wadi shall be filled with
water, and you and your troops and your baggage animals shall drink".
3:18 But this is only a little
thing in the sight of Yahweh, for he will put Moab itself into your power.
3:19 You shall storm every
fortified town, fell every sound tree, block every water-spring, ruin all the
best fields with stones.'
3:20 Next morning at the time
when the oblation was being offered, water came from the direction of Edom, and
the country was filled with it.
3:21 When the Moabites learned
that the kings had come up to fight against them, all who were of age to bear
arms were called up; they took up position on the frontier.
3:22 In the morning when they
got up, the sun was shining on the water; and in the distance the Moabites saw
the water as red as blood.[*c]
3:23 'This is blood!' they
said. 'The kings must have fought among themselves and killed one another. So
now for the booty, Moab!'
3:24 But when they reached the
Israelite camp, the Israelites launched their attack and the Moabites fled
before them, and as they advanced they cut the Moabites to pieces.
3:25 They laid the towns in
ruins, and each man threw a stone into all the best fields to fill them up, and
they blocked every water-spring and felled every sound tree. In the end, there
was only Kir-hareseth left, which the slingers surrounded and battered.
3:26 When the king of Moab saw
that the battle had turned against him, he mustered seven hundred swordsmen in
the hope of breaking a way out and going to the king of Aram, but he failed.
3:27 Then he took his eldest son
who was to succeed him and offered him as a sacrifice on the city wall. There
was bitter indignation against the Israelites, who then withdrew, retiring to
their own country.
JB 2 KINGS Chapter 4
C. SOME MIRACLES OF
ELISHA
The widow's oil
4:1 The wife of a member of
the prophetic brotherhood appealed to Elisha. 'Your servant my husband is
dead,' she said 'and you know how your servant revered Yahweh. A creditor has
now come to take my two children and make them his slaves.'
4:2 Elisha said, 'What can I
do for you? Tell me, what have you in the house?' 'Your servant has nothing in
the house,' she replied 'except a pot of oil.'
4:3 Then he said, 'Go outside
and borrow jars from all your neighbours, empty jars and not too few.
4:4 When you come back, shut
the door on yourself and your sons, and pour the oil into all these jars,
putting each aside when it is full.'
4:5 So she left him; and she
shut the door on herself and her sons; they passed her the jars and she went on
pouring.
4:6 When the jars were full,
she said to her son, 'Pass me another jar'. 'There are no more' he replied.
Then the oil stopped flowing.
4:7 She went and told the man
of God, who said, 'Go and sell the oil and redeem your pledge; you and your
children can live on the remainder'.
The woman of Shunem
and her son
4:8 One day as Elisha was on
his way to Shunem, a woman of rank who lived there pressed him to stay and eat
there. After this he always broke his journey for a meal when he passed that
way.
4:9 She said to her husband,
'Look, I am sure the man who is constantly passing our way must be a holy man
of God.
4:10 Let us build him a small
room on the roof, and put him a bed in it, and a table and chair and lamp;
whenever he comes to us he can rest there.'
4:11 One day when he came, he
retired to the upper room and lay down.
4:12 He said to his servant
Gehazi, 'Call our Shunammitess'. He called her, and she came and stood before
him.
4:13 'Tell her this,' Elisha
said '"Look, you have gone to all this trouble for us, what can we do for
you? Is there anything you would like said for you to the king or to the
commander of the army?"' But she replied, 'I live with my own people about
me'.
4:14 'What can be done for her
then?' he asked. Gehazi answered, 'Well, she has no son and her husband is
old'.
4:15 Elisha said, 'Call her'.
The servant called her and she stood at the door.
4:16 'This time next year,' he
said 'you will hold a son in your arms.' But she said, 'No, my lord, do not
deceive your servant'.
4:17 But the woman did
conceive, and she gave birth to a son at the time Elisha had said she would.
4:18 The child grew up; one
day he went out to his father who was with the reapers,
4:19 and exclaimed to his
father, 'Oh, my head! My head!' The father told a servant to carry him to his
mother.
4:20 He lifted him up and took
him to his mother, and the boy sat on her knee until midday, when he died.
4:21 She went upstairs, laid
him on the bed of the man of God, shut the door on him and went out.
4:22 She called her husband
and said, 'Send me one of the servants with a donkey. I must hurry to the man
of God and back.'
4:23 'Why go to him today?' he
asked 'It is not New Moon or sabbath.' But she answered, 'Never mind'.
4:24 She had the donkey
saddled, and said to her servant, 'Lead on, go! Do not draw rein until I give
the order.'
4:25 She set off and came to
the man of God at Mount Carmel; when he saw her in the distance, he said to his
servant Gehazi, 'Look, here comes our Shunammitess!
4:26 Now run and meet her and
ask her, "Are you well? Is your husband well? Your child well?"' She
answered, 'Yes'.
4:27 When she came to the man
of God there on the mountain, she took hold of his feet. Gehazi stepped forward
to push her away, but the man of God said, 'Leave her; there is bitterness in
her soul and Yahweh has hidden it from me, he has not told me'.
4:28 She said, 'Did I ask my
lord for a son? Did I not say: Do not deceive me?'
4:29 Elisha said to Gehazi,
'Tuck up your cloak, take my staff in your hand and go. If you meet anyone, do
not greet him; if anyone greets you, do not answer him. You are to stretch out
my staff over the child.'
4:30 But the child's mother
said, 'As Yahweh lives and as you yourself live, I will not leave you'. Then he
stood up and followed her.
4:31 Gehazi had gone ahead of
them and had stretched out the staff over the child, but there was no sound or
response. He went back to meet Elisha and told him. 'The child has not woken
up' he said.
4:32 Elisha then went to the
house, and there on his bed lay the child, dead.
4:33 He went in and shut the
door on the two of them and prayed to Yahweh.
4:34 Then he climbed on to the
bed and stretched himself on top of the child, putting his mouth on his mouth,
his eyes to his eyes, and his hands on his hands, and as he lowered himself on
to him, the child's flesh grew warm.
4:35 Then he got up and walked
to and fro inside the house, and then climbed on to the bed again and lowered
himself on to the child seven times in all; then the child sneezed and opened
his eyes.
4:36 He then summoned Gehazi.
'Call our Shunammitess' he said; and he called her. When she came to him, he
said, 'Take up your son'.
4:37 She went in and, falling
at his feet, bowed down to the ground; and taking up her son went out.
The poisoned soup
4:38 Elisha went back to
Gilgal while there was famine in the country. As the brotherhood of prophets
were sitting with him, he said to his servant, 'Put the large pot on the fire
and cook some soup for the brotherhood'.
4:39 One of them went into the
fields to gather herbs and came on some wild vine off which he gathered enough
gourds to fill his lap. On his return, he cut them up into the pot of soup;
they did not know what they were.
4:40 They then poured the soup
out for the men to eat, but they had no sooner tasted the soup than they cried,
'Man of God, there is death in the pot!' And they could not eat it.
4:41 'Bring some meal then'
Elisha said. This he threw into the pot, and said, 'Pour out for these men, and
let them eat'. And there was nothing harmful in the pot.
The multiplication
of loaves
4:42 A man came from
Baal-shalishah, bringing the man of God bread from the first-fruits, twenty
barley loaves and fresh grain in the ear. 'Give it to the people to eat',
Elisha said.
4:43 But his servant replied,
'How can I serve this to a hundred men?' 'Give it to the people to eat' he
insisted 'for Yahweh says this, "They will eat and have some left
over".'
4:44 He served them; they ate
and had some left over, as Yahweh had said.
JB 2 KINGS Chapter 5
Naaman is healed
5:1 Naaman, army commander to
the king of Aram, was a man who enjoyed his master's respect and favour, since
through him Yahweh had granted victory to the Aramaeans. But the man was a
leper.
5:2 Now on one of their raids,
the Aramaeans had carried off from the land of Israel a little girl who had
become a servant of Naaman's wife.
5:3 She said to her mistress,
'If only my master would approach the prophet of Samaria. He would cure him of
his leprosy.'
5:4 Naaman went and told his
master. 'This and this' he reported 'is what the girl from the land of Israel
said.'
5:5 'Go by all means,' said
the king of Aram 'I will send a letter to the king of Israel.' So Naaman left,
taking with him ten talents of silver, six thousand shekels of gold and ten
festal robes.
5:6 He presented the letter to
the king of Israel. It read: 'With this letter, I am sending my servant Naaman
to you for you to cure him of his leprosy'.
5:7 When the king of Israel
read the letter, he tore his garments. 'Am I a god to give death and life,' he
said 'that he sends a man to me and asks me to cure him of his leprosy? Listen
to this, and take note of it and see how he intends to pick a quarrel with me.'
5:8 When Elisha heard that the
king of Israel had torn his garments, he sent word to the king, 'Why did you
tear your garments? Let him come to me, and he will find there is a prophet in
Israel.'
5:9 So Naaman came with his
team and chariot and drew up at the door of Elisha's house.
5:10 And Elisha sent him a
messenger to say, 'Go and bathe seven times in the Jordan, and your flesh will
become clean once more'.
5:11 But Naaman was indignant
and went off, saying, 'Here was I thinking he would be sure to come out to me,
and stand there, and call on the name of Yahweh his God, and wave his hand over
the spot and cure the leprous part.
5:12 Surely Abana and Pharpar,
the rivers of Damascus, are better than any water in Israel? Could I not bathe
in them and become clean?' And he turned round and went off in a rage.
5:13 But his servants
approached him and said, 'My father, if the prophet had asked you to do
something difficult, would you not have done it? All the more reason, then,
when he says to you, "Bathe, and you will become clean".'
5:14 So he went down and
immersed himself seven times in the Jordan, as Elisha had told him to do. And
his flesh became clean once more like the flesh of a little child.
5:15 Returning to Elisha with
his whole escort, he went in and stood before him. 'Now I know' he said 'that
there is no God in all the earth except in Israel. Now, please, accept a
present from your servant.'
5:16 But Elisha replied, 'As
Yahweh lives, whom I serve, I will accept nothing'. Naaman pressed him to
accept, but he refused.
5:17 Then Naaman said, 'Since
your answer is "No", allow your servant to be given as much earth as
two mules may carry, because your servant will no longer offer holocaust or
sacrifice to any god except Yahweh.
5:18 Only - and may Yahweh
forgive your servant - when my master goes to the temple of Rimmon to worship
there, he leans on my arm, and I bow down in the temple of Rimmon when he
does;[*a] may Yahweh forgive your servant this act!'
5:19 'Go in peace' Elisha
answered. Naaman had gone a small distance,
5:20 when Gehazi, the servant
of Elisha, said to himself, 'My master has let this Aramaean Naaman off
lightly, by not accepting what he offered. As Yahweh lives, I will run after
him and get something out of him.'
5:21 So Gehazi set off in
pursuit of Naaman. When Naaman saw him running after him, he jumped down from
his chariot to meet him. 'Is all well?' he asked.
5:22 'All is well' he said.
'My master has sent me to say, "This very moment two young men of the
prophetic brotherhood have arrived from the highlands of Ephraim. Be kind
enough to give them a talent of silver."'
5:23 'Please accept two
talents' Naaman replied, and pressed him, tying up the two talents of silver in
two bags and consigning them to two of his servants who carried them in front
of Gehazi.
5:24 When he reached Ophel, he
took them from their hands and put them away in the house. He then dismissed
the men, who went away.
5:25 He, for his part, went
and presented himself to his master. Elisha said, 'Gehazi, where have you
been?' 'Your servant has not been anywhere' he replied.
5:26 But Elisha said to him,
'Was not my heart present there when someone left his chariot to meet you? Now
you have taken the money, you can buy gardens with it, and olive groves, sheep
and oxen, male and female slaves.
5:27 But Naaman's leprosy will
cling to you and to your descendants for ever.' And Gehazi left his presence a
leper, white as snow.
JB 2 KINGS Chapter 6
The axe lost and
found
6:1 The brotherhood of
prophets said to Elisha, 'Look, the place where we live by side with you is too
confined for us.
6:2 Let us go to the Jordan,
then, and each of us cut a beam there, and we will make our living quarters
there.' He replied, 'Go'.
6:3 'Be good enough to go with
your servants' one of them said. 'I will go' he answered,
6:4 and went with them. On reaching
the Jordan they cut down timber.
6:5 But, as one of them was
felling his beam, the iron axehead fell into the water. 'Alas, my lord,' he
exclaimed 'and it was a borrowed one too!'
6:6 'Where did it fall?' the
man of God asked; and he showed him the spot. Then, cutting a stick, Elisha
threw it in at that point and made the iron axehead float.
6:7 'Lift it out' he said; and
the man stretched out his hand and took it.
D. THE ARAMAEAN
WARS
Elisha captures an
armed band of Aramaeans
6:8 The king of Aram was at
war with Israel. He conferred with his officers, and said, 'You are to attack
at such and such a place'.
6:9 But Elisha sent word to
the king of Israel, 'Be on your guard at this place, because the Aramaeans are
going to attack it'.
6:10 The king of Israel
accordingly sent men to the place Elisha had named. And he kept warning the
king, and the king stayed on the alert; and this happened more than once or
twice.
6:11 The king of Aram was
disturbed in mind at this; he summoned his officers, and said, 'Tell me which
of you is betraying us to the king of Israel'.
6:12 'No, my lord king,' one
of his officers replied 'it is Elisha, the prophet in Israel, who reveals to
the king of Israel the words you speak in your bedchamber.'
6:13 'Go and find out where he
is,' the king said 'so that I can send people to capture him.' Word was brought
to him, 'He is now in Dothan'.
6:14 So he sent horses and
chariots there, and a large force; and these, arriving during the night,
surrounded the town.
6:15 Next day, Elisha rose
early and went out; and there surrounding the town was an armed force with
horses and chariots. 'Oh, my lord,' his servant said 'what are we to do?'
6:16 'Have no fear,' he
replied 'there are more on our side than on theirs.'
6:17 And Elisha prayed.
'Yahweh,' he said 'open his eyes and make him see.' Yahweh opened the servant's
eyes, and he saw the mountain covered with horses and chariots of fire
surrounding Elisha.
6:18 As the Aramaeans came
down towards him, Elisha prayed to Yahweh, 'I beg you to strike this people
with blindness'. And at the word of Elisha he struck them blind.
6:19 Then Elisha said to them,
'This is not the road, nor is this the town. Follow me; I will lead you to the
man you are looking for.' But he led them to Samaria.
6:20 As they entered Samaria,
Elisha said, 'Yahweh, open the eyes of these men, and let them see'. Yahweh
opened their eyes and they saw; they were inside Samaria.
6:21 When the king of Israel
saw them, he said to Elisha, 'Shall I kill them, my father?'
6:22 'Do not kill them' he
answered. 'Do you put prisoners to death when you have taken them with your
sword and your bow? Offer them bread and water for them to eat and drink, and
let them go back to their master.'
6:23 So the king provided a
great feast for them; and when they had eaten and drunk, he sent them off and
they returned to their master. Aramaean raiding parties never invaded the
territory of Israel again.
Samaria besieged;
the famine
6:24 It happened after this
that Ben-hadad king of Aram mustered his whole army and came to lay siege to
Samaria.
6:25 In Samaria there was
great famine, and so strict was the siege that the head of a donkey sold for
eighty shekels of silver, and one quarter-kab of wild onions for five shekels
of silver.
6:26 Now as the king was
passing along the city wall a woman shouted, 'Help, my lord king!'
6:27 'May Yahweh leave you
helpless!' he retorted. 'Where can I find help for you? From the
threshing-floor? From the winepress?'
6:28 Then the king asked,
'What is the matter?' 'This woman here' she answered 'has said to me,
"Give up your son; we will eat him today, and eat my son tomorrow".
So we cooked my son and ate him. Next day, I said to her, "Give up your
son for us to eat". But she has hidden her son.'
6:30 On hearing the woman's
words, the king tore his garments; the king was walking on the wall, and the
people saw that underneath he was wearing sackcloth next his body.
6:31 'May God do this to me
and more,' he said 'if the head of Elisha son of Shaphat remains on his
shoulders today!'
Elisha foretells
imminent relief
6:32 Elisha was sitting in his
house, and the elders were sitting with him. The king sent a messenger ahead
but, before the man arrived, Elisha had said to the elders, 'Do you see how
this born assassin has given orders to cut off my head? Look, when the
messenger comes, shut the door; hold the door against him. Is not the sound of
his master's step following behind him?'
6:33 Even as he spoke, the
king arrived. 'This misery plainly comes from Yahweh,' he said 'why should I
still trust in Yahweh?'
JB 2 KINGS Chapter 7
7:1 'Listen to the word of
Yahweh' Elisha said. 'Yahweh says this, "By this time tomorrow a measure
of finest flour will sell for one shekel, and two measures of barley for one
shekel, at the gate of Samaria".'
7:2 The equerry on whose arm
the king was leaning retorted to Elisha, 'Even if Yahweh made windows in the
sky, could this come true?' 'You will see it with your own eyes,' Elisha
answered 'though you will eat none of it.'
The Aramaean camp
is found abandoned
7:3 Now at the entrance to the
gate - for they were lepers - there were four men and they debated among
themselves, 'Why sit here waiting for death?
7:4 If we decide to go into
the town, what with the famine in it, we shall die there; if we stay here we
shall die just the same. Come on, let us go over to the Aramaean camp; if they
spare our lives, we live; if they kill us, well then we die.'
7:5 So at dusk they set out
and made for the Aramaean camp, but when they reached the confines of the camp
there was not a soul there.
7:6 For Yahweh had caused the
Aramaeans in their camp to hear a noise of chariots and horses, the noise of a
great army; and they had said to one another, 'Hark! The king of Israel has
hired the Hittite kings against us and the kings of Egypt to attack us.'
7:7 So in the dusk they had
made off and fled, abandoning their tents, their horses and their donkeys;
leaving the camp just as it was, they had fled for their lives.
7:8 The lepers, then, reached
the confines of the camp. They went into one of the tents and ate and drank,
and from it carried off silver and gold and clothing; these they went and hid.
Then they came back and, entering another tent, looted it too, and went and hid
their booty.
The siege at an
end; the famine ceases
7:9 Then they said to one
another, 'We are doing wrong. This is a day of good news, yet we are holding
our tongues! If we wait till morning, we shall surely be punished. Come on, let
us go and take the news to the palace.'
7:10 Off they went, called the
city guards, and said, 'We have been to the Aramaean camp. There was not a soul
there, no sound of anyone, only tethered horses and tethered donkeys, and their
tents just as they were.'
7:11 The gatekeepers shouted
the news, which was reported inside the palace.
7:12 The king got up while it
was still dark and said to his officers, 'I can tell you what the Aramaeans
have done to us. They know we are starving, so they have left the camp to hide
in the open country. "They will come out of the town," they think
"we will catch them alive and get into the town."'
7:13 One of his officers
replied, 'Five of the surviving horses still left us had better be taken - they
would die in any case like all the rest. Let us send them and see.'
7:14 So they took two chariot
teams and the king sent them after the Aramaean army, saying, 'Go and see'.
7:15 They tracked them as far
as the Jordan, finding the whole way strewn with clothes and gear that the
Aramaeans had thrown away in their panic. The scouts returned and informed the
king.
7:16 Then the people went out
and plundered the Aramaean camp: a measure of finest flour sold for one shekel,
and two measures of barley for one shekel, as Yahweh had promised they would
be.
7:17 The king had detailed the
equerry, on whose arm he leaned, as commander of the guard on the gate, but the
people trampled on him in the gateway and he died, as the man of God had
foretold when the king had come down to him.
7:18 (What Elisha had said to
the king came true, 'Two measures of barley will sell for one shekel, and a
measure of finest flour for one shekel, by this time tomorrow at the gate of
Samaria'.
7:19 The equerry had retorted
to Elisha, 'Even if Yahweh made windows in the sky, could this come true?' 'You
will see it with your own eyes,' Elisha had answered 'though you will eat none
of it.'
7:20 And this is what happened
to him: the people trampled on him in the gateway and he died.)
JB 2 KINGS Chapter 8
Epilogue to the
story of the woman of Shunem.
8:1 Elisha had said to the
woman whose son he had raised to life, 'Move away with your family, and live
where you can in some foreign country, for Yahweh has called up a famine - it
is coming on the country already - for seven years.'
8:2 The woman hurried to do
what the man of God had told her: she set out, she and her family, and for
seven years she lived in the land of the Philistines.
8:3 When the seven years were
over, the woman came back from the land of the Philistines and went to lodge a
claim with the king for her house and lands.
8:4 Now the king was talking
to Gehazi, the servant of the man of God. 'Tell me' he was saying 'all the
great things Elisha has done.'
8:5 Gehazi was just telling
the king how Elisha had raised the dead child to life, when the woman whose son
Elisha had raised lodged her claim with the king for her house and lands. 'My
lord king,' Gehazi said 'this is the very woman, and that is her son whom
Elisha raised to life.'
8:6 The king questioned the
woman, who told him the story. The king then referred her to one of the
eunuchs, giving him this order: 'See that all her property is restored to her,
and all the revenue from her land from the day she left the country until now'.
Elisha and Hazael
of Damascus
8:7 Elisha came to Damascus.
Ben-hadad the king of Aram was ill, and was told, 'The man of God has come all
the way to us'.
8:8 Then the king said to
Hazael, 'Take a present with you and go to meet the man of God; consult Yahweh
through him, and find out if I shall recover from my illness'.
8:9 So Hazael went to meet
Elisha, taking with him as a present the best Damascus could offer, a load for
forty camels. He came and standing before him said, 'Your son Ben-hadad has
sent me to ask you, "Shall I recover from my illness?"'
8:10 Elisha answered, 'Go and
tell him, "you will certainly recover", though Yahweh has shown me
that he will certainly die'.
8:11 Then his face went rigid
and his look grew fixed, and the man of God wept.
8:12 'Why' Hazael asked 'does
my lord weep?' 'Because I know' Elisha replied 'all the harm you will do the
Israelites: you will burn down their fortresses, put their picked warriors to
the sword, dash their little children to pieces, rip open their pregnant
women.'
8:13 'But what is your
servant?' Hazael said. 'How could this dog achieve anything so great?' 'In a
vision from Yahweh,' Elisha replied 'I have seen you king of Aram.'
8:14 Leaving Elisha, Hazael
went back to his master who asked, 'What did Elisha say to you?' He answered,
'He told me you would certainly recover'.
8:15 Next day he took a
blanket, soaked it in water, and spread it over his face.[*a] So died Benhadad,
and Hazael succeeded him.
The reign of
Jehoram in Judah (848-841)
8:16 In the fifth year of
Jehoram son of Ahab king of Israel, Jehoram son of Jehoshaphat became king of
Judah.
8:17 He was thirty-two years
old when he came to the throne, and he reigned for eight years in Jerusalem.
8:18 He followed the example
of the kings of Israel as the family of Ahab had done, having taken a wife from
the family[*b] of Ahab; he did what is displeasing to Yahweh.
8:19 Yahweh, however, did not
intend to destroy Judah, because of his servant David, and was faithful to the
promise he had made to leave him a lamp for ever in his presence.
8:20 In this time Edom threw
off the domination of Judah and set up a king for itself.
8:21 Jehoram crossed to Zair,
and with him all the chariots . . . He rose during the night and, with his
chariot commanders, broke through the Edomites encircling him; the people fled
to their tents.
8:22 Thus Edom threw off the
domination of Judah, remaining free to the present day. Libnah also revolted.
At that time...
8:23 The rest of the history
of Jehoram, his entire career, is not all this recorded in the Book of the
Annals of the Kings of Judah?
8:24 Then Jehoram slept with
his ancestors and was buried with his ancestors in the Citadel of David; his
son Ahaziah succeeded him.
The reign of
Ahaziah in Judah (841)
8:25 In the twelfth year of
Jehoram son of Ahab king of Israel, Ahaziah son of Jehoram became king of
Judah.
8:26 Ahaziah was twenty-two
years old when he came to the throne, and he reigned for one year in Jerusalem.
His mother's name was Athaliah, daughter of Omri king of Israel.
8:27 He followed the example
of the family of Ahab and did what is displeasing to Yahweh as the family of
Ahab had done, to whom he was related by marriage.
8:28 He went with Jehoram son
of Ahab to fight against Hazael king of Aram at Ramoth-gilead, but the
Aramaeans wounded Jehoram.
8:29 King Jehoram returned to
Jezreel to recover from the wounds which he had received at Ramah, fighting
against Hazael king of Aram. Ahaziah son of Jehoram king of Judah went down to
Jezreel to visit Jehoram son of Ahab because he was ill.
JB 2 KINGS Chapter 9
E. THE HISTORY OF
JEHU
A disciple of
Elisha anoints Jehu king
9:1 Elisha the prophet
summoned a member of the prophetic brotherhood to him, 'Tuck up your cloak,
take this flask of oil, and go to Ramoth-gilead.
9:2 When you arrive there,
look for Jehu son of Jehoshaphat son of Nimshi. Then, when you find him, tell
him to get up and leave his companions, and take him into an inner room.
9:3 Take the flask of oil then
and pour it over his head, and say, "This is Yahweh's word: I have
anointed you king of Israel". Then throw open the door and escape as fast
as you can.'
9:4 The young man left for
Ramoth-gilead
9:5 and when he arrived, he
found the senior officers of the army sitting together. 'I have a message for
you, commander' he said. 'For which of us?' asked Jehu. 'For you, commander' he
answered.
9:6 Then Jehu got up and went
into the house. And the young man poured the oil on his head, saying, 'Yahweh
the God of Israel says this, "I have anointed you king over the people of
Yahweh, king of Israel.
9:7 You are to strike down the
family of Ahab your master, and I will avenge the blood of my servants the
prophets and of all the servants of Yahweh on Jezebel
9:8 and the whole family of
Ahab. I will wipe out every male belonging to the family of Ahab, fettered or
free in Israel.
9:9 I will make the family of
Ahab like the family of Jeroboam son of Nebat and of Baasha son of Ahijah.
9:10 As for Jezebel, the dogs
shall eat her in the territory of Jezreel; no one will bury her."' With
this, he opened the door and made his escape.
Jehu proclaimed
king
9:11 Jehu came out to the
officers of his master. 'Is all well?' they asked him. 'Why did this madman
come to you?' 'You know the fellow and how he talks' he answered.
9:12 'Evasion!' they cried
'Come on, tell us.' He replied, 'His drift was this - he said, "Yahweh
says this: I have anointed you king of Israel"'.
9:13 Whereupon they all took
their cloaks and spread them under him on the bare steps; they sounded the
trumpet and shouted, 'Jehu is king!'
Jehu prepares to
usurp power
9:14 Jehu son of Jehoshaphat
son of Nimshi plotted against Jehoram. (Jehoram, with all Israel, was at that
time defending Ramoth-gilead against Hazael king of Aram,
9:15 although Jehoram had
returned to Jezreel to recover from the wounds which he had received from the
Aramaeans while he was fighting against Hazael king of Aram.) 'If this is how
you feel,' Jehu said 'let no one escape from the town to go and take the news
to Jezreel.'
9:16 Jehu then mounted his
chariot and left for Jezreel; Jehoram had taken to his bed there, and Ahaziah
king of Judah had gone down to visit him.
9:17 The lookout posted on the
tower of Jezreel saw Jehu's troop approaching, 'I can see a body of men' he
shouted. Jehoram gave the order: 'Have a horseman sent to meet them and ask,
"Is all well?"'
9:18 The horseman went to meet
Jehu and said, 'The king says, "Is all well?"' 'What has it to do
with you whether all is well?' Jehu replied. 'Fall in behind me.' The lookout
reported, 'The messenger has reached them and is not coming back'.
9:19 The king sent a second
horseman who reached them and said, 'The king says, "Is all well?"'
'What has it to do with you whether all is well?' Jehu replied. 'Fall in behind
me.'
9:20 The lookout reported, 'He
has reached them and is not coming back. The manner of driving is like that of
Jehu son of Nimshi: he drives like a madman.'
9:21 'Harness!' Jehoram cried;
and they harnessed his chariot. Then Jehoram king of Israel and Ahaziah king of
Judah, each in his chariot, set out to meet Jehu. They reached him in the field
of Naboth of Jezreel.
The assassination
of Jehoram
9:22 As soon as Jehoram saw
Jehu he asked, 'Is all well, Jehu?' 'What a question!' he replied 'when all the
while the prostitutions[*a] and countless sorceries of your mother Jezebel go
on.'
9:23 At this, Jehoram wheeled
and fled, saying to Ahaziah, 'Treason, Ahaziah!'
9:24 But Jehu had drawn his
bow; he struck Jehoram between the shoulder-blades, the arrow went through the
king's heart, and he sank down in his chariot.
9:25 'Pick him up,' Jehu said
to Bidkar, his equerry 'and throw him into the field of Naboth of Jezreel.
Remember how, when you and I both rode behind Ahab his father, Yahweh
pronounced this sentence against him:
9:26 "This I swear.
Yesterday I saw the blood of Naboth and the blood of his sons - it is Yahweh
who speaks. In this same field I will requite you - it is Yahweh who
speaks." So pick him up, and throw him into the field, as Yahweh declared
should happen.'
The assassination
of Ahaziah
9:27 When Ahaziah king of
Judah saw this, he fled along the Beth-haggan road, but Jehu went in pursuit of
him. 'Strike him down too' he said. And they wounded him in his chariot at the
slope of Gur, which is near Ibleam, and he took refuge in Megiddo, where he
died.
9:28 His servants carried him
in a chariot to Jerusalem and buried him in his tomb in the Citadel of David.
9:29 Ahaziah had become king
of Judah in the eleventh year of Jehoram son of Ahab.
The assassination
of Jezebel
9:30 Jehu went back to Jezreel
and Jezebel heard of it. She made up her eyes with kohl and adorned her head
and appeared at the window.
9:31 As Jehu came through the
gateway she said, 'Is all well, Zimri, you murderer of your master?[*b]
9:32 Jehu looked up to the
window and said, 'Who is on my side? Who?' And two or three
eunuchs looked down at him.
9:33 'Throw her down' he said.
They threw her down, and her blood spattered the walls and the horses; and Jehu
rode over her.
9:34 He went in and ate and
drank, then said, 'See to this accursed woman, and give her burial; after all,
she was a king's daughter'.
9:35 But when they went to
bury her, they found nothing but her skull, feet and hands.
9:36 They came back and told
Jehu, who said, 'This is the word of Yahweh which he spoke through his servant
Elijah the Tishbite, "The dogs will eat the flesh of Jezebel in the
territory of Jezreel;
9:37 the corpse of Jezebel
will be like dung spread on the fields, so that no one will be able to say:
This was Jezebel"'.
JB 2 KINGS Chapter
10
The massacre of the
royal family of Israel
10:1 There were seventy sons
of Ahab in Samaria.[*a] Jehu sent to Samaria, to the authorities of the city,
to the elders and to the guardians of the children of Ahab. He said,
10:2 'At this time, when this
letter reaches you, you have your master's sons with you; you also have
chariots and horses, fortified towns and weapons.
10:3 See which of your
master's sons is the best and worthiest, put him on his father's throne and
fight for the dynasty of your master.'
10:4 They were utterly
terrified. 'We have seen how the two kings could not stand up to him,' they
said 'so how could we do so?'
10:5 Consequently the master
of the palace, the governor of the city, the elders and the guardians sent word
to Jehu, 'We are your servants. We will do whatever you order us. We will not
proclaim a king; act as you think best.'
10:6 Jehu then wrote them a
second letter. He said, 'If you are for me and if you are prepared to accept
orders from me, take the heads[*b] of the men of your master's house and come
to me at Jezreel by this time tomorrow'. (There were seventy sons of the king
being educated there by the leading men of the city.)
10:7 When this letter reached
them, they took the king's sons and butchered all seventy of them, put their
heads in baskets and sent them to him at Jezreel.
10:8 The messenger came and
told Jehu, 'They have brought the heads of the king's sons'. 'Leave them in two
heaps at the entrance to the gate until morning' he replied.
10:9 When morning came, he
went out and, standing, said to all the people, 'Be guiltless! I certainly
plotted against my master and murdered him; but who killed all these?
10:10 Know, then, nothing will
fail to be fulfilled of the oracle uttered by Yahweh against the family of
Ahab: Yahweh has done what he said through his servant Elijah.'
10:11 Jehu then killed
everyone of the House of Ahab surviving in Jezreel, all his leading men, his
close friends, his priests; he did not leave a single one alive.
The massacre of the
princes of Judah
10:12 Jehu then set out and
went to Samaria. As he was on his way
10:13 he met, at Beth-eked of
the Shepherds, the brothers of Ahaziah king of Judah. 'Who are you?' he asked.
'We are brothers of Ahaziah,' they answered 'and we are going down to pay our
respects to the sons of the king and the sons of the queen.'
10:14 'Take them alive' he
said. They took them alive, and he slaughtered them at the cistern of
Beth-eked, forty-two of them; he did not spare a single one.
Jehu and Jehonadab
10:15 Leaving there, he came
upon Jehonadab son of Rechab who was on his way to meet him. He greeted him and
said, 'Is your heart true to mine, as my heart is to yours?' Jehonadab replied,
'Yes'. 'If so,' Jehu said 'give me your hand.' Jehonadab gave him his hand, and
Jehu took him up beside him in his chariot.
10:16 'Come with me,' he said
'and witness my zeal for Yahweh', and drove him on in his chariot.
10:17 When he entered Samaria,
he killed all the survivors of Ahab's family in Samaria; he wiped it out, as
Yahweh had told Elijah it would happen.
The destruction of
the adherents and temple of Baal
10:18 Then Jehu assembled all
the people. 'Ahab did Baal some small service,' he said 'but Jehu will do him a
great one.
10:19 Now call me all the
prophets of Baal and all his priests. Let no one be missing: I have a great
sacrifice to offer to Baal. If anyone is missing, he shall forfeit his life.'
This was a trick on Jehu's part to destroy the devotees of Baal.
10:20 'Summon a sacred
assembly for Baal' he commanded; and they summoned it.
10:21 Jehu sent messengers
throughout Israel, and all the devotees of Baal arrived, not a man was left who
did not attend. They packed into the temple of Baal until it was full from wall
to wall.
10:22 Jehu then said to the
keeper of the wardrobe, 'Bring out vestments for all the devotees of Baal'; he
brought out the vestments for them.
10:23 Jehu then went into the
temple of Baal with Jehonadab son of Rechab and said to the devotees of Baal,
'Make quite sure there are no devotees of Yahweh in here with you, but only
devotees of Baal'.
10:24 He then proceeded to
offer sacrifices and holocausts. Now Jehu had stationed eighty of his men
outside, having said, 'If any of you lets anyone of those I am handing over to
you escape, his life will pay for the life of the other'.
10:25 When he had finished
offering the holocaust, he gave the order to the guards and squires: 'Go in,
strike them down! Let no one out!' The guards and squires went in, putting
everyone to the sword, until they had reached the sanctuary of the temple of
Baal.
10:26 They took the sacred
pole out of the temple of Baal and burned it.
10:27 They demolished the
altar of Baal, and demolished the temple of Baal too, making it into a latrine,
which it still is today.
The reign of Jehu
in Israel (841-814)
10:28 Thus Jehu rid Israel of
Baal.
10:29 Even so, Jehu did not
give up the sins into which Jeroboam son of Nebat had led Israel, the golden
calves of Bethel and Dan.
10:30 Yahweh said to Jehu,
'Since you have done properly what was pleasing in my sight, and have achieved
all I set my heart on against Ahab's family, your sons shall sit on the throne
of Israel down to the fourth generation'.
10:31 But Jehu did not follow
the law of Yahweh, the God of Israel faithfully and wholeheartedly: he did not
give up the sins into which Jeroboam son of Nebat had led Israel.
10:32 At that time, Yahweh
began to whittle Israel down, and Hazael defeated the Israelites throughout the
territory[*c]
10:33 from the Jordan
eastwards: all the land of Gilead, of the Gadites, the Reubenites and the
Manassites, from Aroer which is by the wadi Arnon, Gilead and Bashan.
10:34 The rest of the history
of Jehu, his entire career, all his prowess, is not all this recorded in the
Book of the Annals of the Kings of Israel?
10:35 Then he slept with his
ancestors, and they buried him in Samaria; his son Jehoahaz succeeded him.
10:36 Jehu's reign over Israel
in Samaria lasted twenty-eight years.
JB 2 KINGS Chapter
11
F. FROM THE REIGN
OF ATHALIAH TO THE DEATH OF ELISHA
Athaliah (841-835)
11:1 When Athaliah the mother
of Ahaziah learned that her son was dead, she promptly did away with all those
of royal stock.
11:2 But Jehosheba, daughter
of King Jehoram and sister of Ahaziah, secretly took away Jehoash, her
brother's son, from among the sons of the king who were being murdered, and put
him with his nurse in the sleeping quarters; in this way she hid him from
Athaliah, and he was not put to death.
11:3 He stayed with her for
six years, hidden in the Temple of Yahweh, while Athaliah governed the country.
11:4 In the seventh year,
Jehoiada[*a] sent for the commanders of hundreds of the Carians[*b] and of the
guards, and had them brought to him in the Temple of Yahweh. He made a pact
with them and, putting them under oath, showed them the king's son.
11:5 He gave them this order:
'This is what you must do: one third of
(6) you, those who are off
duty on the sabbath, are to mount guard at the royal palace,
11:7 while the other two
thirds of you, mounting guard at the Temple of Yahweh,
11:8 are to surround the king,
each with his weapons in his hand; anyone who tries to break through your ranks
is to be put to death. Wherever the king goes or comes, you are to escort him.'
11:9 The commanders of
hundreds did everything as Jehoiada the priest had ordered. They brought their
men, those coming off duty on the sabbath together with those mounting guard on
the sabbath, and came to Jehoiada the priest.
11:10 The priest equipped the
commanders of hundreds with King David's spears and shields which were in the
Temple of Yahweh.
11:11 The guards formed up,
each man with his weapon in his hand, from the south corner to the north corner
of the Temple, surrounding the altar and the Temple.
11:12 Then Jehoiada brought
out the king's son, put the crown and armlets on him, and he anointed him king.
They clapped their hands and shouted, 'Long live the king!'
11:13 Athaliah, on hearing the
shouts of the people, made for the Temple of Yahweh where the people were.
11:14 When she saw the king
standing there beside the pillar, as the custom was, with the captains and
trumpeters at the king's side, and all the country people rejoicing and
sounding trumpets, Athaliah tore her garments and shouted, 'Treason, treason!'
11:15 Then Jehoiada the priest
gave the order to the army officers: 'Take her outside the precincts and put to
death anyone who follows her'. 'For' the priest had reasoned 'she must not be
put to death in the Temple of Yahweh.'
11:16 They seized her, and
when she had reached the palace through the Entry of the Horses, she was put to
death there.
11:17 Jehoiada made a covenant
between Yahweh and king and people, by which the latter undertook to be the
people of Yahweh; and also between king and people.
11:18 All the country people
then went to the temple of Baal and demolished it; they smashed his altars and
his images and killed Mattan, priest of Baal, in front of the altars. The
priest posted sentries to guard the Temple of Yahweh.
11:19 He then took the
commanders of hundreds, the Carians, the guards and all the country people and
made them escort the king down from the Temple of Yahweh and through the Gate
of the Guards into the palace. Jehoash took his seat on the throne of the
kings.
11:20 All the country people
were delighted, and the city made no move. And they put Athaliah to death in
the royal palace.
JB 2 KINGS Chapter
12
The reign of
Jehoash in Judah (835-796)
12:1 <21 Jehoash was seven
years old when he came to the throne.
12:2 <1 Jehoash became king
in the seventh year of Jehu, and reigned for forty years in Jerusalem. His
mother's name was Zibiah, of Beersheba.
12:3 <2 Jehoash did what is
pleasing to Yahweh all his life, having been instructed by Jehoiada the priest.
12:4 <3 The high places,
however, were not abolished, and the people still offered sacrifices and
incense on the high places.
12:5 <4 Jehoash said to the
priests, 'All the money from the sacred dues brought to the Temple of Yahweh,
the money from personal taxes, and the money given spontaneously to the Temple
12:6 <5 is to be accepted
by the priests, from people of their acquaintance, and the priests are to carry
out all repairs to the Temple as required'.
12:7 <6 Now in the
twenty-third year of King Jehoash, the priests had done no repairs to the
Temple;
12:8 <7 so King Jehoash
summoned Jehoiada the priest and the other priests. 'Why are you not repairing
the Temple?' he asked. 'You are no longer to accept money from people of your
acquaintance, but are to hand it over for the Temple repairs.'
12:9 <8 The priests agreed
to accept no money from the people and no longer to be responsible for repairs
to the Temple.
12:10 <9 Jehoiada the
priest procured a chest, bored a hole in the lid of it, and placed it beside
the pillar, to the right as you enter the Temple of Yahweh; in it the priests
who guarded the threshold put all the money that was given for the Temple of
Yahweh.
12:11 <10 Whenever they saw
that there was a lot of money in the chest, the king's secretary would come,
and they would melt down and reckon the money then in the Temple of Yahweh.
12:12 <11 Once checked;
they paid this money over to the masters of works attached to the Temple of
Yahweh, and these in turn spent it on carpenters and builders working on the
Temple of Yahweh,
12:13 <12 on masons and
stonecutters, and on buying wood and dressed stone to be used for repairs to
the Temple of Yahweh; in short, for all the costs of the Temple repairs.
12:14 <13 No silver basins,
however, no knives, sprinkling bowls, trumpets, no gold or silver objects
whatever were made for the Temple of Yahweh out of the money presented,
12:15 <14 for this was all
given to the workmen who used it for repairing the Temple of Yahweh.
12:16 <15 No accounts were
kept with the men to whom the money was paid over to be spent on the workmen,
since they were honest in their dealings.
12:17 <16 Money offered in
expiation of an offence or of a sin was not given to the Temple of Yahweh; that
was for the priests.
12:18 <17 At that time
Hazael king of Aram went to war against Gath, and captured it; he then prepared
to attack Jerusalem.
12:19 <18 Jehoash king of
Judah took all the sacred offerings dedicated by his ancestors, the kings of
Judah, Jehoshaphat, Jehoram and Ahaziah, with those that he himself had
dedicated, and all the gold that was to be found in the treasuries of the Temple
of Yahweh and of the royal palace; he sent it all to Hazael king of Aram, who
retired from Jerusalem.
12:20 <19 The rest of the
history of Jehoash, his entire career, is not all this recorded in the Book of
the Annals of the Kings of Judah?
12:21 <20 His officers
rebelled and hatched a plot; they struck Jehoash down at Beth-millo...
12:22 <21 Jozacar son of
Shimeath and Jehozabad son of Shomer were the two who struck him down and
killed him. They buried him with his ancestors in the Citadel of David; his son
Amaziah succeeded him.
JB 2 KINGS Chapter
13
The reign of
Jehoahaz in Israel (814-798)
13:1 In the twenty-third year
of Joash son of Ahaziah, king of Judah, Jehoahaz son of Jehu became king of
Israel in Samaria. He reigned for seventeen years.
13:2 He did what is
displeasing to Yahweh and persisted in the sin into which Jeroboam had led
Israel; he did not give it up.
13:3 Then the anger of Yahweh
blazed out against the Israelites, and he delivered them without respite into
the power of Hazael king of Aram and of Ben-hadad[*a] son of Hazael.
13:4 Jehoahaz, however, tried
to placate Yahweh, and Yahweh heard him, for he had seen the oppression the
king of Aram was inflicting on them.
13:5 Yahweh gave Israel a
saviour who freed them from the grip of Aram, and the Israelites lived in their
tents as in the past.
13:6 But they did not give up
the sin into which Jeroboam had led Israel; they persisted in it, and even the
sacred pole remained in Samaria.
13:7 Yahweh left of the army
of Jehoahaz only fifty horsemen, ten chariots and ten thousand foot soldiers.
The king of Aram had destroyed them, making them like the dust that is trampled
under foot.
13:8 The rest of the history
of Jehoahaz, his entire career, his prowess, is not all this recorded in the
Book of the Annals of the Kings of Israel?
13:9 Then Jehoahaz slept with
his ancestors, and they buried him in Samaria; his son Joash succeeded him.
The reign of
Jehoash in Israel (798-783)
13:10 In the thirty-seventh
year of Joash king of Judah, Jehoash, son of Jehoahaz, became king of Israel in
Samaria. He reigned for sixteen years.
13:11 He did what is
displeasing to Yahweh, he did not give up the sin into which Jeroboam son of
Nebat had led Israel; he persisted in it.
13:12 The rest of the history
of Joash, his entire career, his prowess, how he waged war on Amaziah king of
Judah, is not all this recorded in the Book of the Annals of the Kings of
Israel?
13:13 Then Joash slept with
his ancestors, and Jeroboam ascended his throne. Joash was buried in Samaria
with the kings of Israel.
The death of Elisha
13:14 When Elisha had fallen
ill of the illness he was to die of, Joash king of Israel went down to him and
shedding tears over him said, 'My father! My father! Chariot of Israel and its
chargers!'
13:15 Elisha said to him,
'Bring bow and arrows'; and he sent for a bow and arrows.
13:16 Then Elisha said to the
king, 'Draw the bow'; and he drew it. Elisha put his hands over the hands of
the king,
13:17 then he said, 'Open the
window towards the east', and he opened it. Then Elisha said, 'Arrow of victory
over Aram! You will defeat Aram at Aphek completely.'
13:18 Elisha said, 'Take the
arrows'; and he took them. Then he said to the king, 'Strike the ground'; and
he struck it three times, then stopped.
13:19 At this, the man of God
grew angry with him. 'You should have struck half a dozen times' he said 'and
you would have beaten Aram completely; now you will only beat Aram three
times.'
13:20 Elisha died, and was
buried. Now bands of Moabites were making incursions into the country every
year.
13:21 Some people happened to
be carrying a man out for burial; at the sight of one of these bands, they
flung the man into the tomb of Elisha and made off. The man had no sooner
touched the bones of Elisha than he came to life and stood up on his feet.
Victory over the
Aramaeans
13:22 Hazael king of Aram had
oppressed the Israelites throughout the lifetime of Jehoahaz,
13:23 but Yahweh was kind and
took pity on them. Because of the covenant he had made with Abraham, Isaac and
Jacob, he relented towards them; he had no wish to destroy them, he did not
cast them out of his presence.
13:24 Hazael king of Aram
died, and his son Ben-hadad succeeded him.
13:25 Jehoash son of Jehoahaz
recaptured from Ben-hadad son of Hazael the towns which Hazael had seized from
his father Jehoahaz by force of arms. Joash defeated him three times and
recovered the Israelite towns.
JB 2 KINGS Chapter
14
VII. THE TWO
KINGDOMS TO THE FALL OF SAMARIA
The reign of
Amaziah in Judah (796-781)
14:1 In the second year of
Joash son of Jehoahaz, king of Israel, Amaziah son of Joash became king of
Judah.
14:2 He was twenty-five years
old when he came to the throne, and he reigned for twenty-nine years in
Jerusalem. His mother's name was Jehoaddin, of Jerusalem.
14:3 He did what is pleasing
to Yahweh, though not like his ancestor David; he imitated his father Joash in
all respects.
14:4 The high places, however,
were not abolished, and the people still offered sacrifices and incense on the
high places.
14:5 Once the kingdom was
firmly under his control, he killed those of his officers who had murdered the
king his father.
14:6 But he did not put the
murderers' sons to death, in accordance with what is written in the Book of
Moses, where Yahweh has ordered: 'Fathers must not be put to death for sons,
nor sons for fathers; every one must be put to death for his own sin.'
14:7 It was he who defeated
the Edomites in the Valley of Salt, ten thousand of them, and who took the Rock
by assault; he gave it the name Joktheel, which it bears to this present day.
14:8 Then Amaziah sent
messengers to Jehoash son of Jehoahaz son of Jehu, king of Israel, saying,
'Come and make a trial of strength!'
14:9 Jehoash king of Israel
sent word to Amaziah king of Judah, 'The thistle of Lebanon sent a message to
the cedar of Lebanon, "Give my son your daughter in marriage"; but
the wild animals of Lebanon trampled down the thistle as they passed.
14:10 You have conquered Edom,
and now hold your head in the air; boast on, but stay at home. Why challenge
disaster, to your own ruin and the ruin of Judah?'
14:11 But Amaziah would not
listen, and Jehoash king of Israel marched to the attack. And at Beth-shemesh,
which belongs to Judah, they made their trial of strength, Jehoash and Amaziah
king of Judah.
14:12 Judah was defeated by
Israel, and everyone fled to his tent.
14:13 The king of Judah,
Amaziah son of Jehoash, son of Ahaziah, was taken prisoner at Beth-shemesh by
Joash king of Israel who led him off to Jerusalem, where Joash demolished the
city wall from the Gate of Ephraim to the Gate of the Corner for a distance of
four hundred cubits.
14:14 He took all the gold and
silver, and all the furnishings to be found in the Temple of Yahweh and in the
treasury of the royal palace, and hostages besides, and then returned to
Samaria.
14:15 The rest of the history
of Jehoash, his entire career, his prowess, how he waged war on Amaziah king of
Judah, is not all this recorded in the Book of the Annals of the Kings of
Israel?
14:16 Then Jehoash slept with
his ancestors, and was buried in Samaria with the kings of Israel; his son
Jeroboam succeeded him.
14:17 Amaziah son of Joash,
king of Judah, lived for fifteen years after the death of Jehoash son of
Jehoahaz, king of Israel.
14:18 The rest of the history
of Amaziah, is not all this recorded in the Book of the Annals of the Kings of
Judah?
14:19 A plot having been
hatched against him in Jerusalem, he fled to Lachish; but he was followed to
Lachish where he was put to death.
14:20 He was brought back by
horse, and buried in Jerusalem with his ancestors in the Citadel of David.
14:21 All the people of Judah
chose Uzziah, then sixteen years old, and made him king in succession to his
father Amaziah.
14:22 It was he who rebuilt
Elath and recovered it for Judah, after the king had slept with his ancestors.
The reign of
Jeroboam II in Israel (783-743)
14:23 In the fifteenth year of
Amaziah son of Joash, king of Judah, Jeroboam son of Joash became king of
Israel in Samaria. He reigned for forty-one years.
14:24 He did what is
displeasing to Yahweh and did not give up any of the sins into which Jeroboam
son of Nebat had led Israel.
14:25 It was he who recovered
the territory of Israel from the Pass of Hamath as far as the Sea of the
Arabah, in accordance with the word that Yahweh, the God of Israel, had spoken
through his servant Jonah[*a] son of Amittai, the prophet from Gath-hepher.
14:26 For Yahweh had seen how
very bitter the affliction of Israel was, with no one, neither fettered nor
free, to come to the help of Israel.
14:27 But Yahweh had resolved
not to blot out the name of Israel from under heaven; he rescued them by means
of Jeroboam son of Joash.
14:28 The rest of the history
of Jeroboam, his entire career, his prowess, what wars he waged, how he. . . is
not all this recorded in the Book of the Annals of the Kings of Israel?
14:29 Then Jeroboam slept with
his ancestors. They buried him in Samaria with the kings of Israel; his son
Zechariah succeeded him.
JB 2 KINGS Chapter
15
The reign of Uzziah
in Judah (781-740)
15:1 In the seventeenth year
of Jeroboam king of Israel, Uzziah son of Amaziah became king of Judah.
15:2 He was sixteen years old
when he came to the throne, and he reigned for fifty-two years in Jerusalem.
His mother's name was Jecoliah, of Jerusalem.
15:3 He did what is pleasing
to Yahweh, just as his father Amaziah had done.
15:4 The high places, however,
were not abolished, and the people still offered sacrifices and incense on the
high places.
15:5 But Yahweh struck the
king, and he became a leper till his dying day. He lived confined to his room;
his son Jotham was master of the palace and ruled the country.
15:6 The rest of the history
of Uzziah, his entire career, is not all this recorded in the Book of the
Annals of the Kings of Judah?
15:7 Then Uzziah slept with
his ancestors, and they buried him in the Citadel of David; his son Jotham
succeeded him.
The reign of
Zechariah in Israel (743)
15:8 In the thirty-eighth year
of Uzziah king of Judah, Zechariah son of Jeroboam became king of Israel in
Samaria for six months.
15:9 He did what is
displeasing to Yahweh, as his fathers had done; he did not give up the sins
into which Jeroboam son of Nebat had led Israel.
15:10 Shallum son of Jabesh
plotted against him, murdered him at Ibleam, and succeeded him.
15:11 The rest of the history
of Zechariah is recorded in the Book of the Annals of the Kings of Israel.
15:12 It happened as Yahweh
had said to Jehu, 'Your sons will sit on the throne of Israel to the fourth
generation'. And so it turned out.
The reign of
Shallum in Israel (743)
15:13 Shallum son of Jabesh
became king in the thirty-ninth year of Uzziah king of Judah, and reigned for
one month in Samaria.
15:14 Then Menahem son of Gadi
went up from Tirzah, entered Samaria, murdered Shallum son of Jabesh there, and
succeeded him.
15:15 The rest of the history
of Shallum, and the plot he hatched, all this is recorded in the Book of the
Annals of the Kings of Israel.
15:16 It was at that time that
Menahem sacked Tappush - killing all who were in it - and its territory from
Tirzah onwards, because it had not opened its gates to him; he sacked the town
and ripped open all the pregnant women.
15:17 In the thirty-ninth year
of Uzziah king of Judah, Menahem son of Gad became king of Israel. He reigned
for ten years in Samaria.
15:18 He did what is
displeasing to Yahweh, he did not give up the sins into which Jeroboam son of
Nebat had led Israel. In his times,
15:19 Pul[*a] king of Assyria
invaded the country, Menahem gave Pul a thousand talents of silver in return
for his support in strengthening his hold on the royal power.
15:20 Menahem levied this sum
from Israel, from all the men of rank, at the rate of fifty shekels a head, to
be given to the king of Assyria, who then withdrew, and did not stay in the
country.
15:21 The rest of the history
of Menahem, his entire career, is not all this recorded in the Book of the
Annals of the Kings of Israel?
15:22 Then Menahem slept with
his ancestors; his son Pekahiah succeeded him.
The reign of
Pekahiah in Israel (738-737)
15:23 In the fiftieth year of
Uzziah king of Judah, Pekahiah son of Menahem became king of Israel in Samaria.
He reigned for two years.
15:24 He did what is displeasing
to Yahweh; he did not give up the sins into which Jeroboam son of Nebat had led
Israel.
15:25 Pekah son of Remaliah,
his equerry, plotted against him and struck him down in Samaria, in the keep of
the royal palace . . . He had fifty men of Gilead with him. He killed the king,
and succeeded him.
15:26 The rest of the history
of Pekahiah, his entire career, all this is recorded in the Book of the Annals
of the Kings of Israel.
The reign of Pekah
in Israel (737-732)
15:27 In the fifty-second year
of Uzziah king of Judah, Pekah son of Remaliah became king of Israel in
Samaria. He reigned for twenty years.
15:28 He did what is
displeasing to Yahweh; he did not give up the sins into which Jeroboam son of
Nebat had led Israel.
15:29 In the days of Pekah
king of Israel, Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria came and captured Ijon,
Abel-beth-maacah, Janoah, Kedesh, Hazor, Gilead and Galilee, all the land of
Naphtali, and deported the population to Assyria.[*b]
15:30 Hoshea son of Elah
hatched a plot against Pekah son of Remaliah; he murdered the king, and
succeeded him.
15:31 The rest of the history
of Pekah, and his entire career, is not all this recorded in the Book of the
Annals of the Kings of Israel?
The reign of Jotham
in Judah (740-736)
15:32 In the second year of
Pekah son of Remaliah, king of Israel, Jotham son of Uzziah became king of
Judah.
15:33 He was twenty-five years
old when he came to the throne, and he reigned for sixteen years in Jerusalem.
His mother's name was Jerusha, daughter of Zadok.
15:34 He did what is pleasing
to Yahweh, just as his father Uzziah had done.
15:35 The high places,
however, were not abolished, and the people still offered sacrifices and
incense on the high places. It was he who built the Upper Gate of the Temple of
Yahweh.
15:36 The rest of the history
of Jotham, his entire career, is not all this recorded in the Book of the
Annals of the Kings of Judah?
15:37 At that time, Yahweh
began sending Rezin king of Aram and Pekah son of Remaliah against Judah.
15:38 Then Jotham slept with
his ancestors, and was buried in the Citadel of David, his ancestor; his son
Ahaz succeeded him.
JB 2 KINGS Chapter
16
The reign of Ahaz
in Judah (736-716)
16:1 In the seventeenth year
of Pekah son of Remaliah, Ahaz son of Jotham became king of Judah.
16:2 Ahaz was twenty years old
when he came to the throne, and he reigned for sixteen years in Jerusalem. He
did not do what is pleasing to Yahweh his God, as his ancestor David had done.
16:3 He followed the example
of the kings of Israel, even causing his son to pass through fire, copying the
shameful practices of the nations which Yahweh had dispossessed for the sons of
Israel.
16:4 He offered sacrifices and
incense on the high places, on the hills and under every spreading tree.
16:5 It was then that Rezin
king of Aram and Pekah son of Remaliah, king of Israel, launched their campaign
against Jerusalem. They besieged it but could not reduce it.
16:6 (At that time, the king
of Edom recovered Elath for Edom; he drove out the men of Judah from Elath, and
the Edomites occupied it and live there to this present day.)
16:7 Then Ahaz sent messengers
to Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria to say, 'I am your servant and your son.
Come and rescue me from the king of Aram and the king of Israel who are making
war against me.'
16:8 And Ahaz took the silver
and gold that was found in the Temple of Yahweh and in the treasury of the
royal palace, and sent this as a present to the king of Assyria.
16:9 The king of Assyria
granted his request and, going up against Damascus, captured it; he deported
its population to Kir, and put Rezin to death.
16:10 When King Ahaz went to
Damascus to meet Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria, he saw the altar that was in
Damascus. He then sent the measurements and a model of the altar with the
detail of its workmanship to Uriah the priest.
16:11 Uriah the priest
constructed the altar; all the instructions sent by King Ahaz from Damascus
were carried out by Uriah the priest before King Ahaz returned from Damascus.
16:12 When the king arrived from
Damascus, he inspected the altar, he approached it and ascended it.
16:13 He burned his holocaust
and his oblation; he poured out his libation and sprinkled the blood of his
communion sacrifice.
16:14 The altar that used to
stand before Yahweh he removed from the front of the Temple, where it had stood
between the new altar and the Temple of Yahweh, and placed it at the north side
of the new altar.
16:15 King Ahaz gave this
order to Uriah the priest: 'In future you will burn the morning holocaust, the
evening oblation, the king's holocaust and his oblation, the holocaust, the
oblation and the libations of all people on the great altar; on it you will
pour out all the blood of the holocausts and sacrifices. As regards the altar
of bronze, I shall see to that.'
16:16 Uriah the priest did
everything that King Ahaz had ordered.
16:17 King Ahaz dismantled the
wheeled stands, removed the crosspieces and the basins from them, and took the
bronze Sea off the oxen supporting it, and rested it on the stone pavement.
16:18 In deference to the king
of Assyria, he removed from the Temple of Yahweh the dais for the throne, which
had been set up there, and the royal entry on the outside.
16:19 The rest of the history
of Ahaz, his entire career, is not all this recorded in the Book of the Annals
of the Kings of Judah?
16:20 Then Ahaz slept with his
ancestors, and was buried in the Citadel of David; his son Hezekiah succeeded
him.
JB 2 KINGS Chapter
17
The reign of Hoshea
in Israel (732-724)
17:1 In the twelfth year of
Ahaz king of Judah, Hoshea son of Elah became king of Israel in Samaria, and
reigned for nine years.
17:2 He did what is
displeasing to Yahweh, though not like the preceding kings of Israel.
17:3 Shalmaneser king of
Assyria made war on Hoshea who submitted to him and paid him tribute.
17:4 But the king of Assyria
discovered that Hoshea was playing a double game with him: he had sent
messengers to So, king of Egypt, and had not, as in previous years, handed over
the tribute to the king of Assyria. For this the king of Assyria imprisoned
him, in chains.
The fall of Samaria (721)
17:5 The king of Assyria
invaded the whole country and, coming to Samaria, laid siege to it for three
years.
17:6 In the ninth year of
Hoshea, the king of Assyria captured Samaria and deported the Israelites to
Assyria. He settled them in Halah on the Habor, a river of Gozan,[*a] and in
the cities of the Medes.[*b]
Observations on the
fall of the Northern Kingdom
17:7 This happened because the
Israelites had sinned against Yahweh their God who had brought them out of the
land of Egypt, out of the grip of Pharaoh king of Egypt. They worshipped other
gods,
17:8 they followed the
practices of the nations that Yahweh had dispossessed for them.
17:9 The Israelites, and the
kings they had made for themselves, plotted wicked schemes against their God.
They built high places for themselves wherever they lived, from watchtower to
fortified town.
17:10 They set up pillars and
sacred poles for themselves on every high hill and under every spreading tree.
17:11 They sacrificed there
after the manner of the nations that Yahweh had expelled before them, and did
wicked things there, provoking the anger of Yahweh.
17:12 They served idols,
although Yahweh had told them, 'This you must not do'.
17:13 And yet through all the
prophets and all the seers, Yahweh had given Israel and Judah this warning,
'Turn from your wicked ways and keep my commandments and my laws in accordance
with the entire Law I laid down for your fathers and delivered to them through
my servants the prophets'.
17:14 But they would not
listen, they were more stubborn than their ancestors had been who had no faith
in Yahweh their God.
17:15 They despised his laws
and the covenant he had made with their ancestors, and the warnings he had
given them. They pursued emptiness, and themselves became empty through copying
the nations round them although Yahweh had ordered them not to act as they did.
17:16 They rejected all the
commandments of Yahweh their God and made idols of cast metal for themselves,
two calves; they made themselves sacred poles, they worshipped the whole array
of heaven, and they served Baal.
17:17 They made their sons and
daughters pass through fire, they practised divination and sorcery, they sold
themselves to evil-doing in the sight of Yahweh, provoking his anger.
17:18 For this, Yahweh was
enraged with Israel and thrust them away from him. There was none left but the
tribe of Judah only.
17:19 Judah did not keep the
commandments of Yahweh their God either, but copied the practices that Israel
had introduced.
17:20 Yahweh rejected the
whole race of Israel; he brought them low, delivering them into the hands of
marauders, until at length he thrust them away from him.
17:21 And indeed he had torn
Israel away from the House of David, and they had made Jeroboam son of Nebat
king; Jeroboam had drawn Israel away from Yahweh and led them into a great sin.
17:22 The Israelites copied
the sin Jeroboam had committed; they did not give it up,
17:23 until at length Yahweh
thrust Israel away from him, as he had foretold through all his servants the
prophets; he deported the Israelites from their own country to Assyria, where
they still are today.
The origin of the
Samaritans
17:24 The king of Assyria
brought people from Babylon, Cuthah, Avva, Hamath and Sepharvaim, and settled
them in the towns of Samaria to replace the Israelites; they took possession of
Samaria and lived in its towns.
17:25 When they first came to
live there, they did not worship Yahweh, so Yahweh sent lions against them,
which killed a number of them.
17:26 They said to the king of
Assyria, 'The nations you deported and settled in the towns of Samaria do not
know how to worship the god of the country, and he has sent lions against them;
and now these are killing them because they do not know how to worship the god
of the country'.
17:27 So the king of Assyria
gave this order: 'Send back one of the priests whom I deported from there; let
him go and live there and teach them how to worship the god of the country'.
17:28 Accordingly, one of the
priests they had deported from Samaria came to live in Bethel; he taught them
how to worship Yahweh.
17:29 Each national group made
idols representing its own gods and put them in the temples of the high places
made by the Samaritans; each national group did this in the towns allocated to
it.
17:30 The men of Babylon had
made a Succoth-benoth, the men of Cuthah a Nergal, the men of Hamath an Ashima,
17:31 the Avvites a Nibhaz and
a Tartak; while the Sepharvites burnt their children in the fire in honour of
Adrammelech and of Anammelech, gods of Sepharvaim.
17:32 They worshipped Yahweh
as well, and they appointed priests out of their own number for the high places
who officiated for them in the temples of the high places.
17:33 They worshipped Yahweh
and served their own gods at the same time, with the rites of the countries
from which they had been deported.
17:34 They still follow their
old rites even now. They did not worship Yahweh[*c] and did not conform to his
statutes or ritual, or the law or the commandments, which Yahweh had laid down
for the sons of Jacob to whom he gave the name Israel.
17:35 Yahweh had made a
covenant with them and had given them this command: 'You are not to worship
alien gods, you are not to bow down to them or serve them or offer them
sacrifices.
17:36 You are to bow down and
offer sacrifice to Yahweh who brought you out of the land of Egypt with great
power and outstretched arm.
17:37 You are to observe the
statutes and ritual, the law and the commandments which he has given you in
writing and to which you are always to conform; you are not to worship alien
gods.
17:38 Do not forget the
covenant I have made with you, and do not venerate alien gods.
17:39 Venerate Yahweh alone,
your God, and he will deliver you out of the power of all your enemies.'
17:40 But they would not
listen, and still followed their old rites.
17:41 These nations, then,
worshipped Yahweh and served their carved images as well, their children, too,
and their children's children still behave today as their fathers behaved in
the past.
JB 2 KINGS Chapter
18
VIII. THE LAST
YEARS OF THE KINGDOM OF JUDAH
A. HEZEKIAH, THE
PROPHET ISAIAH; ASSYRIA
Introduction to the
reign of Hezekiah (716-687)
18:1 In the third year of
Hoshea son of Elah, king of Judah, Hezekiah son of Ahaz became king of Judah.
18:2 He was twenty-five years
old when he came to the throne, and he reigned for twenty-nine years in
Jerusalem. His mother's name was Abijah daughter of Zechariah.
18:3 He did what is pleasing
to Yahweh, just as his ancestor David had done.
18:4 It was he who abolished
the high places, broke the pillars, cut down the sacred poles and smashed the
bronze serpent that Moses had made; for up to that time the Israelites had
offered sacrifice to it; it was called Nehushtan.
18:5 He put his trust in the
God of Israel. No king of Judah after him could be compared with him - nor any
of those before him.
18:6 He was devoted to Yahweh,
never turning from him, but keeping the commandments that Yahweh had laid down
for Moses.
18:7 And so Yahweh was with
him, and he was successful in all that he undertook. He rebelled against the
king of Assyria and refused to serve him.
18:8 It was he who harassed
the Philistines as far as Gaza, laying their territory waste from watchtower to
fortified town.
The fall of
Samaria; recapitulation
18:9 In the fourth year of
Hezekiah, which was the seventh year of Hoshea son of Elah, king of Israel,
Shalmaneser king of Assyria made war on Samaria and laid siege to it. He
captured it after three years.
18:10 Samaria fell in the
sixth year of Hezekiah, which was the ninth year of Hoshea king of Israel.
18:11 The king of Assyria
deported the Israelites to Assyria and settled them in Halah on the Habor, a
river of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes.
18:12 This happened because
they had not obeyed the voice of Yahweh their God and had broken his covenant,
violating all that Moses the servant of Yahweh had laid down. They neither
listened to it nor put it into practice.
Sennacherib's
invasion[*a]
18:13 In the fourteenth year
of King Hezekiah, Sennacherib king of Assyria attacked the fortified towns of
Judah and captured them.
18:14 Then Hezekiah king of
Judah sent this message to the king of Assyria at Lachish, 'I have been at
fault. Call off the attack, and I will submit myself to whatever you impose on
me.' The king of Assyria exacted three hundreds talents of silver and thirty
talents of gold from Hezekiah king of Judah,
18:15 and Hezekiah gave him
all the silver in the Temple of Yahweh and in the treasury of the royal palace.
18:16 It was then that
Hezekiah stripped the facing from the leaves and jambs of the doors of the
Temple of Yahweh, which . . . king of Judah had plated, and gave it to the king
of Assyria.
The embassy of the
cupbearer-in-chief
18:17 From Lachish the king of
Assyria sent the cupbearer-in-chief with a large force to King Hezekiah in
Jerusalem. He went up to Jerusalem, and when he arrived, he took a position
near the conduit of the upper pool which is on the road to the Fuller's Field.
18:18 He summoned the king.
The master of the palace, Eliakim son of Hilkiah, Shebnah the secretary and the
herald Joah son of Asaph went out to him.
18:19 The cupbearer-in-chief
said to them, 'Say to Hezekiah, "Thus speaks the great king, the king of
Assyria: What makes you so confident?
18:20 Do you think empty words
are as good as strategy and military strength? Who are you relying on, to dare
to rebel against me?
18:21 We know you are relying
on that broken reed Egypt, which pricks and pierces the hand of the man who
leans on it. - That is what Pharaoh king of Egypt is like to all who rely on
him. -
18:22 You may say to me: We
rely on Yahweh our God, but are they not his high places and altars that
Hezekiah has suppressed, saying to the people of Judah and Jerusalem: This in
Jerusalem, is the altar, before which you must worship?
18:23 Come, make a wager with
my lord the king of Assyria: I will give you two thousand horses if you can
find horsemen to ride them.
18:24 How could you repulse a
single one of the least of my master's servants? And yet you have relied on
Egypt for chariots and horsemen.
18:25 And lastly, have I come
up against this place to lay it waste without warrant from Yahweh? Yahweh
himself said to me: March against this country and lay it waste."'
18:26 Eliakim, Shebnah and
Joah said to the cupbearer-in-chief, 'Please speak to your servants in Aramaic,
for we understand it; do not speak to us in the Judaean language within earshot
of the people on the ramparts'.
18:27 But the
cupbearer-in-chief said, 'Do you think my lord sent me here to say these things
to your master or to you? On the contrary, it was to the people sitting on the
ramparts who, like you, are doomed to eat their own dung and drink their own
urine.
18:28 Then the
cupbearer-in-chief stood erect and, shouting loudly in the Judaean language,
called out, 'Listen to the word of the great king, the king of Assyria.
18:29 Thus the king speaks:
"Do not let Hezekiah delude you. He will be powerless to save you from my
hands.
18:30 Do not let Hezekiah
persuade you to rely on Yahweh by saying: Yahweh is sure to save us; this city
will not fall into the power of the king of Assyria.
18:31 Do not listen to
Hezekiah, for the king of Assyria says this: Make peace with me, surrender to
me, and every one of you will eat the fruit of his own vine and of his own fig
tree and drink the water of his own cistern
18:32 until I come and deport
you to a country like your own, a land of corn and good wine, a land of bread
and of vineyards, a land of oil and of honey, so that you may not die but live.
Do not listen to Hezekiah who is deluding you when he says: Yahweh will save
us.
18:33 Has any god of any
nation saved his country from the power of the king of Assyria?
18:34 Where are the gods of
Hamath and Arpad? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim and Hena and Ivvah? Where
are the gods of the land of Samaria? Did they save Samaria from me?
18:35 Tell me which, of all
the gods of any country, have saved their countries from my hands, for Yahweh
to be able to save Jerusalem?"'
18:36 They kept silence and
said nothing in reply, since such was the king's order: 'Do not answer him' he
had said.
18:37 The master of the
palace, Eliakim son of Hilkiah, Shebnah the secretary and the herald Joah son
of Asaph, with their garments torn, went to Hezekiah and reported what the cupbearer-in-chief
had said.
JB 2 KINGS Chapter
19
The prophet Isaiah
is consulted
19:1 On hearing this, King
Hezekiah tore his garments, covered himself with sackloth and went to the
Temple of Yahweh.
19:2 He sent the master of the
palace, Eliakim, Shebnah the secretary and the elders of the priests, covered
in sackcloth, to the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz.
19:3 They said to him, 'This
is what Hezekiah says, "Today is a day of suffering, of punishment, of
disgrace. Children come to birth, and there is no strength to bring them forth.
19:4 May Yahweh your God hear
the words of the cupbearer-in-chief whom his master, the king of Assyria, has
sent to insult the living God, and may Yahweh your God punish the words he has
heard. Offer your prayer for the remnant that is left."'
19:5 When the ministers of
King Hezekiah had come to Isaiah,
19:6 he replied, 'Say to your
master, "Yahweh says this: Do not be afraid of the words you have heard or
the blasphemies the minions of the king of Assyria have uttered against me.
19:7 I am going to put a
spirit in him, and when he hears a rumour he will return to his own country,
and in that country I will bring him down with the sword."'
The cupbearer
returns to his master
19:8 The cupbearer went back
and rejoined the king of Assyria at Libnah, which he was attacking. The
cupbearer had already learnt that the king of Assyria had left Lachish,
19:9 since he had received
this news about Tirhakah[*a] king of Cush, 'He has set out to fight you'.
Sennacherib's
letter to Hezekiah
Sennacherib sent messengers to
Hezekiah again, saying,
19:10 'Tell this to Hezekiah
king of Judah, "Do not let your God on whom you are relying deceive you,
when he says: Jerusalem shall not fall into the power of the king of Assyria.
19:11 You have learnt by now
what the kings of Assyria have done to every country, putting them all under
the ban. Are you likely to be spared?
19:12 What power to help did
the gods have of those nations my fathers destroyed, Gozan, Haran, Rezeph and
the Edenites who were in Tel Basar?
19:13 Where are the king of
Hamath, the king of Arpad, the kings of Sepharvaim, of Hena, of Ivvah?"'
19:14 Hezekiah took the letter
from the hands of the messenger and read it; he then went up to the Temple of
Yahweh and spread it out before Yahweh.
19:15 Hezekiah said this
prayer in the presence of Yahweh, 'Yahweh Sabaoth, God of Israel, enthroned on
the cherubs, you alone are God of all the kingdoms of the earth, you have made
heaven and earth.
19:16 'Give ear, Yahweh, and
listen. Open your eyes, Yahweh, and see. Hear the words of Sennacherib who has
sent to insult the living God.
19:17 'It is true, Yahweh,
that the kings of Assyria have exterminated all the nations,
19:18 they have thrown their
gods on the fire, for these were not gods but the work of men's hands, wood and
stone, and hence they have destroyed them.
19:19 But now, Yahweh our God,
save us from his hand, I pray you, and let all the kingdoms of the earth know
that you alone are God, Yahweh.'
Isaiah intervenes
19:20 Then Isaiah son of Amoz
sent to Hezekiah. 'Yahweh, the God of Israel' he said 'says this, "I have
heard the prayer you have addressed to me about Sennacherib king of
Assyria".
19:21 Here is the oracle that
Yahweh has pronounced against him: "She despises you, she scorns you, the
virgin, daughter of Zion; she tosses her head behind you, the daughter of
Jerusalem.
19:22 Whom have you insulted,
whom did you blaspheme? Against whom raised your voice and lifted your haughty
eyes? Against the Holy One of Israel!
19:23 Through your envoys you
have insulted the Lord, you have said: With my many chariots I have climbed the
tops of mountains, the utmost peaks of Lebanon. I have felled its tall forest
of cedars, its finest cypresses.I have reached its furthest recesses, its
forest garden.
19:24 Yes, I have dug wells
and drunk of alien waters; I have put down my feet, and I have dried up all the
rivers of Egypt.
19:25 "Do you hear? Long
ago I planned for it, from days of old I designed it, now I carry it out. Your
part was to bring down in heaps of ruins fortified cities.
19:26 Their inhabitants, hands
feeble, dismayed, discomfited, were like plants of the field, like tender
grass, like grass of housetop and meadow under the east wind.
19:27 But I am there whether
you rise or sit; whether you go out, or you come in, I know it.
19:28 Because you have raved
against me and your insolence has come to my ears, I will put my ring through
your nostrils, my bit between your lips, to make you return by the road on
which you came.
A sign for Hezekiah
19:29 "This shall be the
sign for you: this year will be eaten the self-sown grain, next year what
sprouts in the fallow, but in the third year sow and reap, plant vineyards and
eat their fruit.
19:30 The surviving remnant of
the House of Judah shall bring forth new roots below and fruits above;
19:31 for a remnant shall go
out from Jerusalem, and survivors from Mount Zion. The jealous love of Yahweh
Sabaoth shall accomplish this."
19:32 'This, then, is what
Yahweh says about the king of Assyria: "He will not enter this city, he
will let fly no arrow against it, confront it with no shield, throw up no
earthwork against it.
19:33 By the road that he came
on he will return; he shall not enter this city. It is Yahweh who speaks.
19:34 I will protect this city
and save it for my own sake and for the sake of my servant David."'
Sennacherib is
punished
19:35 That same night the
angel of Yahweh went out and struck down a hundred and eighty-five thousand men
in the Assyrian camp. In the early morning when it was time to get up, there
they lay, so many corpses.
19:36 Sennacherib struck camp
and left; he returned home and stayed in Nineveh.
19:37 One day when he was
worshipping in the temple of his god Nisroch, his sons Adrammelech and Sharezer
struck him down with the sword and escaped into the land of Ararat.[*b] His son
Esarhaddon succeeded him.
JB 2 KINGS Chapter
20
The illness and
cure of Hezekiah
20:1 In those days Hezekiah
fell ill and was at the point of death. The prophet Isaiah son of Amoz came and
said to him, 'Yahweh says this, "Put your affairs in order, for you are
going to die, you will not live"'.
20:2 Hezekiah turned his face
to the wall and addressed this prayer to Yahweh,
20:3 'Ah, Yahweh, remember I
beg you, how I have behaved faithfully and with sincerity of heart in your
presence and done what is right in your eyes'. And Hezekiah shed many tears.
20:4 Isaiah had not left the
middle court, before the word of Yahweh came to him,
20:5 'Go back and say to
Hezekiah, prince of my people, "Yahweh, the God of David your ancestor,
says this: I have heard your prayer and seen your tears. I will cure you: in
three days' time you shall go up to the Temple of Yahweh.
20:6 I will add fifteen years
to your life. I will save you and this city from the hands of the king of
Assyria, I will protect this city for my own sake and the sake of my servant
David."'
20:7 'Bring a fig poultice'
Isaiah said; they brought one, applied it to the ulcer, and the king recovered.
20:8 Hezekiah said to Isaiah,
'What is the sign to tell me that Yahweh will cure me and that I shall be going
up to the Temple of Yahweh in three days?'
20:9 'Here' Isaiah replied 'is
the sign from Yahweh that he will do what he has said; would you like the
shadow to go forward ten steps, or to go back ten steps?'
20:10 'It is easy for the
shadow to lengthen ten steps,' Hezekiah answered 'no, I would rather the shadow
went back ten steps.'
20:11 The prophet Isaiah then
called on Yahweh who made the shadow go back ten steps on the steps of Ahaz.
The Babylonian
embassy
20:12 At that time the king of
Babylon, Merodach-baladan son of Baladan, sent letters and a gift to Hezekiah,
for he had heard of his illness and his recovery.
20:13 Hezekiah was delighted
at this and showed the messengers his treasure-house, the silver, gold, spices,
precious oil, his armoury too, and everything there was in his storehouses.
There was nothing Hezekiah did not show them in his palace or in his whole
domain.
20:14 Then the prophet Isaiah
came to King Hezekiah and asked him, 'What have these men said, and where have
they come from?' Hezekiah answered, 'They have come from a faraway country,
from Babylon'.
20:15 Isaiah said, 'What have
they seen in your palace?' 'They have seen everything in my palace' Hezekiah
answered. 'There is nothing in my storehouses that I have not shown them.'
20:16 Then Isaiah said to
Hezekiah, 'Listen to the word of Yahweh,
20:17 "The days are
coming when everything in your palace, everything that your ancestors have
amassed until now, will be carried off to Babylon. Not a thing will be
left" says Yahweh.
20:18 "Sons sprung from
you, sons begotten by you, will be chosen to be eunuchs in the palace of the
king of Babylon."'
20:19 Hezekiah said to Isaiah,
'This word of Yahweh that you announce is reassuring', for he was thinking,
'And why not? So long as there is peace and security during my own lifetime.'
The end of the
reign of Hezekiah
20:20 The rest of the history
of Hezekiah, all his prowess, how he constructed the pool and the conduit to
bring water into the city, is not all this recorded in the Book of the Annals
of the Kings of Judah?
20:21 Then Hezekiah slept with
his fathers; his son Manasseh succeeded him.
JB 2 KINGS Chapter
21
B. TWO WICKED KINGS
The reign of
Manasseh in Judah (687-642)
21:1 Manasseh was twelve years
old when he came to the throne, and he reigned for fifty-five years in
Jerusalem. His mother's name was Hephzibah.
21:2 He did what is
displeasing to Yahweh, copying the shameful practices of the nations whom
Yahweh had dispossessed for the sons of Israel.
21:3 He rebuilt the high
places that his father Hezekiah had destroyed, he set up altars to Baal and
made a sacred pole as Ahab king of Israel had done, he worshipped the whole
array of heaven and served it.
21:4 He built altars in the
Temple of Yahweh of which Yahweh had said, 'Jerusalem is where I will give my
name a home'.
21:5 He built altars to the
whole array of heaven in the two courts of the Temple of Yahweh.
21:6 He caused his son to pass
through the fire. He practised soothsaying and magic and introduced
necromancers and wizards. He did very many more things displeasing to Yahweh,
thus provoking his anger.
21:7 He placed the carved
image of Asherah which he had made in the Temple, of which Yahweh had said to
David and his son Solomon, 'In this Temple and in Jerusalem, the city I chose
out of all the tribes of Israel, I will give my name a home for ever.
21:8 I will no longer make
Israel's footsteps wander from the land I gave their fathers, provided they
observe all I have ordered them in accordance with the whole Law that my
servant Moses prescribed for them.'
21:9 But they did not listen,
Manasseh led them astray, so that they did more evil than those nations Yahweh
had destroyed before the sons of Israel.
21:10 Then Yahweh spoke
through his servants the prophets,
21:11 'Since Manasseh king of
Judah has done these shameful deeds, acting more wickedly than all the Amorites
did before him, and has led Judah itself into sin with his idols,
21:12 Yahweh, the God of
Israel, says this, "Look, I will bring such disaster as to make the ears
of all who hear of it tingle.
21:13 I will stretch over
Jerusalem the same measuring line as over Samaria, the same plumb-rule as for
the House of Ahab; I will scour Jerusalem as a man scours a dish and, having
scoured it, turns it upside down.
21:14 I will cast away the
remnant of my inheritance, delivering them into the power of their enemies, and
making them serve as prey and booty to all their enemies,
21:15 because they have done
what is displeasing to me and have provoked my anger from the day their
ancestors came out of Egypt until now."'
21:16 Manasseh shed innocent
blood, too, in such great quantity that he flooded Jerusalem from end to end,
apart from the sins into which he led Judah by doing what is displeasing to
Yahweh.
21:17 The rest of the history
of Manasseh, his entire career, the sins he committed, is not all this recorded
in the Book of the Annals of the Kings of Judah?
21:18 Then Manasseh slept with
his ancestors, and was buried in the garden of his palace, the garden of Uzza;
his son Amon succeeded him.
The reign of Amon
in Judah (642-640)
21:19 Amon was twenty-two years
old when he came to the throne, and he reigned for two years in Jerusalem. His
mother's name was Meshullemeth, daughter of Haruz, of Jotbah.
21:20 He did what is
displeasing to Yahweh, as Manasseh his father had done.
21:21 In every respect he
followed the example of his father, serving the idols his father had served,
and worshipping them.
21:22 He abandoned Yahweh, the
God of his ancestors; he did not follow the way of Yahweh.
21:23 Amon's officers plotted
against the king and killed him in his palace.
21:24 But the country people
struck down all those who had plotted against king Amon, and proclaimed his son
Josiah as his successor.
21:25 The rest of the history
of Amon, his entire career, is not all this recorded in the Book of the Annals
of the Kings of Judah?
21:26 He was buried in his
father's tomb in the garden of Uzza; his son Josiah succeeded him.
JB 2 KINGS Chapter
22
C. JOSIAH AND THE
RELIGIOUS REFORM
Introduction to the
reign of Josiah (640-609)
22:1 Josiah was eight years
old when he came to the throne, and he reigned for thirty-one years in
Jerusalem. His mother's name was Jedidah, daughter of Adaiah, of Bozkath.
22:2 He did what is pleasing
to Yahweh, and in every respect followed the example of his ancestor David, not
deviating from it to right or left.
The Book of the Law
discovered
22:3 In the eighteenth year of
King Josiah, the king sent the secretary Shaphan son of Azaliah son of
Meshullam to the Temple of Yahweh.
22:4 'Go to Hilkiah the high
priest,' he told him 'and tell him to melt down the silver that has been
brought to the Temple of Yahweh and that those who guard the threshold have
collected from the people.
22:5 Let him hand it over to
the masters of works attached to the Temple of Yahweh, for them to spend on the
workmen working on the repairs to the Temple of Yahweh,
22:6 on the carpenters,
builders and masons, and on buying wood and dressed stone for the Temple
repairs.
22:7 But they are not to be
asked to render account of the money handed over to them, since they are honest
in their dealings.'
22:8 The high priest Hilkiah
said to Shaphan the secretary, 'I have found the Book of the Law in the Temple
of Yahweh'.[*a] And Hilkiah gave the book to Shaphan, who read it.
22:9 Shaphan the secretary went
to the king and reported to him as follows, 'Your servants' he said 'have
melted down the silver which was in the Temple and have handed it over to the
masters of works attached to the Temple of Yahweh'.
22:10 Then Shaphan the
secretary informed the king, 'Hilkiah the priest has given me a book'; and
Shaphan read it aloud in the king's presence.
Huldah the
prophetess is consulted
On hearing the contents of the
Book of the Law, the king tore his garments,
22:11 and gave the following
order to Hilkiah the priest, Ahikam son of Shaphan,
22:12 Achbor son of Micaiah,
Shaphan the secretary and Asaiah the king's minister: 'Go and consult Yahweh,
on behalf of me and the people, about the contents of
22:13 this book that has been
found. Great indeed must be the anger of Yahweh blazing out against us because
our ancestors did not obey what this book says by practising everything written
in it.'
22:14 Hilkiah the priest,
Ahikam, Achbor, Shaphan and Asaiah went to Huldah the prophetess, wife of
Shallum son of Tikvah, son of Harhas, the keeper of the wardrobe; she lived in
Jerusalem in the new town. They put the matter to her,
22:15 and she replied,
'Yahweh, the God of Israel, says this, "To the man who sent you to me say
this:
22:16 Yahweh says this: I am
bringing disaster on this place and those who live in it, carrying out
everything said in the book the king of Judah has read,
22:17 because they have
deserted me and sacrificed to other gods, to provoke my anger by everything
they did. My anger blazes out against this place; it will not be extinguished.
22:18 And you are to say to
the king of Judah who sent you to consult Yahweh: Yahweh, the God of Israel,
says this: The words you have heard. . .
22:19 But since your heart has
been touched and you have humbled yourself before Yahweh on hearing what I have
decreed against this place and those who live in it, how they will become an
object of horror and cursing; and since you have torn your garments and wept
before me, I for my part have heard - it is Yahweh who speaks.
22:20 For this reason I will
gather you to your ancestors, you shall be gathered into your grave in peace;
your eyes will not see all the disasters that I mean to bring on this
place."' They took this answer to the king.
JB 2 KINGS Chapter
23
The covenant
renewed
23:1 The king then had all the
elders of Judah and of Jerusalem summoned to him,
23:2 and the king went up to
the Temple of Yahweh with all the men of Judah and all the inhabitants of
Jerusalem, priests, prophets and all the people, of high or low degree. In
their hearing he read out everything that was said in the book of the covenant
found in the Temple of Yahweh.
23:3 The king stood beside the
pillar, and in the presence of Yahweh he made a covenant to follow Yahweh and
keep his commandments and decrees and laws with all his heart and soul, in
order to enforce the terms of the covenant as written in that book. All the
people gave their allegiance to the covenant.
Religious reform in
Judah
23:4 The king ordered Hilkiah
with the priest next in rank and the guardians of the threshold to remove all
the cult objects that had been made for Baal, Asherah and the whole array of
heaven; he burnt them outside Jerusalem in the fields of the Kidron and had the
ashes taken to Bethel.
23:5 He did away with the
spurious priests whom the kings of Judah had appointed and who offered
sacrifice on the high places, in the towns of Judah and the neighbourhood of
Jerusalem; also those who offered sacrifice to Baal, to the sun, the moon, the
constellations and the whole array of heaven.
23:6 From the Temple of Yahweh
he removed the sacred pole right out of Jerusalem to the wadi Kidron, and in
the wadi Kidron he burnt it; he reduced it to ashes and threw its ashes on the
common burying-ground.
23:7 He pulled down the house
of the sacred male prostitutes which was in the Temple of Yahweh and where the
women wove clothes for Asherah.
23:8 He brought all the
priests in from the towns of Judah, and from Geba to Beersheba he desecrated
the high places where these priests had offered sacrifice. He pulled down the
shrine of the goats[*a] which stood at the gate of Joshua, the governor of the
city, to the left as you enter the city gate.
23:9 The priests of the high
places, however, could not go up to the altar of Yahweh in Jerusalem, but they
ate unleavened bread in the company of their brother priests.
23:10 He desecrated the
furnace in the Valley of Ben-hinnom, so that no one could make his son or
daughter pass through fire in honour of Molech.
23:11 He did away with the
horses that the kings of Judah had dedicated to the sun at the entrance to the
Temple of Yahweh, near the apartment of Nathan-melech the eunuch, in the
precincts, and he burned the chariot of the sun.
23:12 The altars on the roof
that the kings of Judah had built, with those that Manasseh had built in the
two courts of the Temple of Yahweh, the king pulled down, and broke them to
pieces on the spot, then carried them away and threw their rubble into the wadi
Kidron.
23:13 The king desecrated the
high places facing Jerusalem, to the south of the Mount of Olives, which
Solomon king of Israel had built for Astarte the Sidonian abomination, for
Chemosh the Moabite abomination, and for Milcom the Ammonite abomination.
23:14 He also smashed the
sacred pillars, cut down the sacred poles, and covered the places where they
had stood with human bones.[*b]
The reform is
extended to the former Northern Kingdom
23:15 Similarly, as regards
the altar that was at Bethel, the high place built by Jeroboam son of Nebat who
had led Israel into sin, this altar and this high place he also demolished,
breaking up its stones and reducing them to powder. The sacred pole he burned.
23:16 As he looked around,
Josiah saw the tombs there on the hillside; he had the bones fetched from the
tombs and burned them on the altar. Thus he desecrated it, in accordance with
the word of Yahweh which the man of God had proclaimed when Jeroboam was
standing by the altar at the time of the feast. As he looked around, Josiah
caught sight of the tomb of the man of God who had foretold these things.
23:17 'What is that monument I
see?' he asked. The townspeople replied, 'It is the tomb of the man of God who
came from Judah and foretold what you have done to the altar'.
23:18 'Let him rest,' the king
said 'and let no one disturb his bones.' So they left his bones untouched, with
the bones of the prophet who was from Samaria.
23:19 Josiah also did away with
all the temples of the high places that the kings of Israel had built in the
towns of Samaria, provoking the anger of Yahweh; he treated these places
exactly as he had treated the one at Bethel.
23:20 All the priests of the
high places who were there he slaughtered on the altars, and on those altars
burned human bones. Then he returned to Jerusalem.
The Passover
celebrated
23:21 The king gave this order
to the whole people: 'Celebrate a Passover in honour of Yahweh your God, as
prescribed in this book of the covenant'.
23:22 No Passover like this
one had ever been celebrated since the days when the judges ruled Israel or
throughout the entire period of the kings of Israel and the kings of Judah.
23:23 The eighteenth year of
King Josiah was the only time when such a Passover was celebrated in honour of
Yahweh at Jerusalem.
Last words on the
religious reform
23:24 What is more, the
necromancers and wizards, the household gods and idols, and all the
abominations to be seen in the land of Judah and in Jerusalem, all these were
swept away by Josiah to give effect to the words of the Law written in the book
found by Hilkiah the priest in the Temple of Yahweh.
23:25 No king before him had
turned to Yahweh as he did, with all his heart, all his soul, all his strength,
in perfect loyalty to the Law of Moses; nor was any king like him seen again.
23:26 Yet Yahweh did not
renounce the heat of his great anger which blazed out against Judah because of
all the provocation Manasseh had offered him.
23:27 Yahweh decreed, 'I will
thrust Judah away from me too, as I have already thrust Israel; I will cast
away Jerusalem, this city I had chosen, and the Temple of which I had said:
There my name shall be.'
The end of the
reign of Josiah
23:28 The rest of the history
of Josiah, his entire career, is not all this recorded in the Book of the
Annals of the Kings of Judah?
23:29 During his reign Pharaoh
Neco king of Egypt was on his way to the king of Assyria at the river Euphrates
when King Josiah intercepted him; but Neco killed him at Megiddo in the first
encounter.
23:30 His servants carried his
body from Megiddo by chariot; they brought him to Jerusalem, and buried him in
his own tomb. The country people took Jehoahaz son of Josiah and anointed him,
proclaiming him king in succession to his father.
D. THE DESTRUCTION
OF JERUSALEM
The reign of
Jehoahaz in Judah (609)
23:31 Jehoahaz was
twenty-three years old when he came to the throne, and he reigned for three
months in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Hamutal, daughter of Jeremiah, from
Libnah.
23:32 He did what is
displeasing to Yahweh, just as his ancestors had done.
23:33 Pharaoh Neco put him in
chains at Riblah, in the territory of Hamath, and imposed a levy of a hundred
talents of silver and ten talents of gold on the country.
23:34 Pharaoh Neco made
Eliakim son of Josiah king in succession to Josiah his father, and changed his
name to Jehoiakim. Jehoahaz he took and carried away into Egypt, where he died.
23:35 Jehoiakim paid over the
silver and gold to Pharaoh, but first had to tax the country before he could
raise the sum that Pharaoh demanded: he levied the silver and gold to be paid
over to Pharaoh Neco from each according to his means.
The reign of
Jehoiakim in Judah (609-598)
23:36 Jehoiakim was
twenty-five years old when he came to the throne, and he reigned for eleven
years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Zebidah, daughter of Pedaiah, from
Rumah.
23:37 He did what is
displeasing to Yahweh, just as his ancestors had done.
JB 2 KINGS Chapter
24
24:1 During his time
Nebuchadnezzar[*a] king of Babylon invaded, and Jehoiakim became his vassal for
three years but then rebelled against him a second time.
24:2 So he sent armed bands of
Chaldaeans, Aramaeans, Moabites and Ammonites against him; he sent these
against Judah to destroy it, in accordance with the word that Yahweh had spoken
through his servants the prophets.
24:3 That this happened in
Judah was due entirely to the anger of Yahweh: he had resolved to thrust them
away from him because of the sins of Manasseh and all that he had done,
24:4 and also because of the
innocent blood that he had shed, flooding Jerusalem from end to end with
innocent blood. Yahweh would not forgive.
24:5 The rest of the history
of Jehoiakim, his entire career, is not all this recorded in the Book of the
Annals of the Kings of Judah?
24:6 Then Jehoiakim slept with
his ancestors; his son Jehoiachin succeeded him.
24:7 The king of Egypt did not
leave his own country again, because the king of Babylon had conquered
everywhere belonging to the king of Egypt, from the wadi of Egypt to the river
Euphrates.[*b]
Introduction to the
reign of Jehoiachin (598)
24:8 Jehoiachin was eighteen
years old when he came to the throne, and he reigned for three months in
Jerusalem. His mother's name was Nehushta, daughter of Elnathan, from
Jerusalem.
24:9 He did what is
displeasing to Yahweh, just as his father had done.
The first
deportation
24:10 At that time the troops
of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon marched on Jerusalem, and the city was
besieged.
24:11 Nebuchadnezzar king of
Babylon himself came to attack the city while his troops were besieging it.
24:12 Then Jehoiachin king of
Judah surrendered to the king of Babylon, he, his mother, his officers, his
nobles and his eunuchs, and the king of Babylon took them prisoner. This was in
the eighth year of King Nebuchadnezzar.
24:13 The latter carried off
all the treasures of the Temple of Yahweh and the treasures of the royal
palace, and broke up all the golden furnishings that Solomon king of Israel had
made for the sanctuary of Yahweh, as Yahweh had foretold.
24:14 He carried off all
Jerusalem into exile, all the nobles and all the notables, ten thousand of
these were exiled, with all the blacksmiths and metalworkers; only the poorest
people in the country were left behind.
24:15 He deported Jehoiachin
to Babylon, as also the king's mother, his eunuchs and the nobility of the
country; he made them all leave Jerusalem for exile in Babylon.
24:16 All the men of
distinction, seven thousand of them, the blacksmiths and metalworkers, one
thousand of them, all of them men capable of bearing arms, were led into exile
in Babylon by the king of Babylon.
24:17 The king of Babylon made
Mattaniah, Jehoiachin's uncle, king in succession to him, and changed his name
to Zedekiah.
Introduction to the reign of
Zedekiah in Judah (598-587)
24:18 Zedekiah was twenty-one
years old when he came to the throne, and he reigned for eleven years in
Jerusalem. His mother's name was Hamital, daughter of Jeremiah, from Libnah.
24:19 He did what is
displeasing to Yahweh, just as Jehoiakim had done.
24:20 That this happened in
Jerusalem and Judah was due to the anger of Yahweh, with the result that in the
end he cast them away from him.
The siege of
Jerusalem
Zedekiah rebelled against the
king of Babylon.
JB 2 KINGS Chapter
25
25:1 In the ninth year of his
reign,[*a] in the tenth month, on the tenth day of the month, Nebuchadnezzar
king of Babylon came with his whole army to attack Jerusalem; he pitched camp
in front of the city and threw up earthworks round it.
25:2 The city lay under siege
till the eleventh year of King Zedekiah.
25:3 In the fourth month, on
the ninth day of the month, when famine was raging in the city and there was no
food for the populace,
25:4 a breach was made in the
city wall. At once, the king made his escape under cover of dark, with all the
fighting men, by way of the gate between the two walls, which is near the
king's garden - the Chaldaeans had surrounded the city - and made his way
towards the Arabah[*b]
25:5 The Chaldaean troops
pursued the king and caught up with him in the plains of Jericho, where all his
troops deserted.
25:6 The Chaldaeans captured
the king and took him to the king of Babylon at Riblah, who passed sentence on
him.
25:7 He had the sons of
Zedekiah slaughtered before his eyes, then put out Zedekiah's eyes and, loading
him with chains, carried him off to Babylon.
The sack of
Jerusalem. The second deportation
25:8 In the fifth month, on
the seventh day of the month - it was in the nineteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar
king of Babylon - Nebuzaradan, commander of the guard, an officer of the king
of Babylon, entered Jerusalem.
25:9 He burned down the Temple
of Yahweh, the royal palace and all the houses in Jerusalem.
25:10 The Chaldaean troops who
accompanied the commander of the guard demolished the walls surrounding
Jerusalem.
25:11 Nebuzaradan, commander
of the guard, deported the remainder of the population left behind in the city,
the deserters who had gone over to the king of Babylon, and the rest of the
common people.
25:12 The commander of the
guard left some of the humbler country people as vineyard workers and ploughmen.
25:13 The Chaldaeans broke up
the bronze pillars from the Temple of Yahweh, the wheeled stands and the bronze
Sea that were in the Temple of Yahweh, and took the bronze away to Babylon.
25:14 They also took the ash
containers, the scoops, the knives, the incense boats, and all the bronze
furnishings used in worship.
25:15 The commander of the
guard took the censers and the sprinkling bowls, everything that was made of
gold and everything made of silver.
25:16 As regards the two
pillars, the one Sea and the wheeled stands, which Solomon had made for the
Temple of Yahweh, there was no reckoning the weight of bronze in all these
objects.
25:17 The height of one pillar
was eighteen cubits, and on it stood a capital of bronze, the height of the
capital being five cubits; round the capital were filigree and pomegranates,
all in bronze. So also for the second pillar...
25:18 The commander of the
guard took prisoner Seraiah the chief priest, Zephaniah the priest next in
rank, and the three guardians of the threshold.
25:19 In the city he took
prisoner a eunuch who was in command of the fighting men, five of the king's
personal friends who were discovered in the city, the secretary to the army
commander, responsible for military conscription, and sixty men of distinction
discovered in the city.
25:20 Nebuzaradan, commander
of the guard, took these men and brought them to the king of Babylon at Riblah,
25:21 and at Riblah, in the
land of Hamath, the king of Babylon had them put to death. Thus Judah was
deported from its land.
Gedaliah, governor
of Judah
25:22 As regards the people
who remained in the land of Judah whom Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had left
behind, he appointed Gedaliah son of Ahikam son of Shaphan as their governor.
25:23 When the commanders of
the troops and their men all heard that the king of Babylon had appointed
Gedaliah as governor, they went to him at Mizpah: Ishmael son of Nethaniah,
Johanan son of Kareah, Seraiah son of Tanhumeth, the Netophathite, Jaazaniah
the Maacathite, they and their men.
25:24 To them and to their men
Gedaliah swore an oath. 'Do not be afraid of the Chaldaeans,' he said 'live in
the country, obey the king of Babylon, and all will go well with you.'
25:25 But in the seventh
month, Ishmael son of Nethaniah son of Elishama, who was of royal descent, and
ten men with him, came and murdered Gedaliah, as well as the Judaeans and
Chaldaeans who were with him at Mizpah.
25:26 Then the people, of high
and low degree, with the commanders of the troops, all set out and made for
Egypt, in fear of the Chaldaeans.
King Jehoiachin
pardoned
25:27 In the thirty-seventh
year of the exile of Jehoiachin king of Judah, in the twelfth month, on the
twenty-seventh day of the month, Evil-merodach king of Babylon, in the year he
came to the throne, pardoned Jehoiachin king of Judah and released him from
prison.
25:28 He treated him kindly
and allotted him a seat above those of the other kings who were with him in
Babylon.
25:29 So Jehoiachin laid aside
his prisoner's garb, and for the rest of his life always ate at the king's
table.
25:30 And his upkeep was
permanently ensured by the king, day after day, for the rest of his life.
END OF JB 2 KINGS
[25 Chapters].