7K-Second Chronicles
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2 Chronicles Chapter 1
2 Chronicles 1:1 (NLT2)
1 Solomon son of David took firm control of his kingdom, for the LORD his God was with him and made him very powerful.
2 Chronicles 1:2 (NASB)
2 Solomon spoke to all Israel, to the commanders of thousands and of hundreds and to the judges and to every leader in all Israel, the heads of the fathers’ households.
2 Chronicles 1:3 (NASB)
3 Then Solomon and all the assembly with him went to the high place which was at Gibeon, for God’s tent of meeting was there, which Moses the servant of the LORD had made in the wilderness.
2 Chronicles 1:4 (NIV)
4 Now David had brought up the ark of God from Kiriath Jearim to the place he had prepared for it, because he had pitched a tent for it in Jerusalem.
2 Chronicles 1:5 (NIV)
5 But the bronze altar that Bezalel son of Uri, the son of Hur, had made was in Gibeon in front of the tabernacle of the LORD; so Solomon and the assembly inquired of him there.
2 Chronicles 1:6 (NIV)
6 Solomon went up to the bronze altar before the LORD in the Tent of Meeting and offered a thousand burnt offerings on it.
2 Chronicles 1:7 (NIV)
7 That night God appeared to Solomon and said to him, “Ask for whatever you want me to give you.”
2 Chronicles 1:8 (NIV)
8 Solomon answered God, “You have shown great kindness to David my father and have made me king in his place.
2 Chronicles 1:9 (NIV)
9 Now, LORD God, let your promise to my father David be confirmed, for you have made me king over a people who are as numerous as the dust of the earth.
2 Chronicles 1:11 (NIV)
11 God said to Solomon, “Since this is your heart’s desire and you have not asked for wealth, riches or honor, nor for the death of your enemies, and since you have not asked for a long life but for wisdom and knowledge to govern my people over whom I have made you king,
2 Chronicles 1:12 (CJB)
12 not only are wisdom and knowledge being given to you, but I will also give you riches, wealth and honor such as no king before you has ever had; and no king after you will have as much.”
2 Chronicles 1:13 (NLT2)
13 Then Solomon returned to Jerusalem from the Tabernacle at the place of worship in Gibeon, and he reigned over Israel.
2 Chronicles 1:14 (NIV)
14 Solomon accumulated chariots and horses; he had fourteen hundred chariots and twelve thousand horses, which he kept in the chariot cities and also with him in Jerusalem.
2 Chronicles 1:15 (NIV)
15 The king made silver and gold as common in Jerusalem as stones, and cedar as plentiful as sycamore-fig trees in the foothills.
2 Chronicles 1:16 (AMP)
16 Solomon’s horses were brought out of Egypt; the king’s merchants received them in droves, each drove at a price.
2 Chronicles 1:17 (NIV)
17 They imported a chariot from Egypt for six hundred shekels of silver, and a horse for a hundred and fifty. They also exported them to all the kings of the Hittites and of the Arameans.
2 Chronicles Chapter 2
2 Chronicles 2:1 (NIV)
1 Solomon gave orders to build a temple for the Name of the LORD and a royal palace for himself.
2 Chronicles 2:2 (NIV)
2 He conscripted seventy thousand men as carriers and eighty thousand as stonecutters in the hills and thirty-six hundred as foremen over them.
2 Chronicles 2:3 (NIV)
3 Solomon sent this message to Hiram king of Tyre: “Send me cedar logs as you did for my father David when you sent him cedar to build a palace to live in.
2 Chronicles 2:4 (NIV)
4 Now I am about to build a temple for the Name of the LORD my God and to dedicate it to him for burning fragrant incense before him, for setting out the consecrated bread regularly, and for making burnt offerings every morning and evening and on Sabbaths and New Moons and at the appointed feasts of the LORD our God. This is a lasting ordinance for Israel.
2 Chronicles 2:5 (NIV)
5 “The temple I am going to build will be great, because our God is greater than all other gods.
2 Chronicles 2:6 (NIV)
6 But who is able to build a temple for him, since the heavens, even the highest heavens, cannot contain him? Who then am I to build a temple for him, except as a place to burn sacrifices before him?
2 Chronicles 2:7 (NIV)
7 “Send me, therefore, a man skilled to work in gold and silver, bronze and iron, and in purple, crimson and blue yarn, and experienced in the art of engraving, to work in Judah and Jerusalem with my skilled craftsmen, whom my father David provided.
2 Chronicles 2:8 (NIV)
8 “Send me also cedar, pine and algum logs from Lebanon, for I know that your men are skilled in cutting timber there. My men will work with yours
2 Chronicles 2:9 (NIV)
9 to provide me with plenty of lumber, because the temple I build must be large and magnificent.
2 Chronicles 2:10 (CJB)
10 I will give your servants, the woodcutters who cut the timber, 100,000 bushels of cracked wheat, 100,000 bushels of barley, 100,000 gallons of wine, and 100,000 gallons of olive oil.”
2 Chronicles 2:11 (NIV)
11 Hiram king of Tyre replied by letter to Solomon: “Because the LORD loves his people, he has made you their king.”
2 Chronicles 2:12 (NIV)
12 And Hiram added: “Praise be to the LORD, the God of Israel, who made heaven and earth! He has given King David a wise son, endowed with intelligence and discernment, who will build a temple for the LORD and a palace for himself.
2 Chronicles 2:13 (CJB)
13 Now I am sending a man of skill and understanding, my master craftsman Huram,
2 Chronicles 2:14 (NIV)
14 whose mother was from Dan and whose father was from Tyre. He is trained to work in gold and silver, bronze and iron, stone and wood, and with purple and blue and crimson yarn and fine linen. He is experienced in all kinds of engraving and can execute any design given to him. He will work with your craftsmen and with those of my lord, David your father.
2 Chronicles 2:15 (NIV)
15 “Now let my lord send his servants the wheat and barley and the olive oil and wine he promised,
2 Chronicles 2:16 (NIV)
16 and we will cut all the logs from Lebanon that you need and will float them in rafts by sea down to Joppa. You can then take them up to Jerusalem.”
2 Chronicles 2:17 (NIV)
17 Solomon took a census of all the aliens who were in Israel, after the census his father David had taken; and they were found to be 153,600.
2 Chronicles 2:18 (NIV)
18 He assigned 70,000 of them to be carriers and 80,000 to be stonecutters in the hills, with 3,600 foremen over them to keep the people working.
2 Chronicles Chapter 3
2 Chronicles 3:1 (NIV)
1 Then Solomon began to build the temple of the LORD in Jerusalem on Mount Moriah, where the LORD had appeared to his father David. It was on the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite, the place provided by David.
2 Chronicles 3:2 (NIV)
2 He began building on the second day of the second month in the fourth year of his reign.
2 Chronicles 3:3 (CJB)-M
3 These are the foundations Solomon laid for building the house of God: the length in old-standard cubits was sixty cubits [105 feet] and the width twenty cubits [thirty-five feet].
2 Chronicles 3:4 (CJB)
4 The length of the hall fronting the house was the same as the house’s width, thirty-five feet and the height 210 [feet]; and he overlaid it with pure gold.
2 Chronicles 3:5 (CJB)
5 The larger house he covered with cypress-wood, which he overlaid with fine gold and embossed with palm trees and chains.
2 Chronicles 3:6 (NIV)
6 He adorned the temple with precious stones. And the gold he used was gold of Parvaim.
2 Chronicles 3:7 (NIV)
7 He overlaid the ceiling beams, doorframes, walls and doors of the temple with gold, and he carved cherubim on the walls.
2 Chronicles 3:8 (CJB)
8 Then he made the Especially Holy Place; its length matched the width of the house, thirty-five feet, and its width was thirty-five feet. He overlaid it with twenty tons of fine gold.
2 Chronicles 3:9 (CJB)
9 The weight of the nails was one-and-a-quarter pounds of gold, and he overlaid the upper rooms with gold.
2 Chronicles 3:10 (NIV)
10 In the Most Holy Place he made a pair of sculptured cherubim and overlaid them with gold.
2 Chronicles 3:11 (CJB)-M
11 The wings of the cherubim were thirty-five feet long — the wing of the one cherub was eight-and-three-quarters feet long and touched the wall of the house; the other wing was also eight-and-three-quarters feet long, so that it touched the wing of the other cherub.
2 Chronicles 3:12 (CJB)-M
12 The wing of the other cherub was eight-and-three-quarters feet long, touching the wall of the house; and the other wing was also eight-and-three-quarters feet long, touching the wing of the first cherub.
2 Chronicles 3:13 (CJB)-M
13 The wings of these cherubim spread out over thirty-five feet. They stood on their feet with their faces turned inward.
2 Chronicles 3:14 (CJB)-M
14 He made the curtain of blue, purple and crimson material and of fine linen, with a design of cherubim worked into it.
2 Chronicles 3:15 (CJB)
15 In front of the house he made two columns sixty-one-and-a-quarter feet high, with a capital of eight-and-three-quarters feet on top of each.
2 Chronicles 3:16 (NIV)
16 He made interwoven chains and put them on top of the pillars. He also made a hundred pomegranates and attached them to the chains.
2 Chronicles 3:17 (NIV)
17 He erected the pillars in the front of the temple, one to the south and one to the north. The one to the south he named Jakin and the one to the north Boaz.
2 Chronicles Chapter 4
2 Chronicles 4:1 (CJB)
1 He made an altar of bronze thirty-five feet long, thirty-five feet wide and seventeen-and-a-half feet high.
2 Chronicles 4:2 (CJB)
2 He made the cast metal “Sea” circular, seventeen-and-a-half feet from rim to rim, eight-and-three quarters feet high and fifty-two-and-a-half feet in circumference.
2 Chronicles 4:3 (CJB)
3 Below the rim a ring of ox-like figures encircled it, ten for every twenty-one inches all the way around the Sea. The oxen were in two rows; they were cast when the Sea was cast.
2 Chronicles 4:4 (CJB)
4 It rested on twelve oxen, three looking north, three looking west, three looking south and three looking east, all with their hindquarters toward the center. The Sea was set on top of them.
2 Chronicles 4:5 (CJB)
5 It was a handbreadth thick, its rim was made like the rim of a cup, like the flower of a lily; and its capacity was 16,500 gallons.
2 Chronicles 4:6 (CJB)-M
6 He also made ten basins for washing and put five on the right and five on the left. Items needed for the burnt offerings would be cleansed in these, but the Sea was for the priests to wash in.
2 Chronicles 4:7 (CJB)
7 He made the ten menorahs of gold in accordance with their specifications and set them in the temple, five on the right and five on the left.
2 Chronicles 4:8 (CJB)
8 He also made ten tables and put them in the temple, five on the right and five on the left. And he made a hundred basins of gold.
2 Chronicles 4:9 (NIV)
9 He made the courtyard of the priests, and the large court and the doors for the court, and overlaid the doors with bronze.
2 Chronicles 4:10 (CJB)
10 The Sea he placed on the right side [of the house], toward the southeast.
2 Chronicles 4:11 (NIV)
11 He also made the pots and shovels and sprinkling bowls. So Huram finished the work he had undertaken for King Solomon in the temple of God:
2 Chronicles 4:12 (CJB)
12 the two columns, the two moldings, the two capitals on top of the columns, the two nettings covering the two moldings of the capitals atop the columns,
2 Chronicles 4:13 (CJB)
13 and the 400 pomegranates for the two nettings, two rows of pomegranates for each netting, to cover the two moldings of the capitals atop the columns.
2 Chronicles 4:14 (NASB)
14 He also made the stands and he made the basins on the stands,
2 Chronicles 4:15 (NIV)
15 the Sea and the twelve bulls under it;
2 Chronicles 4:16 (CJB)-M
16 the ash pots, the shovels, the forks and all the other equipment for it. All these articles that Huram the master craftsman made for King Solomon in the house of the Lord were of brilliant bronze.
2 Chronicles 4:17 (NIV)
17 The king had them cast in clay molds in the plain of the Jordan between Succoth and Zarethan.
2 Chronicles 4:18 (NIV2011)
18 All these things that Solomon made amounted to so much that the weight of the bronze could not be calculated.
2 Chronicles 4:19 (CJB)-M
19 Solomon made all the objects that were inside the house of God: the gold altar; the table on which the showbread was displayed;
2 Chronicles 4:20 (CJB)
20 the menorahs with their lamps to burn in front of the sanctuary as specified, of pure gold;
2 Chronicles 4:21 (CJB)
21 the flowers, lamps and tongs of gold, solid gold;
2 Chronicles 4:22 (CJB)
22 and the snuffers, bowls, cups and fire pans of pure gold. As for the entryway to the house, the inner doors for the Especially Holy Place and the doors of the house (that is, of the temple) were of gold.
2 Chronicles Chapter 5
2 Chronicles 5:1 (NIV)
1 When all the work Solomon had done for the temple of the LORD was finished, he brought in the things his father David had dedicated–the silver and gold and all the furnishings–and he placed them in the treasuries of God’s temple.
2 Chronicles 5:2 (NIV)
2 Then Solomon summoned to Jerusalem the elders of Israel, all the heads of the tribes and the chiefs of the Israelite families, to bring up the ark of the LORD’s covenant from Zion, the City of David.
2 Chronicles 5:3 (CJB)-M
3 All the people of Israel assembled before the king at the festival in the seventh month.
2 Chronicles 5:4 (NIV)
4 When all the elders of Israel had arrived, the Levites took up the ark,
2 Chronicles 5:5 (NIV)
5 and they brought up the ark and the Tent of Meeting and all the sacred furnishings in it. The priests, who were Levites, carried them up;
2 Chronicles 5:6 (CJB)-M
6 King Solomon and the whole community of Israel who had assembled in his presence were in front of the ark, sacrificing sheep and oxen in numbers beyond counting or recording.
2 Chronicles 5:7 (CJB)-M
7 The priests brought the ark for the covenant of the Lord in to its place inside the sanctuary of the house, to the Especially Holy Place, under the wings of the cherubim.
2 Chronicles 5:8 (CJB)
8 For the cherubim spread out their wings over the place for the ark, covering the ark and its poles from above.
2 Chronicles 5:9 (NIV)
9 These poles were so long that their ends, extending from the ark, could be seen from in front of the inner sanctuary, but not from outside the Holy Place; and they are still there today.
2 Chronicles 5:10 (NIV)
10 There was nothing in the ark except the two tablets that Moses had placed in it at Horeb, where the LORD made a covenant with the Israelites after they came out of Egypt.
2 Chronicles 5:11 (NIV)
11 The priests then withdrew from the Holy Place. All the priests who were there had consecrated themselves, regardless of their divisions.
2 Chronicles 5:12 (NIV)
12 All the Levites who were musicians–Asaph, Heman, Jeduthun and their sons and relatives–stood on the east side of the altar, dressed in fine linen and playing cymbals, harps and lyres. They were accompanied by 120 priests sounding trumpets.
2 Chronicles 5:13 (NIV)
13 The trumpeters and singers joined in unison, as with one voice, to give praise and thanks to the LORD. Accompanied by trumpets, cymbals and other instruments, they raised their voices in praise to the LORD and sang: “He is good; his love endures forever.” Then the temple of the LORD was filled with a cloud,
2 Chronicles 5:14 (CJB)-M
14 so that because of the cloud, the priests could not stand up to perform their service; for the glory of Adonai filled the house of God.
2 Chronicles Chapter 6
2 Chronicles 6:1 (CJB)-M
1 Solomon said, “the Lord said he would live in thick darkness.
2 Chronicles 6:2 (NIV)
2 I have built a magnificent temple for you, a place for you to dwell forever.”
2 Chronicles 6:3 (CJB)-M
3 Then the king turned around and blessed the whole community of Israel. The whole community of Israel stood
2 Chronicles 6:4 (CJB)-M
4 as he said, “Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, who spoke to my father David with his mouth and fulfilled his promise with his hand. He said,
2 Chronicles 6:5 (CJB)-M
5 ‘Since the day I brought my people out of Egypt, I chose no city from any of the tribes of Israel to build a house, so that my name might be there; nor did I choose anyone to be the leader of my people Israel.
2 Chronicles 6:6 (NIV)
6 But now I have chosen Jerusalem for my Name to be there, and I have chosen David to rule my people Israel.’
2 Chronicles 6:7 (NIV)
7 “My father David had it in his heart to build a temple for the Name of the LORD, the God of Israel.
2 Chronicles 6:8 (CJB)-M
8 but the Lord said to David my father, ‘Although it was in your heart to build a house for my name, and you did well that it was in your heart,
2 Chronicles 6:9 (CJB)
9 nevertheless you will not build the house. Rather, you will father a son, and it will be he who will build the house for my name.’
2 Chronicles 6:10 (CJB)-M
10 Now the Lord has fulfilled this spoken word of his; for I have succeeded my father and sit on the throne of Israel, as the Lord promised; and I have built the house for the name of the Lord the God of Israel.
2 Chronicles 6:11 (CJB)-M
11 And there I have placed the ark containing the covenant of the Lord, which he made with the people of Israel.”
2 Chronicles 6:12 (NIV)
12 Then Solomon stood before the altar of the LORD in front of the whole assembly of Israel and spread out his hands.
2 Chronicles 6:13 (CJB)-M
13 for Solomon had made a bronze platform eight-and-three quarters feet long, eight-and-three-quarters feet wide and five-and-a-quarter feet high and had set it up in the middle of the courtyard. He stood on it, then got down on his knees before the whole community, spread out his hands toward heaven,
2 Chronicles 6:14 (NIV)
14 He said: “O LORD, God of Israel, there is no God like you in heaven or on earth–you who keep your covenant of love with your servants who continue wholeheartedly in your way.
2 Chronicles 6:15 (NASB)
15 who has kept with Your servant David, my father, that which You have promised him; indeed You have spoken with Your mouth and have fulfilled it with Your hand, as it is this day.
2 Chronicles 6:16 (NIV)
16 “Now LORD, God of Israel, keep for your servant David my father the promises you made to him when you said, ‘You shall never fail to have a man to sit before me on the throne of Israel, if only your sons are careful in all they do to walk before me according to my law, as you have done.’
2 Chronicles 6:17 (CJB)-M
17 Now therefore, Lord, God of Israel, please let your word, which you spoke to your servant David, my father, be confirmed.
2 Chronicles 6:18 (NIV)
18 “But will God really dwell on earth with men? The heavens, even the highest heavens, cannot contain you. How much less this temple I have built!
2 Chronicles 6:19 (NIV)
19 Yet give attention to your servant’s prayer and his plea for mercy, O LORD my God. Hear the cry and the prayer that your servant is praying in your presence.
2 Chronicles 6:20 (NIV)
20 May your eyes be open toward this temple day and night, this place of which you said you would put your Name there. May you hear the prayer your servant prays toward this place.
2 Chronicles 6:21 (NIV)
21 Hear the supplications of your servant and of your people Israel when they pray toward this place. Hear from heaven, your dwelling place; and when you hear, forgive.
2 Chronicles 6:22 (NIV)
22 “When a man wrongs his neighbor and is required to take an oath and he comes and swears the oath before your altar in this temple,
2 Chronicles 6:23 (NIV)
23 then hear from heaven and act. Judge between your servants, repaying the guilty by bringing down on his own head what he has done. Declare the innocent not guilty and so establish his innocence.
2 Chronicles 6:24 (NIV)
24 “When your people Israel have been defeated by an enemy because they have sinned against you and when they turn back and confess your name, praying and making supplication before you in this temple,
2 Chronicles 6:25 (CJB)-M
25 hear from heaven, forgive the sin of your people Israel, and bring them back to the land you gave to them and their ancestors.
2 Chronicles 6:26 (CJB)
26 “When they sin against you, and in consequence the sky is shut, so that there is no rain; then if they pray toward this place, acknowledge your name and turn from their sin when you have brought them low;
2 Chronicles 6:27 (NIV)
27 then hear from heaven and forgive the sin of your servants, your people Israel. Teach them the right way to live, and send rain on the land you gave your people for an inheritance.
2 Chronicles 6:28 (NIV)
28 “When famine or plague comes to the land, or blight or mildew, locusts or grasshoppers, or when enemies besiege them in any of their cities, whatever disaster or disease may come,
2 Chronicles 6:29 (NIV)
29 and when a prayer or plea is made by any of your people Israel–each one aware of his afflictions and pains, and spreading out his hands toward this temple–
2 Chronicles 6:30 (CJB)
30 then hear from heaven where you live, and forgive; also, since you know what is in each one’s heart, give each person what his conduct deserves (because you, and only you, know human hearts),
2 Chronicles 6:31 (CJB)
31 so that they will fear you and therefore live according to your ways throughout the time they live in the land you gave our ancestors.
2 Chronicles 6:32 (NLT2)
32 “In the future, foreigners who do not belong to your people Israel will hear of you. They will come from distant lands when they hear of your great name and your strong hand and your powerful arm. And when they pray toward this Temple,
2 Chronicles 6:33 (NIV)
33 then hear from heaven, your dwelling place, and do whatever the foreigner asks of you, so that all the peoples of the earth may know your name and fear you, as do your own people Israel, and may know that this house I have built bears your Name.
2 Chronicles 6:34 (HCSB)
34 When Your people go out to fight against their enemies, wherever You send them, and they pray to You in the direction of this city You have chosen and the temple that I have built for Your name,
2 Chronicles 6:35 (NLT2)
35 then hear their prayers from heaven and uphold their cause.
2 Chronicles 6:36 (CJB)
36 “If they sin against you — for there is no one who doesn’t sin — and you are angry with them and hand them over to the enemy, so that they carry them off captive to a land far away or nearby;
2 Chronicles 6:37 (CJB)
37 then, if they come to their senses in the land where they have been carried away captive, turn back and make their plea to you in the land where they are being held captive, saying, ‘We sinned, we acted wrongly, we behaved wickedly,’
2 Chronicles 6:38 (CJB)
38 if, in the land where they were brought and are being held captive, they return to you with all their heart and being and pray to you toward their own land, which you gave to their ancestors, toward the city you chose and toward the house I have built for your name;
2 Chronicles 6:39 (NIV)
39 then from heaven, your dwelling place, hear their prayer and their pleas, and uphold their cause. And forgive your people, who have sinned against you.
2 Chronicles 6:40 (NIV)
40 “Now, my God, may your eyes be open and your ears attentive to the prayers offered in this place.
2 Chronicles 6:41 (NIV)
41 “Now arise, O LORD God, and come to your resting place, you and the ark of your might. May your priests, O LORD God, be clothed with salvation, may your saints rejoice in your goodness.
2 Chronicles 6:42 (NASB)
42 “O LORD God, do not turn away the face of Your anointed; remember Your lovingkindness to Your servant David.”
2 Chronicles Chapter 7
2 Chronicles 7:1 (NIV)
1 When Solomon finished praying, fire came down from heaven and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices, and the glory of the LORD filled the temple.
2 Chronicles 7:2 (NKJV)
2 And the priests could not enter the house of the LORD, because the glory of the LORD had filled the LORD’S house.
2 Chronicles 7:3 (NIV)
3 When all the Israelites saw the fire coming down and the glory of the LORD above the temple, they knelt on the pavement with their faces to the ground, and they worshiped and gave thanks to the LORD, saying, “He is good; his love endures forever.”
2 Chronicles 7:4 (NIV)
4 Then the king and all the people offered sacrifices before the LORD.
2 Chronicles 7:5 (NIV)
5 And King Solomon offered a sacrifice of twenty-two thousand head of cattle and a hundred and twenty thousand sheep and goats. So the king and all the people dedicated the temple of God.
2 Chronicles 7:6 (NASB)
6 The priests stood at their posts, and the Levites also, with the instruments of music to the LORD, which King David had made for giving praise to the LORD—”for His lovingkindness is everlasting”—whenever he gave praise by their means, while the priests on the other side blew trumpets; and all Israel was standing.
2 Chronicles 7:7 (NIV)
7 Solomon consecrated the middle part of the courtyard in front of the temple of the LORD, and there he offered burnt offerings and the fat of the fellowship offerings, because the bronze altar he had made could not hold the burnt offerings, the grain offerings and the fat portions.
2 Chronicles 7:8 (NIV)
8 So Solomon observed the festival at that time for seven days, and all Israel with him–a vast assembly, people from Lebo Hamath to the Wadi of Egypt.
2 Chronicles 7:9 (NIV)
9 On the eighth day they held an assembly, for they had celebrated the dedication of the altar for seven days and the festival for seven days more.
2 Chronicles 7:10 (NIV)
10 On the twenty-third day of the seventh month he sent the people to their homes, joyful and glad in heart for the good things the LORD had done for David and Solomon and for his people Israel.
2 Chronicles 7:11 (NIV)
11 When Solomon had finished the temple of the LORD and the royal palace, and had succeeded in carrying out all he had in mind to do in the temple of the LORD and in his own palace,
2 Chronicles 7:12 (NIV)
12 the LORD appeared to him at night and said: “I have heard your prayer and have chosen this place for myself as a temple for sacrifices.
2 Chronicles 7:13 (NIV)
13 “When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or command locusts to devour the land or send a plague among my people,
2 Chronicles 7:14 (NIV)
14 if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.
2 Chronicles 7:15 (NIV)
15 Now my eyes will be open and my ears attentive to the prayers offered in this place.
2 Chronicles 7:16 (NIV)
16 I have chosen and consecrated this temple so that my Name may be there forever. My eyes and my heart will always be there.
2 Chronicles 7:17 (NIV)
17 “As for you, if you walk before me as David your father did, and do all I command, and observe my decrees and laws,
2 Chronicles 7:18 (NIV)
18 I will establish your royal throne, as I covenanted with David your father when I said, ‘You shall never fail to have a man to rule over Israel.’
2 Chronicles 7:19 (NIV)
19 “But if you turn away and forsake the decrees and commands I have given you and go off to serve other gods and worship them,
2 Chronicles 7:20 (NIV)
20 then I will uproot Israel from my land, which I have given them, and will reject this temple I have consecrated for my Name. I will make it a byword and an object of ridicule among all peoples.
2 Chronicles 7:21 (NIV)
21 And though this temple is now so imposing, all who pass by will be appalled and say, ‘Why has the LORD done such a thing to this land and to this temple?’
2 Chronicles 7:22 (NIV)
22 People will answer, ‘Because they have forsaken the LORD, the God of their fathers, who brought them out of Egypt, and have embraced other gods, worshiping and serving them–that is why he brought all this disaster on them.'”
2 Chronicles Chapter 8
2 Chronicles 8:1 (NIV)
1 At the end of twenty years, during which Solomon built the temple of the LORD and his own palace,
2 Chronicles 8:2 (NIV)
2 Solomon rebuilt the villages that Hiram had given him, and settled Israelites in them.
2 Chronicles 8:3 (NIV)
3 Solomon then went to Hamath Zobah and captured it.
2 Chronicles 8:4 (NIV)
4 He also built up Tadmor in the desert and all the store cities he had built in Hamath.
2 Chronicles 8:5 (NIV)
5 He rebuilt Upper Beth Horon and Lower Beth Horon as fortified cities, with walls and with gates and bars,
2 Chronicles 8:6 (NIV)
6 as well as Baalath and all his store cities, and all the cities for his chariots and for his horses–whatever he desired to build in Jerusalem, in Lebanon and throughout all the territory he ruled.
2 Chronicles 8:7 (NIV)
7 All the people left from the Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites (these peoples were not Israelites),
2 Chronicles 8:8 (NIV)
8 that is, their descendants remaining in the land, whom the Israelites had not destroyed–these Solomon conscripted for his slave labor force, as it is to this day.
2 Chronicles 8:9 (NIV)
9 But Solomon did not make slaves of the Israelites for his work; they were his fighting men, commanders of his captains, and commanders of his chariots and charioteers.
2 Chronicles 8:10 (NIV)
10 They were also King Solomon’s chief officials–two hundred and fifty officials supervising the men.
2 Chronicles 8:11 (NIV)
11 Solomon brought Pharaoh’s daughter up from the City of David to the palace he had built for her, for he said, “My wife must not live in the palace of David king of Israel, because the places the ark of the LORD has entered are holy.”
2 Chronicles 8:12 (NIV)
12 On the altar of the LORD that he had built in front of the portico, Solomon sacrificed burnt offerings to the LORD,
2 Chronicles 8:13 (NIV)
13 according to the daily requirement for offerings commanded by Moses for Sabbaths, New Moons and the three annual feasts–the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the Feast of Weeks and the Feast of Tabernacles.
2 Chronicles 8:14 (NIV)
14 In keeping with the ordinance of his father David, he appointed the divisions of the priests for their duties, and the Levites to lead the praise and to assist the priests according to each day’s requirement. He also appointed the gatekeepers by divisions for the various gates, because this was what David the man of God had ordered.
2 Chronicles 8:15 (NIV)
15 They did not deviate from the king’s commands to the priests or to the Levites in any matter, including that of the treasuries.
2 Chronicles 8:16 (NIV)
16 All Solomon’s work was carried out, from the day the foundation of the temple of the LORD was laid until its completion. So the temple of the LORD was finished.
2 Chronicles 8:17 (NLT2)
17 Later Solomon went to Ezion-geber and Elath, ports along the shore of the Red Sea in the land of Edom.
2 Chronicles 8:18 (CJB)-M
18 Huram sent some of his servants with ships, and others that were experienced sailors who understood the sea; they went with Solomon’s servants to Ophir and took from there fifteen tons of gold, which they brought back to King Solomon.
2 Chronicles Chapter 9
2 Chronicles 9:1 (NIV)
1 When the queen of Sheba heard of Solomon’s fame, she came to Jerusalem to test him with hard questions. Arriving with a very great caravan–with camels carrying spices, large quantities of gold, and precious stones–she came to Solomon and talked with him about all she had on her mind.
2 Chronicles 9:2 (NASB)
2 Solomon answered all her questions; nothing was hidden from Solomon which he did not explain to her.
2 Chronicles 9:3 (NIV)
3 When the queen of Sheba saw the wisdom of Solomon, as well as the palace he had built,
2 Chronicles 9:4 (NASB)
4 the food at his table, the seating of his servants, the attendance of his ministers and their attire, his cupbearers and their attire, and his stairway by which he went up to the house of the LORD, she was breathless.
2 Chronicles 9:5 (NIV)
5 She said to the king, “The report I heard in my own country about your achievements and your wisdom is true.
2 Chronicles 9:6 (NIV)
6 But I did not believe what they said until I came and saw with my own eyes. Indeed, not even half the greatness of your wisdom was told me; you have far exceeded the report I heard.
2 Chronicles 9:7 (NIV)
7 How happy your men must be! How happy your officials, who continually stand before you and hear your wisdom!
2 Chronicles 9:8 (CJB)-M
8 Blessed be the Lord your God, who took pleasure in you to put you on his throne, so that you could be king for the Lord your God. Because of your God’s love for Israel, to establish them forever, he has made you king over them, to administer law and judgment.”
2 Chronicles 9:9 (CJB)
9 Then she gave the king four tons of gold, spices in great abundance, and precious stones; there had never been spices like those the queen of Sheba gave to King Solomon.
2 Chronicles 9:10 (NIV)
10 (The men of Hiram and the men of Solomon brought gold from Ophir; they also brought algumwood and precious stones.
2 Chronicles 9:11 (NIV)
11 The king used the algumwood to make steps for the temple of the LORD and for the royal palace, and to make harps and lyres for the musicians. Nothing like them had ever been seen in Judah.)
2 Chronicles 9:12 (NKJV)
12 Now King Solomon gave to the queen of Sheba all she desired, whatever she asked, much more than she had brought to the king. So she turned and went to her own country, she and her servants.
2 Chronicles 9:13 (CJB)-M
13 The weight of the gold Solomon received annually came to twenty-two tons,
2 Chronicles 9:14 (NIV)-M
14 not including the revenues brought in by merchants and traders (from customs duties and sales taxes). Also, all the kings of Arabia and the governors of the land brought gold and silver to Solomon.
2 Chronicles 9:15 (CJB)-M
15 King Solomon made 200 large shields of hammered gold; fifteen pounds of hammered gold went into one shield.
2 Chronicles 9:16 (CJB)-M
16 He made 300 more shields of hammered gold, with seven-and-a-half pounds going into one shield; the king put these in the House of the Lebanon Forest.
2 Chronicles 9:17 (CJB)
17 The king also made a great throne of ivory and overlaid it with pure gold.
2 Chronicles 9:18 (NIV)
18 The throne had six steps, and a footstool of gold was attached to it. On both sides of the seat were armrests, with a lion standing beside each of them.
2 Chronicles 9:19 (NIV)
19 Twelve lions stood on the six steps, one at either end of each step. Nothing like it had ever been made for any other kingdom.
2 Chronicles 9:20 (NIV)
20 All King Solomon’s goblets were gold, and all the household articles in the Palace of the Forest of Lebanon were pure gold. Nothing was made of silver, because silver was considered of little value in Solomon’s day.
2 Chronicles 9:21 (CJB)
21 The king had ships that could go to Tarshish with Huram’s servants; once every three years the “Tarshish” ships came in, bringing gold, silver, ivory, apes and peacocks.
2 Chronicles 9:22 (NIV)
22 King Solomon was greater in riches and wisdom than all the other kings of the earth.
2 Chronicles 9:23 (NIV)
23 All the kings of the earth sought audience with Solomon to hear the wisdom God had put in his heart.
2 Chronicles 9:24 (NIV)
24 Year after year, everyone who came brought a gift–articles of silver and gold, and robes, weapons and spices, and horses and mules.
2 Chronicles 9:25 (NIV)
25 Solomon had four thousand stalls for horses and chariots, and twelve thousand horses, which he kept in the chariot cities and also with him in Jerusalem.
2 Chronicles 9:26 (NASB)
26 He was the ruler over all the kings from the Euphrates River even to the land of the Philistines, and as far as the border of Egypt.
2 Chronicles 9:27 (NASB)
27 The king made silver as common as stones in Jerusalem, and he made cedars as plentiful as sycamore trees that are in the lowland.
2 Chronicles 9:28 (NIV)
28 Solomon’s horses were imported from Egypt and from all other countries.
2 Chronicles 9:29 (CJB)-M
29 Other activities of Solomon, from beginning to end, are written in the records of Nathan the prophet, in the prophecy of Ahijah of Shiloh and in the visions of Iddo the seer concerning Jeroboam the son of Nebat.
2 Chronicles 9:30 (NIV)
30 Solomon reigned in Jerusalem over all Israel forty years.
2 Chronicles 9:31 (NIV)
31 Then he rested with his fathers and was buried in the city of David his father. And Rehoboam his son succeeded him as king.
2 Chronicles Chapter 10
2 Chronicles 10:1 (NIV)
1 Rehoboam went to Shechem, for all the Israelites had gone there to make him king.
2 Chronicles 10:2 (NIV)
2 When Jeroboam son of Nebat heard this (he was in Egypt, where he had fled from King Solomon), he returned from Egypt.
2 Chronicles 10:3 (NASB)
3 So they sent and summoned him. When Jeroboam and all Israel came, they spoke to Rehoboam, saying,
2 Chronicles 10:4 (NIV)
4 “Your father put a heavy yoke on us, but now lighten the harsh labor and the heavy yoke he put on us, and we will serve you.”
2 Chronicles 10:5 (NLT2)
5 Rehoboam replied, “Come back in three days for my answer.” So the people went away.
2 Chronicles 10:6 (NIV)
6 Then King Rehoboam consulted the elders who had served his father Solomon during his lifetime. “How would you advise me to answer these people?” he asked.
2 Chronicles 10:7 (CJB)
7 They said to him, “If you will treat these people kindly, pleasing them and giving them favorable consideration, they will be your servants forever.”
2 Chronicles 10:8 (NIV)
8 But Rehoboam rejected the advice the elders gave him and consulted the young men who had grown up with him and were serving him.
2 Chronicles 10:9 (NIV)
9 He asked them, “What is your advice? How should we answer these people who say to me, ‘Lighten the yoke your father put on us’?”
2 Chronicles 10:10 (NIV)
10 The young men who had grown up with him replied, “Tell the people who have said to you, ‘Your father put a heavy yoke on us, but make our yoke lighter’–tell them, ‘My little finger is thicker than my father’s waist.
2 Chronicles 10:11 (NIV)
11 My father laid on you a heavy yoke; I will make it even heavier. My father scourged you with whips; I will scourge you with scorpions.'”
2 Chronicles 10:12 (NASB)
12 So Jeroboam and all the people came to Rehoboam on the third day as the king had directed, saying, “Return to me on the third day.”
2 Chronicles 10:13 (NIV)
13 The king answered them harshly. Rejecting the advice of the elders,
2 Chronicles 10:14 (NIV)
14 he followed the advice of the young men and said, “My father made your yoke heavy; I will make it even heavier. My father scourged you with whips; I will scourge you with scorpions.”
2 Chronicles 10:15 (NIV)
15 So the king did not listen to the people, for this turn of events was from God, to fulfill the word the LORD had spoken to Jeroboam son of Nebat through Ahijah the Shilonite.
2 Chronicles 10:16 (NIV)
16 When all Israel saw that the king refused to listen to them, they answered the king: “What share do we have in David, what part in Jesse’s son? To your tents, O Israel! Look after your own house, O David!” So all the Israelites went home.
2 Chronicles 10:17 (NIV)
17 But as for the Israelites who were living in the towns of Judah, Rehoboam still ruled over them.
2 Chronicles 10:18 (CJB)-M
18 King Rehoboam then sent Hadoram, who was in charge of forced labor; but the people of Israel stoned him to death. King Rehoboam managed to mount his chariot and flee to Jerusalem.
2 Chronicles 10:19 (CJB)-M
19 Israel has been in rebellion against the dynasty of David to this day.
2 Chronicles Chapter 11
2 Chronicles 11:1 (NIV)
1 When Rehoboam arrived in Jerusalem, he mustered the house of Judah and Benjamin–a hundred and eighty thousand fighting men–to make war against Israel and to regain the kingdom for Rehoboam.
2 Chronicles 11:2 (NASB)
2 But the word of the LORD came to Shemaiah the man of God, saying,
2 Chronicles 11:3 (NIV)
3 “Say to Rehoboam son of Solomon king of Judah and to all the Israelites in Judah and Benjamin,
2 Chronicles 11:4 (CJB)-M
4 that this is what the Lord says: ‘You are not to go up and fight your brothers! Every man is to go back home, because this is my doing.’” They paid attention to the words of the Lord and turned back from attacking Jeroboam.
2 Chronicles 11:5 (NASB)
5 Rehoboam lived in Jerusalem and built cities for defense in Judah.
2 Chronicles 11:6 (NASB)
6 Thus he built Bethlehem, Etam, Tekoa,
2 Chronicles 11:7 (NASB)
7 Beth-zur, Soco, Adullam,
2 Chronicles 11:8 (NASB)
8 Gath, Mareshah, Ziph,
2 Chronicles 11:9 (NASB)
9 Adoraim, Lachish, Azekah,
2 Chronicles 11:10 (NASB)
10 Zorah, Aijalon and Hebron, which are fortified cities in Judah and in Benjamin.
2 Chronicles 11:11 (NIV)
11 He strengthened their defenses and put commanders in them, with supplies of food, olive oil and wine.
2 Chronicles 11:12 (NKJV)
12 Also in every city he put shields and spears, and made them very strong, having Judah and Benjamin on his side.
2 Chronicles 11:13 (NIV)
13 The priests and Levites from all their districts throughout Israel sided with him.
2 Chronicles 11:14 (NIV)
14 The Levites even abandoned their pasturelands and property, and came to Judah and Jerusalem because Jeroboam and his sons had rejected them as priests of the LORD.
2 Chronicles 11:15 (HCSB)
15 Jeroboam appointed his own priests for the high places, the goat-demons, and the ⌊golden⌋ calves he had made.
2 Chronicles 11:16 (NIV)
16 Those from every tribe of Israel who set their hearts on seeking the LORD, the God of Israel, followed the Levites to Jerusalem to offer sacrifices to the LORD, the God of their fathers.
2 Chronicles 11:17 (NIV)
17 They strengthened the kingdom of Judah and supported Rehoboam son of Solomon three years, walking in the ways of David and Solomon during this time.
2 Chronicles 11:18 (NIV)
18 Rehoboam married Mahalath, who was the daughter of David’s son Jerimoth and of Abihail, the daughter of Jesse’s son Eliab.
2 Chronicles 11:19 (NKJV)
19 And she bore him children: Jeush, Shamariah, and Zaham.
2 Chronicles 11:20 (NIV)
20 Then he married Maacah daughter of Absalom, who bore him Abijah, Attai, Ziza and Shelomith.
2 Chronicles 11:21 (NIV)
21 Rehoboam loved Maacah daughter of Absalom more than any of his other wives and concubines. In all, he had eighteen wives and sixty concubines, twenty-eight sons and sixty daughters.
2 Chronicles 11:22 (NASB)
22 Rehoboam appointed Abijah the son of Maacah as head and leader among his brothers, for he intended to make him king.
2 Chronicles 11:23 (NIV)
23 He acted wisely, dispersing some of his sons throughout the districts of Judah and Benjamin, and to all the fortified cities. He gave them abundant provisions and took many wives for them.
2 Chronicles Chapter 12
2 Chronicles 12:1 (NASB)
1 When the kingdom of Rehoboam was established and strong, he and all Israel with him forsook the law of the LORD.
2 Chronicles 12:2 (NASB)
2 And it came about in King Rehoboam’s fifth year, because they had been unfaithful to the LORD, that Shishak king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem
2 Chronicles 12:3 (NIV)
3 With twelve hundred chariots and sixty thousand horsemen and the innumerable troops of Libyans, Sukkites and Cushites that came with him from Egypt,
2 Chronicles 12:4 (NASB)
4 He captured the fortified cities of Judah and came as far as Jerusalem.
2 Chronicles 12:5 (NIV)
5 Then the prophet Shemaiah came to Rehoboam and to the leaders of Judah who had assembled in Jerusalem for fear of Shishak, and he said to them, “This is what the LORD says, ‘You have abandoned me; therefore, I now abandon you to Shishak.'”
2 Chronicles 12:6 (NASB)
6 So the princes of Israel and the king humbled themselves and said, “The LORD is righteous.”
2 Chronicles 12:7 (NASB)
7 When the LORD saw that they humbled themselves, the word of the LORD came to Shemaiah, saying, “They have humbled themselves so I will not destroy them, but I will grant them some measure of deliverance, and My wrath shall not be poured out on Jerusalem by means of Shishak.
2 Chronicles 12:8 (CJB)
8 However, they will become his slaves, so that they will come to appreciate the difference between serving me and serving earthly kingdoms.”
2 Chronicles 12:9 (NIV)
9 When Shishak king of Egypt attacked Jerusalem, he carried off the treasures of the temple of the LORD and the treasures of the royal palace. He took everything, including the gold shields Solomon had made.
2 Chronicles 12:10 (NIV)
10 So King Rehoboam made bronze shields to replace them and assigned these to the commanders of the guard on duty at the entrance to the royal palace.
2 Chronicles 12:11 (NIV)
11 Whenever the king went to the LORD’s temple, the guards went with him, bearing the shields, and afterward they returned them to the guardroom.
2 Chronicles 12:12 (NIV)
12 Because Rehoboam humbled himself, the LORD’s anger turned from him, and he was not totally destroyed. Indeed, there was some good in Judah.
2 Chronicles 12:13 (NIV)
13 King Rehoboam established himself firmly in Jerusalem and continued as king. He was forty-one years old when he became king, and he reigned seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city the LORD had chosen out of all the tribes of Israel in which to put his Name. His mother’s name was Naamah; she was an Ammonite.
2 Chronicles 12:14 (NKJV)
14 And he did evil, because he did not prepare his heart to seek the LORD.
2 Chronicles 12:15 (HCSB)
15 The events of Rehoboam’s ⌊reign⌋, from beginning to end, are written in the Events of Shemaiah the Prophet and of Iddo the Seer concerning genealogies. There was war between Rehoboam and Jeroboam throughout their reigns.
2 Chronicles 12:16 (NIV)
16 Rehoboam rested with his fathers and was buried in the City of David. And Abijah his son succeeded him as king.
2 Chronicles Chapter 13
2 Chronicles 13:1 (CJB)-M
1 It was in the eighteenth year of King Jeroboam that Abijah began his reign over Judah.
2 Chronicles 13:2 (NASB)
2 He reigned three years in Jerusalem; and his mother’s name was Micaiah the daughter of Uriel of Gibeah. Now there was war between Abijah and Jeroboam.
2 Chronicles 13:3 (NASB)
3 Abijah began the battle with an army of valiant warriors, 400,000 chosen men, while Jeroboam drew up in battle formation against him with 800,000 chosen men who were valiant warriors.
2 Chronicles 13:4 (NIV)
4 Abijah stood on Mount Zemaraim, in the hill country of Ephraim, and said, “Jeroboam and all Israel, listen to me!
2 Chronicles 13:5 (NIV)
5 Don’t you know that the LORD, the God of Israel, has given the kingship of Israel to David and his descendants forever by a covenant of salt?
2 Chronicles 13:6 (NIV)
6 Yet Jeroboam son of Nebat, an official of Solomon son of David, rebelled against his master.
2 Chronicles 13:7 (NIV)
7 Some worthless scoundrels gathered around him and opposed Rehoboam son of Solomon when he was young and indecisive and not strong enough to resist them.
2 Chronicles 13:8 (NIV)
8 “And now you plan to resist the kingdom of the LORD, which is in the hands of David’s descendants. You are indeed a vast army and have with you the golden calves that Jeroboam made to be your gods.
2 Chronicles 13:9 (NIV)
9 But didn’t you drive out the priests of the LORD, the sons of Aaron, and the Levites, and make priests of your own as the peoples of other lands do? Whoever comes to consecrate himself with a young bull and seven rams may become a priest of what are not gods.
2 Chronicles 13:10 (NIV)
10 “As for us, the LORD is our God, and we have not forsaken him. The priests who serve the LORD are sons of Aaron, and the Levites assist them.
2 Chronicles 13:11 (NIV)
11 Every morning and evening they present burnt offerings and fragrant incense to the LORD. They set out the bread on the ceremonially clean table and light the lamps on the gold lampstand every evening. We are observing the requirements of the LORD our God. But you have forsaken him.
2 Chronicles 13:12 (NIV)
12 God is with us; he is our leader. His priests with their trumpets will sound the battle cry against you. Men of Israel, do not fight against the LORD, the God of your fathers, for you will not succeed.”
2 Chronicles 13:13 (NASB)
13 But Jeroboam had set an ambush to come from the rear, so that Israel was in front of Judah and the ambush was behind them.
2 Chronicles 13:14 (NIV)
14 Judah turned and saw that they were being attacked at both front and rear. Then they cried out to the LORD. The priests blew their trumpets
2 Chronicles 13:15 (NIV)
15 and the men of Judah raised the battle cry. At the sound of their battle cry, God routed Jeroboam and all Israel before Abijah and Judah.
2 Chronicles 13:16 (NIV)
16 The Israelites fled before Judah, and God delivered them into their hands.
2 Chronicles 13:17 (NIV)
17 Abijah and his men inflicted heavy losses on them, so that there were five hundred thousand casualties among Israel’s able men.
2 Chronicles 13:18 (NIV)
18 The men of Israel were subdued on that occasion, and the men of Judah were victorious because they relied on the LORD, the God of their fathers.
2 Chronicles 13:19 (NIV)
19 Abijah pursued Jeroboam and took from him the towns of Bethel, Jeshanah and Ephron, with their surrounding villages.
2 Chronicles 13:20 (NIV)
20 Jeroboam did not regain power during the time of Abijah. And the LORD struck him down and he died.
2 Chronicles 13:21 (NASB)
21 But Abijah became powerful; and took fourteen wives to himself, and became the father of twenty-two sons and sixteen daughters.
2 Chronicles 13:22 (NIV)
22 The other events of Abijah’s reign, what he did and what he said, are written in the annotations of the prophet Iddo.
2 Chronicles Chapter 14
2 Chronicles 14:1 (NASB)
1 So Abijah slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the city of David, and his son Asa became king in his place. The land was undisturbed for ten years during his days.
2 Chronicles 14:2 (CJB)-M
2 Asa did what was good and right from the perspective of the Lord his God;
2 Chronicles 14:3 (NIV)
3 He removed the foreign altars and the high places, smashed the sacred stones and cut down the Asherah poles.
2 Chronicles 14:4 (NIV)
4 He commanded Judah to seek the LORD, the God of their fathers, and to obey his laws and commands.
2 Chronicles 14:5 (NIV)
5 He removed the high places and incense altars in every town in Judah, and the kingdom was at peace under him.
2 Chronicles 14:6 (NASB)
6 He built fortified cities in Judah, since the land was undisturbed, and there was no one at war with him during those years, because the LORD had given him rest.
2 Chronicles 14:7 (NIV)
7 “Let us build up these towns,” he said to Judah, “and put walls around them, with towers, gates and bars. The land is still ours, because we have sought the LORD our God; we sought him and he has given us rest on every side.” So they built and prospered.
2 Chronicles 14:8 (NIV)
8 Asa had an army of three hundred thousand men from Judah, equipped with large shields and with spears, and two hundred and eighty thousand from Benjamin, armed with small shields and with bows. All these were brave fighting men.
2 Chronicles 14:9 (NIV)
9 Zerah the Cushite marched out against them with a vast army and three hundred chariots, and came as far as Mareshah.
2 Chronicles 14:10 (NIV)
10 Asa went out to meet him, and they took up battle positions in the Valley of Zephathah near Mareshah.
2 Chronicles 14:11 (NIV)
11 Then Asa called to the LORD his God and said, “LORD, there is no one like you to help the powerless against the mighty. Help us, O LORD our God, for we rely on you, and in your name we have come against this vast army. O LORD, you are our God; do not let man prevail against you.”
2 Chronicles 14:12 (NIV)
12 The LORD struck down the Cushites before Asa and Judah. The Cushites fled,
2 Chronicles 14:13 (NIV)
13 and Asa and his army pursued them as far as Gerar. Such a great number of Cushites fell that they could not recover; they were crushed before the LORD and his forces. The men of Judah carried off a large amount of plunder.
2 Chronicles 14:14 (NKJV)
14 Then they defeated all the cities around Gerar, for the fear of the LORD came upon them; and they plundered all the cities, for there was exceedingly much spoil in them.
2 Chronicles 14:15 (NIV)
15 They also attacked the camps of the herdsmen and carried off droves of sheep and goats and camels. Then they returned to Jerusalem.
2 Chronicles Chapter 15
2 Chronicles 15:1 (NIV)
1 The Spirit of God came upon Azariah son of Oded.
2 Chronicles 15:2 (NIV)
2 He went out to meet Asa and said to him, “Listen to me, Asa and all Judah and Benjamin. The LORD is with you when you are with him. If you seek him, he will be found by you, but if you forsake him, he will forsake you.
2 Chronicles 15:3 (NIV)
3 For a long time Israel was without the true God, without a priest to teach and without the law.
2 Chronicles 15:4 (NIV)
4 But in their distress they turned to the LORD, the God of Israel, and sought him, and he was found by them.
2 Chronicles 15:5 (NASB)
5 “In those times there was no peace to him who went out or to him who came in, for many disturbances afflicted all the inhabitants of the lands.
2 Chronicles 15:6 (NIV)
6 One nation was being crushed by another and one city by another, because God was troubling them with every kind of distress.
2 Chronicles 15:7 (NASB)
7 “But you, be strong and do not lose courage, for there is reward for your work.”
2 Chronicles 15:8 (NIV)
8 When Asa heard these words and the prophecy of Azariah son of Oded the prophet, he took courage. He removed the detestable idols from the whole land of Judah and Benjamin and from the towns he had captured in the hills of Ephraim. He repaired the altar of the LORD that was in front of the portico of the LORD’s temple.
2 Chronicles 15:9 (NIV)
9 Then he assembled all Judah and Benjamin and the people from Ephraim, Manasseh and Simeon who had settled among them, for large numbers had come over to him from Israel when they saw that the LORD his God was with him.
2 Chronicles 15:10 (NIV)
10 They assembled at Jerusalem in the third month of the fifteenth year of Asa’s reign.
2 Chronicles 15:11 (NIV)
11 At that time they sacrificed to the LORD seven hundred head of cattle and seven thousand sheep and goats from the plunder they had brought back.
2 Chronicles 15:12 (NIV)
12 They entered into a covenant to seek the LORD, the God of their fathers, with all their heart and soul.
2 Chronicles 15:13 (NKJV)
13 and whoever would not seek the LORD God of Israel was to be put to death, whether small or great, whether man or woman.
2 Chronicles 15:14 (NIV)
14 They took an oath to the LORD with loud acclamation, with shouting and with trumpets and horns.
2 Chronicles 15:15 (NASB)
15 All Judah rejoiced concerning the oath, for they had sworn with their whole heart and had sought Him earnestly, and He let them find Him. So the LORD gave them rest on every side.
2 Chronicles 15:16 (NIV)
16 King Asa also deposed his grandmother Maacah from her position as queen mother, because she had made a repulsive Asherah pole. Asa cut the pole down, broke it up and burned it in the Kidron Valley.
2 Chronicles 15:17 (NIV)
17 Although he did not remove the high places from Israel, Asa’s heart was fully committed [to the LORD] all his life.
2 Chronicles 15:18 (NIV)
18 He brought into the temple of God the silver and gold and the articles that he and his father had dedicated.
2 Chronicles 15:19 (NIV)
19 There was no more war until the thirty-fifth year of Asa’s reign.
2 Chronicles Chapter 16
2 Chronicles 16:1 (NIV)
1 In the thirty-sixth year of Asa’s reign Baasha king of Israel went up against Judah and fortified Ramah to prevent anyone from leaving or entering the territory of Asa king of Judah.
2 Chronicles 16:2 (NIV)
2 Asa then took the silver and gold out of the treasuries of the LORD’s temple and of his own palace and sent it to Ben-Hadad king of Aram, who was ruling in Damascus.
2 Chronicles 16:3 (NIV)
3 “Let there be a treaty between me and you,” he said, “as there was between my father and your father. See, I am sending you silver and gold. Now break your treaty with Baasha king of Israel so he will withdraw from me.”
2 Chronicles 16:4 (NIV)
4 Ben-Hadad agreed with King Asa and sent the commanders of his forces against the towns of Israel. They conquered Ijon, Dan, Abel Maim and all the store cities of Naphtali.
2 Chronicles 16:5 (NIV)
5 When Baasha heard this, he stopped building Ramah and abandoned his work.
2 Chronicles 16:6 (NIV)
6 Then King Asa brought all the men of Judah, and they carried away from Ramah the stones and timber Baasha had been using. With them he built up Geba and Mizpah.
2 Chronicles 16:7 (NIV)
7 At that time Hanani the seer came to Asa king of Judah and said to him: “Because you relied on the king of Aram and not on the LORD your God, the army of the king of Aram has escaped from your hand.
2 Chronicles 16:8 (NIV)
8 Were not the Cushites and Libyans a mighty army with great numbers of chariots and horsemen? Yet when you relied on the LORD, he delivered them into your hand.
2 Chronicles 16:9 (NASB)
9 “For the eyes of the Lord range throughout the whole earth that He may strongly support those whose hearts are fully committed to him. You have acted foolishly in this. Indeed, from now on you will surely have wars.”
2 Chronicles 16:10 (NIV)
10 Asa was angry with the seer because of this; he was so enraged that he put him in prison. At the same time Asa brutally oppressed some of the people.
2 Chronicles 16:11 (NIV)
11 The events of Asa’s reign, from beginning to end, are written in the book of the kings of Judah and Israel.
2 Chronicles 16:12 (NIV)
12 In the thirty-ninth year of his reign Asa was afflicted with a disease in his feet. Though his disease was severe, even in his illness he did not seek help from the LORD, but only from the physicians.
2 Chronicles 16:13 (NIV)
13 Then in the forty-first year of his reign Asa died and rested with his fathers.
2 Chronicles 16:14 (NIV)
14 They buried him in the tomb that he had cut out for himself in the City of David. They laid him on a bier covered with spices and various blended perfumes, and they made a huge fire in his honor.
2 Chronicles Chapter 17
2 Chronicles 17:1 (NIV)
1 Jehoshaphat his son succeeded him as king and strengthened himself against Israel.
2 Chronicles 17:2 (NIV)
2 He stationed troops in all the fortified cities of Judah and put garrisons in Judah and in the towns of Ephraim that his father Asa had captured.
2 Chronicles 17:3 (NIV)
3 The LORD was with Jehoshaphat because in his early years he walked in the ways his father David had followed. He did not consult the Baals
2 Chronicles 17:4 (NIV)
4 but sought the God of his father and followed his commands rather than the practices of Israel.
2 Chronicles 17:5 (NIV)
5 The LORD established the kingdom under his control; and all Judah brought gifts to Jehoshaphat, so that he had great wealth and honor.
2 Chronicles 17:6 (NIV)
6 His heart was devoted to the ways of the LORD; furthermore, he removed the high places and the Asherah poles from Judah.
2 Chronicles 17:7 (NIV)
7 In the third year of his reign he sent his officials Ben-Hail, Obadiah, Zechariah, Nethanel and Micaiah to teach in the towns of Judah.
2 Chronicles 17:8 (NIV)
8 With them were certain Levites–Shemaiah, Nethaniah, Zebadiah, Asahel, Shemiramoth, Jehonathan, Adonijah, Tobijah and Tob-Adonijah–and the priests Elishama and Jehoram.
2 Chronicles 17:9 (NIV)
9 They taught throughout Judah, taking with them the Book of the Law of the LORD; they went around to all the towns of Judah and taught the people.
2 Chronicles 17:10 (NIV)
10 The fear of the LORD fell on all the kingdoms of the lands surrounding Judah, so that they did not make war with Jehoshaphat.
2 Chronicles 17:11 (NASB)
11 Some of the Philistines brought gifts and silver as tribute to Jehoshaphat; the Arabians also brought him flocks, 7,700 rams and 7,700 male goats.
2 Chronicles 17:12 (NKJV)
12 So Jehoshaphat became increasingly powerful, and he built fortresses and storage cities in Judah.
2 Chronicles 17:13 (NASB)
13 He had large supplies in the cities of Judah, and warriors, valiant men, in Jerusalem.
2 Chronicles 17:14 (NKJV)
14 These are their numbers, according to their fathers’ houses. Of Judah, the captains of thousands: Adnah the captain, and with him three hundred thousand mighty men of valor;
2 Chronicles 17:15 (NKJV)
15 and next to him was Jehohanan the captain, and with him two hundred and eighty thousand;
2 Chronicles 17:16 (NKJV)
16 and next to him was Amasiah the son of Zichri, who willingly offered himself to the LORD, and with him two hundred thousand mighty men of valor.
2 Chronicles 17:17 (NKJV)
17 Of Benjamin: Eliada a mighty man of valor, and with him two hundred thousand men armed with bow and shield;
2 Chronicles 17:18 (NKJV)
18 and next to him was Jehozabad, and with him one hundred and eighty thousand prepared for war.
2 Chronicles 17:19 (NIV)
19 These were the men who served the king, besides those he stationed in the fortified cities throughout Judah.
2 Chronicles Chapter 18
2 Chronicles 18:1 (NIV)
1 Now Jehoshaphat had great wealth and honor, and he allied himself with Ahab by marriage.
2 Chronicles 18:2 (NIV)
2 Some years later he went down to visit Ahab in Samaria. Ahab slaughtered many sheep and cattle for him and the people with him and urged him to attack Ramoth Gilead.
2 Chronicles 18:3 (NIV)
3 Ahab king of Israel asked Jehoshaphat king of Judah, “Will you go with me against Ramoth Gilead?” Jehoshaphat replied, “I am as you are, and my people as your people; we will join you in the war.”
2 Chronicles 18:4 (NIV)
4 But Jehoshaphat also said to the king of Israel, “First seek the counsel of the LORD.”
2 Chronicles 18:5 (NIV)
5 So the king of Israel brought together the prophets–four hundred men–and asked them, “Shall we go to war against Ramoth Gilead, or shall I refrain?” “Go,” they answered, “for God will give it into the king’s hand.”
2 Chronicles 18:6 (NIV)
6 But Jehoshaphat asked, “Is there not a prophet of the LORD here whom we can inquire of?”
2 Chronicles 18:7 (NIV)
7 The king of Israel answered Jehoshaphat, “There is still one man through whom we can inquire of the LORD, but I hate him because he never prophesies anything good about me, but always bad. He is Micaiah son of Imlah.” “The king should not say that,” Jehoshaphat replied.
2 Chronicles 18:8 (NIV)
8 So the king of Israel called one of his officials and said, “Bring Micaiah son of Imlah at once.”
2 Chronicles 18:9 (NIV)
9 Dressed in their royal robes, the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat king of Judah were sitting on their thrones at the threshing floor by the entrance to the gate of Samaria, with all the prophets prophesying before them.
2 Chronicles 18:10 (NIV)
10 Now Zedekiah son of Kenaanah had made iron horns, and he declared, “This is what the LORD says: ‘With these you will gore the Arameans until they are destroyed.'”
2 Chronicles 18:11 (NIV)
11 All the other prophets were prophesying the same thing. “Attack Ramoth Gilead and be victorious,” they said, “for the LORD will give it into the king’s hand.”
2 Chronicles 18:12 (NIV)
12 The messenger who had gone to summon Micaiah said to him, “Look, as one man the other prophets are predicting success for the king. Let your word agree with theirs, and speak favorably.”
2 Chronicles 18:13 (NIV)
13 But Micaiah said, “As surely as the LORD lives, I can tell him only what my God says.”
2 Chronicles 18:14 (NLT)
14 When Micaiah arrived before the king, Ahab asked him, “Micaiah, should we go to war against Ramoth-gilead, or should I hold back?” Micaiah replied sarcastically, “Yes, go up and be victorious, for you will have victory over them!”
2 Chronicles 18:15 (NIV)
15 The king said to him, “How many times must I make you swear to tell me nothing but the truth in the name of the LORD?”
2 Chronicles 18:16 (NIV)
16 Then Micaiah answered, “I saw all Israel scattered on the hills like sheep without a shepherd, and the LORD said, ‘These people have no master. Let each one go home in peace.'”
2 Chronicles 18:17 (NIV)
17 The king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, “Didn’t I tell you that he never prophesies anything good about me, but only bad?”
2 Chronicles 18:18 (NIV)
18 Micaiah continued, “Therefore hear the word of the LORD: I saw the LORD sitting on his throne with all the host of heaven standing on his right and on his left.
2 Chronicles 18:19 (NIV)
19 And the LORD said, ‘Who will entice Ahab king of Israel into attacking Ramoth Gilead and going to his death there?’ “One suggested this, and another that.
2 Chronicles 18:20 (NIV)
20 Finally, a spirit came forward, stood before the LORD and said, ‘I will entice him.’ “‘By what means?’ the LORD asked.
2 Chronicles 18:21 (NIV)
21 “‘I will go and be a lying spirit in the mouths of all his prophets,’ he said. “‘You will succeed in enticing him,’ said the LORD. ‘Go and do it.’
2 Chronicles 18:22 (NIV)
22 “So now the LORD has put a lying spirit in the mouths of these prophets of yours. The LORD has decreed disaster for you.”
2 Chronicles 18:23 (NIV)
23 Then Zedekiah son of Kenaanah went up and slapped Micaiah in the face. “Which way did the spirit from the LORD go when he went from me to speak to you?” he asked.
2 Chronicles 18:24 (NIV)
24 Micaiah replied, “You will find out on the day you go to hide in an inner room.”
2 Chronicles 18:25 (NIV)
25 The king of Israel then ordered, “Take Micaiah and send him back to Amon the ruler of the city and to Joash the king’s son,
2 Chronicles 18:26 (NIV)
26 and say, ‘This is what the king says: Put this fellow in prison and give him nothing but bread and water until I return safely.'”
2 Chronicles 18:27 (NIV)
27 Micaiah declared, “If you ever return safely, the LORD has not spoken through me.” Then he added, “Mark my words, all you people!”
2 Chronicles 18:28 (NIV)
28 So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat king of Judah went up to Ramoth Gilead.
2 Chronicles 18:29 (NIV)
29 The king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, “I will enter the battle in disguise, but you wear your royal robes.” So the king of Israel disguised himself and went into battle.
2 Chronicles 18:30 (NIV)
30 Now the king of Aram had ordered his chariot commanders, “Do not fight with anyone, small or great, except the king of Israel.”
2 Chronicles 18:31 (NIV)
31 When the chariot commanders saw Jehoshaphat, they thought, “This is the king of Israel.” So they turned to attack him, but Jehoshaphat cried out, and the LORD helped him. God drew them away from him,
2 Chronicles 18:32 (NIV)
32 for when the chariot commanders saw that he was not the king of Israel, they stopped pursuing him.
2 Chronicles 18:33 (NIV)
33 But someone drew his bow at random and hit the king of Israel between the sections of his armor. The king told the chariot driver, “Wheel around and get me out of the fighting. I’ve been wounded.”
2 Chronicles 18:34 (NIV)
34 All day long the battle raged, and the king of Israel propped himself up in his chariot facing the Arameans until evening. Then at sunset he died.
2 Chronicles Chapter 19
2 Chronicles 19:1 (NIV)
1 When Jehoshaphat king of Judah returned safely to his palace in Jerusalem,
2 Chronicles 19:2 (NIV)
2 Jehu the seer, the son of Hanani, went out to meet him and said to the king, “Should you help the wicked and love those who hate the LORD? Because of this, the wrath of the LORD is upon you.
2 Chronicles 19:3 (NIV)
3 There is, however, some good in you, for you have rid the land of the Asherah poles and have set your heart on seeking God.”
2 Chronicles 19:4 (NIV)
4 Jehoshaphat lived in Jerusalem, and he went out again among the people from Beersheba to the hill country of Ephraim and turned them back to the LORD, the God of their fathers.
2 Chronicles 19:5 (NIV)
5 He appointed judges in the land, in each of the fortified cities of Judah.
2 Chronicles 19:6 (NIV)
6 He told them, “Consider carefully what you do, because you are not judging for man but for the LORD, who is with you whenever you give a verdict.
2 Chronicles 19:7 (NIV)
7 Now let the fear of the LORD be upon you. Judge carefully, for with the LORD our God there is no injustice or partiality or bribery.”
2 Chronicles 19:8 (NIV)
8 In Jerusalem also, Jehoshaphat appointed some of the Levites, priests and heads of Israelite families to administer the law of the LORD and to settle disputes. And they lived in Jerusalem.
2 Chronicles 19:9 (NIV)
9 He gave them these orders: “You must serve faithfully and wholeheartedly in the fear of the LORD.
2 Chronicles 19:10 (NIV)
10 In every case that comes before you from your fellow countrymen who live in the cities–whether bloodshed or other concerns of the law, commands, decrees or ordinances–you are to warn them not to sin against the LORD; otherwise his wrath will come on you and your brothers. Do this, and you will not sin.
2 Chronicles 19:11 (NIV)
11 “Amariah the chief priest will be over you in any matter concerning the LORD, and Zebadiah son of Ishmael, the leader of the tribe of Judah, will be over you in any matter concerning the king, and the Levites will serve as officials before you. Act with courage, and may the LORD be with those who do well.”
2 Chronicles Chapter 20
2 Chronicles 20:1 (NIV)
1 After this, the Moabites and Ammonites with some of the Meunites came to make war on Jehoshaphat.
2 Chronicles 20:2 (NIV)
2 Some men came and told Jehoshaphat, “A vast army is coming against you from Edom, from the other side of the Sea. It is already in Hazazon Tamar” (that is, En Gedi).
2 Chronicles 20:3 (NIV)
3 Alarmed, Jehoshaphat resolved to inquire of the LORD, and he proclaimed a fast for all Judah.
2 Chronicles 20:4 (NIV)
4 The people of Judah came together to seek help from the LORD; indeed, they came from every town in Judah to seek him.
2 Chronicles 20:5 (NIV)
5 Then Jehoshaphat stood up in the assembly of Judah and Jerusalem at the temple of the LORD in the front of the new courtyard
2 Chronicles 20:6 (NIV)
6 and said: “O LORD, God of our fathers, are you not the God who is in heaven? You rule over all the kingdoms of the nations. Power and might are in your hand, and no one can withstand you.
2 Chronicles 20:7 (NIV)
7 O our God, did you not drive out the inhabitants of this land before your people Israel and give it forever to the descendants of Abraham your friend?
2 Chronicles 20:8 (NIV)
8 They have lived in it and have built in it a sanctuary for your Name, saying,
2 Chronicles 20:9 (NIV)
9 ‘If calamity comes upon us, whether the sword of judgment, or plague or famine, we will stand in your presence before this temple that bears your Name and will cry out to you in our distress, and you will hear us and save us.’
2 Chronicles 20:10 (NIV)
10 “But now here are men from Ammon, Moab and Mount Seir, whose territory you would not allow Israel to invade when they came from Egypt; so they turned away from them and did not destroy them.
2 Chronicles 20:11 (NIV)
11 See how they are repaying us by coming to drive us out of the possession you gave us as an inheritance.
2 Chronicles 20:12 (NIV)
12 O our God, will you not judge them? For we have no power to face this vast army that is attacking us. We do not know what to do, but our eyes are upon you.”
2 Chronicles 20:13 (NIV)
13 All the men of Judah, with their wives and children and little ones, stood there before the LORD.
2 Chronicles 20:14 (NASB)
14 Then in the midst of the assembly the Spirit of the LORD came upon Jahaziel the son of Zechariah, the son of Benaiah, the son of Jeiel, the son of Mattaniah, the Levite of the sons of Asaph;
2 Chronicles 20:15 (NIV)
15 He said: “Listen, King Jehoshaphat and all who live in Judah and Jerusalem! This is what the LORD says to you: ‘Do not be afraid or discouraged because of this vast army. For the battle is not yours, but God’s.
2 Chronicles 20:16 (NIV)
16 Tomorrow march down against them. They will be climbing up by the Pass of Ziz, and you will find them at the end of the gorge in the Desert of Jeruel.
2 Chronicles 20:17 (NIV)
17 You will not have to fight this battle. Take up your positions; stand firm and see the deliverance the LORD will give you, O Judah and Jerusalem. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged. Go out to face them tomorrow, and the LORD will be with you.'”
2 Chronicles 20:18 (NIV)
18 Jehoshaphat bowed with his face to the ground, and all the people of Judah and Jerusalem fell down in worship before the LORD.
2 Chronicles 20:19 (NIV)
19 Then some Levites from the Kohathites and Korahites stood up and praised the LORD, the God of Israel, with very loud voice.
2 Chronicles 20:20 (NIV)
20 Early in the morning they left for the Desert of Tekoa. As they set out, Jehoshaphat stood and said, “Listen to me, Judah and people of Jerusalem! Have faith in the LORD your God and you will be upheld; have faith in his prophets and you will be successful.”
2 Chronicles 20:21 (NIV)
21 After consulting the people, Jehoshaphat appointed men to sing to the LORD and to praise him for the splendor of his holiness as they went out at the head of the army, saying: “Give thanks to the LORD, for his love endures forever.”
2 Chronicles 20:22 (NIV)
22 As they began to sing and praise, the LORD set ambushes against the men of Ammon and Moab and Mount Seir who were invading Judah, and they were defeated.
2 Chronicles 20:23 (NIV)
23 The men of Ammon and Moab rose up against the men from Mount Seir to destroy and annihilate them. After they finished slaughtering the men from Seir, they helped to destroy one another.
2 Chronicles 20:24 (NIV)
24 When the men of Judah came to the place that overlooks the desert and looked toward the vast army, they saw only dead bodies lying on the ground; no one had escaped.
2 Chronicles 20:25 (NIV)
25 So Jehoshaphat and his men went to carry off their plunder, and they found among them a great amount of equipment and clothing and also articles of value–more than they could take away. There was so much plunder that it took three days to collect it.
2 Chronicles 20:26 (NIV)
26 On the fourth day they assembled in the Valley of Beracah, where they praised the LORD. This is why it is called the Valley of Beracah to this day.
2 Chronicles 20:27 (NIV)
27 Then, led by Jehoshaphat, all the men of Judah and Jerusalem returned joyfully to Jerusalem, for the LORD had given them cause to rejoice over their enemies.
2 Chronicles 20:28 (NIV)
28 They entered Jerusalem and went to the temple of the LORD with harps and lutes and trumpets.
2 Chronicles 20:29 (NIV)
29 The fear of God came upon all the kingdoms of the countries when they heard how the LORD had fought against the enemies of Israel.
2 Chronicles 20:30 (NIV)
30 And the kingdom of Jehoshaphat was at peace, for his God had given him rest on every side.
2 Chronicles 20:31 (NIV)
31 So Jehoshaphat reigned over Judah. He was thirty-five years old when he became king of Judah, and he reigned in Jerusalem twenty-five years. His mother’s name was Azubah daughter of Shilhi.
2 Chronicles 20:32 (CJB)-M
32 He lived in the manner of Asa his father and did not turn away from it, doing what was right from the Lord’s perspective;
2 Chronicles 20:33 (NIV)
33 The high places, however, were not removed, and the people still had not set their hearts on the God of their fathers.
2 Chronicles 20:34 (NIV)
34 The other events of Jehoshaphat’s reign, from beginning to end, are written in the annals of Jehu son of Hanani, which are recorded in the book of the kings of Israel.
2 Chronicles 20:35 (NIV)
35 Later, Jehoshaphat king of Judah made an alliance with Ahaziah king of Israel, who was guilty of wickedness.
2 Chronicles 20:36 (NASB)
36 So he allied himself with him to make ships to go to Tarshish, and they made the ships in Ezion-geber.
2 Chronicles 20:37 (NIV)
37 Eliezer son of Dodavahu of Mareshah prophesied against Jehoshaphat, saying, “Because you have made an alliance with Ahaziah, the LORD will destroy what you have made.” The ships were wrecked and were not able to set sail to trade.
2 Chronicles Chapter 21
2 Chronicles 21:1 (NIV)
1 Then Jehoshaphat rested with his fathers and was buried with them in the City of David. And Jehoram his son succeeded him as king.
2 Chronicles 21:2 (NIV)
2 Jehoram’s brothers, the sons of Jehoshaphat, were Azariah, Jehiel, Zechariah, Azariahu, Michael and Shephatiah. All these were sons of Jehoshaphat king of Israel.
2 Chronicles 21:3 (NIV)
3 Their father had given them many gifts of silver and gold and articles of value, as well as fortified cities in Judah, but he had given the kingdom to Jehoram because he was his firstborn son.
2 Chronicles 21:4 (NASB)
4 Now when Jehoram had taken over the kingdom of his father and made himself secure, he killed all his brothers with the sword, and some of the rulers of Israel also.
2 Chronicles 21:5 (NIV)
5 Jehoram was thirty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem eight years.
2 Chronicles 21:6 (NIV)
6 He walked in the ways of the kings of Israel, as the house of Ahab had done, for he married a daughter of Ahab. He did evil in the eyes of the LORD.
2 Chronicles 21:7 (NIV)
7 Nevertheless, because of the covenant the LORD had made with David, the LORD was not willing to destroy the house of David. He had promised to maintain a lamp for him and his descendants forever.
2 Chronicles 21:8 (NASB)
8 In his days Edom revolted against the rule of Judah and set up a king over themselves.
2 Chronicles 21:9 (NIV)
9 So Jehoram went there with his officers and all his chariots. The Edomites surrounded him and his chariot commanders, but he rose up and broke through by night.
2 Chronicles 21:10 (NASB)
10 So Edom revolted against Judah to this day. Then Libnah revolted at the same time against his rule, because he had forsaken the LORD God of his fathers.
2 Chronicles 21:11 (NIV)
11 He had also built high places on the hills of Judah and had caused the people of Jerusalem to prostitute themselves and had led Judah astray.
2 Chronicles 21:12 (NIV)
12 Jehoram received a letter from Elijah the prophet, which said: “This is what the LORD, the God of your father David, says: ‘You have not walked in the ways of your father Jehoshaphat or of Asa king of Judah.
2 Chronicles 21:13 (NIV)
13 But you have walked in the ways of the kings of Israel, and you have led Judah and the people of Jerusalem to prostitute themselves, just as the house of Ahab did. You have also murdered your own brothers, members of your father’s house, men who were better than you.
2 Chronicles 21:14 (NASB)
14 behold, the LORD is going to strike your people, your sons, your wives and all your possessions with a great calamity;
2 Chronicles 21:15 (NIV)
15 You yourself will be very ill with a lingering disease of the bowels, until the disease causes your bowels to come out.'”
2 Chronicles 21:16 (NASB)
16 Then the LORD stirred up against Jehoram the spirit of the Philistines and the Arabs who bordered the Ethiopians;
2 Chronicles 21:17 (NIV)
17 They attacked Judah, invaded it and carried off all the goods found in the king’s palace, together with his sons and wives. Not a son was left to him except Ahaziah, the youngest.
2 Chronicles 21:18 (NIV)
18 After all this, the LORD afflicted Jehoram with an incurable disease of the bowels.
2 Chronicles 21:19 (NIV)
19 In the course of time, at the end of the second year, his bowels came out because of the disease, and he died in great pain. His people made no fire in his honor, as they had for his fathers.
2 Chronicles 21:20 (NIV)
20 Jehoram was thirty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem eight years. He passed away, to no one’s regret, and was buried in the City of David, but not in the tombs of the kings.
2 Chronicles Chapter 22
2 Chronicles 22:1 (NIV)
1 The people of Jerusalem made Ahaziah, Jehoram’s youngest son, king in his place, since the raiders, who came with the Arabs into the camp, had killed all the older sons. So Ahaziah son of Jehoram king of Judah began to reign.
2 Chronicles 22:2 (NIV)
2 Ahaziah was twenty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem one year. His mother’s name was Athaliah, a granddaughter of Omri.
2 Chronicles 22:3 (NASB)
3 He also walked in the ways of the house of Ahab, for his mother was his counselor to do wickedly.
2 Chronicles 22:4 (NIV)
4 He did evil in the eyes of the LORD, as the house of Ahab had done, for after his father’s death they became his advisers, to his undoing.
2 Chronicles 22:5 (NIV)
5 He also followed their counsel when he went with Joram son of Ahab king of Israel to war against Hazael king of Aram at Ramoth Gilead. The Arameans wounded Joram;
2 Chronicles 22:6 (NIV)
6 so he returned to Jezreel to recover from the wounds they had inflicted on him at Ramoth in his battle with Hazael king of Aram. Then Ahaziah son of Jehoram king of Judah went down to Jezreel to see Joram son of Ahab because he had been wounded.
2 Chronicles 22:7 (NIV)
7 Through Ahaziah’s visit to Joram, God brought about Ahaziah’s downfall. When Ahaziah arrived, he went out with Joram to meet Jehu son of Nimshi, whom the LORD had anointed to destroy the house of Ahab.
2 Chronicles 22:8 (NIV)
8 While Jehu was executing judgment on the house of Ahab, he found the princes of Judah and the sons of Ahaziah’s relatives, who had been attending Ahaziah, and he killed them.
2 Chronicles 22:9 (NLT)
9 Then Jehu’s men searched for Ahaziah, and they found him hiding in the city of Samaria. They brought him to Jehu, who killed him. Ahaziah was given a decent burial because the people said, “He was the grandson of Jehoshaphat—a man who sought the LORD with all his heart.” But none of the surviving members of Ahaziah’s family was capable of ruling the kingdom.
2 Chronicles 22:10 (NLT)
10 When Athaliah, the mother of King Ahaziah of Judah, learned that her son was dead, she began to destroy the rest of Judah’s royal family.
2 Chronicles 22:11 (NIV)
11 But Jehosheba, the daughter of King Jehoram, took Joash son of Ahaziah and stole him away from among the royal princes who were about to be murdered and put him and his nurse in a bedroom. Because Jehosheba, the daughter of King Jehoram and wife of the priest Jehoiada, was Ahaziah’s sister, she hid the child from Athaliah so she could not kill him.
2 Chronicles 22:12 (NIV)
12 He remained hidden with them at the temple of God for six years while Athaliah ruled the land.
2 Chronicles Chapter 23
2 Chronicles 23:1 (NLT2)
1 In the seventh year of Athaliah’s reign, Jehoiada the priest decided to act. He summoned his courage and made a pact with five army commanders: Azariah son of Jeroham, Ishmael son of Jehohanan, Azariah son of Obed, Maaseiah son of Adaiah, and Elishaphat son of Zicri.
2 Chronicles 23:2 (NASB)
2 They went throughout Judah and gathered the Levites from all the cities of Judah, and the heads of the fathers’ households of Israel, and they came to Jerusalem.
2 Chronicles 23:3 (NASB)
3 Then all the assembly made a covenant with the king in the house of God. And Jehoiada said to them, “Behold, the king’s son shall reign, as the LORD has spoken concerning the sons of David.
2 Chronicles 23:4 (CJB)-M
4 Here is what you are to do: of you priests and Levites who come on duty on Sabbath, a third are to guard the gates,
2 Chronicles 23:5 (NIV)
5 a third of you at the royal palace and a third at the Foundation Gate, and all the other men are to be in the courtyards of the temple of the LORD.
2 Chronicles 23:6 (NIV)
6 No one is to enter the temple of the LORD except the priests and Levites on duty; they may enter because they are consecrated, but all the other men are to guard what the LORD has assigned to them.
2 Chronicles 23:7 (NIV)
7 The Levites are to station themselves around the king, each man with his weapons in his hand. Anyone who enters the temple must be put to death. Stay close to the king wherever he goes.”
2 Chronicles 23:8 (NIV)
8 The Levites and all the men of Judah did just as Jehoiada the priest ordered. Each one took his men–those who were going on duty on the Sabbath and those who were going off duty–for Jehoiada the priest had not released any of the divisions.
2 Chronicles 23:9 (NIV)
9 Then he gave the commanders of units of a hundred the spears and the large and small shields that had belonged to King David and that were in the temple of God.
2 Chronicles 23:10 (NIV)
10 He stationed all the men, each with his weapon in his hand, around the king–near the altar and the temple, from the south side to the north side of the temple.
2 Chronicles 23:11 (NIV)
11 Jehoiada and his sons brought out the king’s son and put the crown on him; they presented him with a copy of the covenant and proclaimed him king. They anointed him and shouted, “Long live the king!”
2 Chronicles 23:12 (NIV)
12 When Athaliah heard the noise of the people running and cheering the king, she went to them at the temple of the LORD.
2 Chronicles 23:13 (NIV)
13 She looked, and there was the king, standing by his pillar at the entrance. The officers and the trumpeters were beside the king, and all the people of the land were rejoicing and blowing trumpets, and singers with musical instruments were leading the praises. Then Athaliah tore her robes and shouted, “Treason! Treason!”
2 Chronicles 23:14 (NIV)
14 Jehoiada the priest sent out the commanders of units of a hundred, who were in charge of the troops, and said to them: “Bring her out between the ranks and put to the sword anyone who follows her.” For the priest had said, “Do not put her to death at the temple of the LORD.”
2 Chronicles 23:15 (NIV)
15 So they seized her as she reached the entrance of the Horse Gate on the palace grounds, and there they put her to death.
2 Chronicles 23:16 (NIV)
16 Jehoiada then made a covenant that he and the people and the king would be the LORD’s people.
2 Chronicles 23:17 (NIV)
17 All the people went to the temple of Baal and tore it down. They smashed the altars and idols and killed Mattan the priest of Baal in front of the altars.
2 Chronicles 23:18 (NIV)
18 Then Jehoiada placed the oversight of the temple of the LORD in the hands of the priests, who were Levites, to whom David had made assignments in the temple, to present the burnt offerings of the LORD as written in the Law of Moses, with rejoicing and singing, as David had ordered.
2 Chronicles 23:19 (NLT)
19 He also stationed gatekeepers at the gates of the LORD’s Temple to keep out those who for any reason were ceremonially unclean.
2 Chronicles 23:20 (NIV)
20 He took with him the commanders of hundreds, the nobles, the rulers of the people and all the people of the land and brought the king down from the temple of the LORD. They went into the palace through the Upper Gate and seated the king on the royal throne,
2 Chronicles 23:21 (NASB)
21 So all of the people of the land rejoiced and the city was quiet. For they had put Athaliah to death with the sword.
2 Chronicles Chapter 24
2 Chronicles 24:1 (NIV)
1 Joash was seven years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem forty years. His mother’s name was Zibiah; she was from Beersheba.
2 Chronicles 24:2 (NIV)
2 Joash did what was right in the eyes of the LORD all the years of Jehoiada the priest.
2 Chronicles 24:3 (NIV)
3 Jehoiada chose two wives for him, and he had sons and daughters.
2 Chronicles 24:4 (NIV)
4 Some time later Joash decided to restore the temple of the LORD.
2 Chronicles 24:5 (NIV)
5 He called together the priests and Levites and said to them, “Go to the towns of Judah and collect the money due annually from all Israel, to repair the temple of your God. Do it now.” But the Levites did not act at once.
2 Chronicles 24:6 (NIV)
6 Therefore the king summoned Jehoiada the chief priest and said to him, “Why haven’t you required the Levites to bring in from Judah and Jerusalem the tax imposed by Moses the servant of the LORD and by the assembly of Israel for the Tent of the Testimony?”
2 Chronicles 24:7 (NIV)
7 Now the sons of that wicked woman Athaliah had broken into the temple of God and had used even its sacred objects for the Baals.
2 Chronicles 24:8 (NIV)
8 At the king’s command, a chest was made and placed outside, at the gate of the temple of the LORD.
2 Chronicles 24:9 (NIV)
9 A proclamation was then issued in Judah and Jerusalem that they should bring to the LORD the tax that Moses the servant of God had required of Israel in the desert.
2 Chronicles 24:10 (NIV)
10 All the officials and all the people brought their contributions gladly, dropping them into the chest until it was full.
2 Chronicles 24:11 (NIV)
11 Whenever the chest was brought in by the Levites to the king’s officials and they saw that there was a large amount of money, the royal secretary and the officer of the chief priest would come and empty the chest and carry it back to its place. They did this regularly and collected a great amount of money.
2 Chronicles 24:12 (NIV)
12 The king and Jehoiada gave it to the men who carried out the work required for the temple of the LORD. They hired masons and carpenters to restore the LORD’s temple, and also workers in iron and bronze to repair the temple.
2 Chronicles 24:13 (NIV)
13 The men in charge of the work were diligent, and the repairs progressed under them. They rebuilt the temple of God according to its original design and reinforced it.
2 Chronicles 24:14 (NIV)
14 When they had finished, they brought the rest of the money to the king and Jehoiada, and with it were made articles for the LORD’s temple: articles for the service and for the burnt offerings, and also dishes and other objects of gold and silver. As long as Jehoiada lived, burnt offerings were presented continually in the temple of the LORD.
2 Chronicles 24:15 (NIV)
15 Now Jehoiada was old and full of years, and he died at the age of a hundred and thirty.
2 Chronicles 24:16 (NIV)
16 He was buried with the kings in the City of David, because of the good he had done in Israel for God and his temple.
2 Chronicles 24:17 (NIV)
17 After the death of Jehoiada, the officials of Judah came and paid homage to the king, and he listened to them.
2 Chronicles 24:18 (NIV)
18 They abandoned the temple of the LORD, the God of their fathers, and worshiped Asherah poles and idols. Because of their guilt, God’s anger came upon Judah and Jerusalem.
2 Chronicles 24:19 (NIV)
19 Although the LORD sent prophets to the people to bring them back to him, and though they testified against them, they would not listen.
2 Chronicles 24:20 (NIV)
20 Then the Spirit of God came upon Zechariah son of Jehoiada the priest. He stood before the people and said, “This is what God says: ‘Why do you disobey the LORD’s commands? You will not prosper. Because you have forsaken the LORD, he has forsaken you.'”
2 Chronicles 24:21 (NIV)
21 But they plotted against him, and by order of the king they stoned him to death in the courtyard of the LORD’s temple.
2 Chronicles 24:22 (CJB)-M
22 Thus Joash the king did not remember the kindness which Jehoiada, [Zechariah’s] father, had done for him, but put his son to death. As he was dying he said, “May the Lord see this and take vengeance!”
2 Chronicles 24:23 (NIV)
23 At the turn of the year, the army of Aram marched against Joash; it invaded Judah and Jerusalem and killed all the leaders of the people. They sent all the plunder to their king in Damascus.
2 Chronicles 24:24 (NIV)
24 Although the Aramean army had come with only a few men, the LORD delivered into their hands a much larger army. Because Judah had forsaken the LORD, the God of their fathers, judgment was executed on Joash.
2 Chronicles 24:25 (NIV)
25 When the Arameans withdrew, they left Joash severely wounded. His officials conspired against him for murdering the son of Jehoiada the priest, and they killed him in his bed. So he died and was buried in the City of David, but not in the tombs of the kings.
2 Chronicles 24:26 (NIV)
26 Those who conspired against him were Zabad, son of Shimeath an Ammonite woman, and Jehozabad, son of Shimrith a Moabite woman.
2 Chronicles 24:27 (NIV)
27 The account of his sons, the many prophecies about him, and the record of the restoration of the temple of God are written in the annotations on the book of the kings. And Amaziah his son succeeded him as king.
2 Chronicles Chapter 25
2 Chronicles 25:1 (NLT2)
1 Amaziah was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem twenty-nine years. His mother was Jehoaddin from Jerusalem.
2 Chronicles 25:2 (NIV)
2 He did what was right in the eyes of the LORD, but not wholeheartedly.
2 Chronicles 25:3 (NIV)
3 After the kingdom was firmly in his control, he executed the officials who had murdered his father the king.
2 Chronicles 25:4 (NIV)
4 Yet he did not put their sons to death, but acted in accordance with what is written in the Law, in the Book of Moses, where the LORD commanded: “Fathers shall not be put to death for their children, nor children put to death for their fathers; each is to die for his own sins.”
2 Chronicles 25:5 (NIV)
5 Amaziah called the people of Judah together and assigned them according to their families to commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds for all Judah and Benjamin. He then mustered those twenty years old or more and found that there were three hundred thousand men ready for military service, able to handle the spear and shield.
2 Chronicles 25:6 (CJB)-M
6 He also hired 100,000 strong, brave men from Israel for three-and-a-third tons of silver.
2 Chronicles 25:7 (NIV)
7 But a man of God came to him and said, “O king, these troops from Israel must not march with you, for the LORD is not with Israel–not with any of the people of Ephraim.
2 Chronicles 25:8 (NIV)
8 Even if you go and fight courageously in battle, God will overthrow you before the enemy, for God has the power to help or to overthrow.”
2 Chronicles 25:9 (NIV)
9 Amaziah asked the man of God, “But what about the hundred talents I paid for these Israelite troops?” The man of God replied, “The LORD can give you much more than that.”
2 Chronicles 25:10 (NIV)
10 So Amaziah dismissed the troops who had come to him from Ephraim and sent them home. They were furious with Judah and left for home in a great rage.
2 Chronicles 25:11 (NLT2)
11 Then Amaziah summoned his courage and led his army to the Valley of Salt, where they killed 10,000 Edomite troops from Seir.
2 Chronicles 25:12 (CJB)-M
12 The people of Judah took another 10,000 away alive, brought them to the top of the Rock and threw them off the top of the Rock, so that they were all dashed to pieces.
2 Chronicles 25:13 (NIV)
13 Meanwhile the troops that Amaziah had sent back and had not allowed to take part in the war raided Judean towns from Samaria to Beth Horon. They killed three thousand people and carried off great quantities of plunder.
2 Chronicles 25:14 (CJB)-M
14 After Amaziah returned from the slaughter of the people from Edom, he brought the gods of the people of Seir and set them up as his own gods, prostrating himself before them and offering incense to them.
2 Chronicles 25:15 (NIV)
15 The anger of the LORD burned against Amaziah, and he sent a prophet to him, who said, “Why do you consult this people’s gods, which could not save their own people from your hand?”
2 Chronicles 25:16 (NIV)
16 While he was still speaking, the king said to him, “Have we appointed you an adviser to the king? Stop! Why be struck down?” So the prophet stopped but said, “I know that God has determined to destroy you, because you have done this and have not listened to my counsel.”
2 Chronicles 25:17 (NKJV)
17 Now Amaziah king of Judah asked advice and sent to Joash the son of Jehoahaz, the son of Jehu, king of Israel, saying, “Come, let us face one another in battle.”
2 Chronicles 25:18 (NIV)
18 But Jehoash king of Israel replied to Amaziah king of Judah: “A thistle in Lebanon sent a message to a cedar in Lebanon, ‘Give your daughter to my son in marriage.’ Then a wild beast in Lebanon came along and trampled the thistle underfoot.
2 Chronicles 25:19 (NIV)
19 You say to yourself that you have defeated Edom, and now you are arrogant and proud. But stay at home! Why ask for trouble and cause your own downfall and that of Judah also?”
2 Chronicles 25:20 (NIV)
20 Amaziah, however, would not listen, for God so worked that he might hand them over to [Jehoash], because they sought the gods of Edom.
2 Chronicles 25:21 (NIV)
21 So Jehoash king of Israel attacked. He and Amaziah king of Judah faced each other at Beth Shemesh in Judah.
2 Chronicles 25:22 (NIV)
22 Judah was routed by Israel, and every man fled to his home.
2 Chronicles 25:23 (NIV)
23 Jehoash king of Israel captured Amaziah king of Judah, the son of Joash, the son of Ahaziah, at Beth Shemesh. Then Jehoash brought him to Jerusalem and broke down the wall of Jerusalem from the Ephraim Gate to the Corner Gate–a section about six hundred feet long.
2 Chronicles 25:24 (NIV)
24 He took all the gold and silver and all the articles found in the temple of God that had been in the care of Obed-Edom, together with the palace treasures and the hostages, and returned to Samaria.
2 Chronicles 25:25 (NIV)
25 Amaziah son of Joash king of Judah lived for fifteen years after the death of Jehoash son of Jehoahaz king of Israel.
2 Chronicles 25:26 (CJB)-M
26 Other activities of Amaziah, from beginning to end, are recorded in the Annals of the Kings of Judah and Israel.
2 Chronicles 25:27 (NIV)
27 From the time that Amaziah turned away from following the LORD, they conspired against him in Jerusalem and he fled to Lachish, but they sent men after him to Lachish and killed him there.
2 Chronicles 25:28 (NIV)
28 He was brought back by horse and was buried with his fathers in the City of Judah.
2 Chronicles Chapter 26
2 Chronicles 26:1 (NIV)
1 Then all the people of Judah took Uzziah, who was sixteen years old, and made him king in place of his father Amaziah.
2 Chronicles 26:2 (NIV)
2 He was the one who rebuilt Elath and restored it to Judah after Amaziah rested with his fathers.
2 Chronicles 26:3 (NIV)
3 Uzziah was sixteen years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem fifty-two years. His mother’s name was Jecoliah; she was from Jerusalem.
2 Chronicles 26:4 (NIV)
4 He did what was right in the eyes of the LORD, just as his father Amaziah had done.
2 Chronicles 26:5 (NIV)
5 He sought God during the days of Zechariah, who instructed him in the fear of God. As long as he sought the LORD, God gave him success.
2 Chronicles 26:6 (NIV)
6 He went to war against the Philistines and broke down the walls of Gath, Jabneh and Ashdod. He then rebuilt towns near Ashdod and elsewhere among the Philistines.
2 Chronicles 26:7 (NIV)
7 God helped him against the Philistines and against the Arabs who lived in Gur Baal and against the Meunites.
2 Chronicles 26:8 (NIV)
8 The Ammonites brought tribute to Uzziah, and his fame spread as far as the border of Egypt, because he had become very powerful.
2 Chronicles 26:9 (NASB)
9 Moreover, Uzziah built towers in Jerusalem at the Corner Gate and at the Valley Gate and at the corner buttress and fortified them.
2 Chronicles 26:10 (AMP)
10 Also he built towers in the wilderness and hewed out many cisterns, for he had much livestock, both in the lowlands and in the tableland. And he had farmers and vinedressers in the hills and in the fertile fields [of Carmel], for he loved farming.
2 Chronicles 26:11 (NIV)
11 Uzziah had a well-trained army, ready to go out by divisions according to their numbers as mustered by Jeiel the secretary and Maaseiah the officer under the direction of Hananiah, one of the royal officials.
2 Chronicles 26:12 (NASB)
12 The total number of the heads of the households, of valiant warriors, was 2,600.
2 Chronicles 26:13 (NASB)
13 Under their direction was an elite army of 307,500, who could wage war with great power, to help the king against the enemy.
2 Chronicles 26:14 (NIV)
14 Uzziah provided shields, spears, helmets, coats of armor, bows and slingstones for the entire army.
2 Chronicles 26:15 (NIV)
15 In Jerusalem he made machines designed by skillful men for use on the towers and on the corner defenses to shoot arrows and hurl large stones. His fame spread far and wide, for he was greatly helped until he became powerful.
2 Chronicles 26:16 (NIV)
16 But after Uzziah became powerful, his pride led to his downfall. He was unfaithful to the LORD his God, and entered the temple of the LORD to burn incense on the altar of incense.
2 Chronicles 26:17 (NIV)
17 Azariah the priest with eighty other courageous priests of the LORD followed him in.
2 Chronicles 26:18 (NIV)
18 They confronted him and said, “It is not right for you, Uzziah, to burn incense to the LORD. That is for the priests, the descendants of Aaron, who have been consecrated to burn incense. Leave the sanctuary, for you have been unfaithful; and you will not be honored by the LORD God.”
2 Chronicles 26:19 (NIV)
19 Uzziah, who had a censer in his hand ready to burn incense, became angry. While he was raging at the priests in their presence before the incense altar in the LORD’s temple, leprosy broke out on his forehead.
2 Chronicles 26:20 (NIV)
20 When Azariah the chief priest and all the other priests looked at him, they saw that he had leprosy on his forehead, so they hurried him out. Indeed, he himself was eager to leave, because the LORD had afflicted him.
2 Chronicles 26:21 (NIV)
21 King Uzziah had leprosy until the day he died. He lived in a separate house–leprous, and excluded from the temple of the LORD. Jotham his son had charge of the palace and governed the people of the land.
2 Chronicles 26:22 (NIV)
22 The other events of Uzziah’s reign, from beginning to end, are recorded by the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz.
2 Chronicles 26:23 (NIV)
23 Uzziah rested with his fathers and was buried near them in a field for burial that belonged to the kings, for people said, “He had leprosy.” And Jotham his son succeeded him as king.
2 Chronicles Chapter 27
2 Chronicles 27:1 (NIV)
1 Jotham was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem sixteen years. His mother’s name was Jerusha daughter of Zadok.
2 Chronicles 27:2 (NIV)
2 He did what was right in the eyes of the LORD, just as his father Uzziah had done, but unlike him he did not enter the temple of the LORD. The people, however, continued their corrupt practices.
2 Chronicles 27:3 (NIV)
3 Jotham rebuilt the Upper Gate of the temple of the LORD and did extensive work on the wall at the hill of Ophel.
2 Chronicles 27:4 (NIV)
4 He built towns in the Judean hills and forts and towers in the wooded areas.
2 Chronicles 27:5 (NIV)
5 Jotham made war on the king of the Ammonites and conquered them. That year the Ammonites paid him a hundred talents of silver, ten thousand cors of wheat and ten thousand cors of barley. The Ammonites brought him the same amount also in the second and third years.
2 Chronicles 27:6 (NIV)
6 Jotham grew powerful because he walked steadfastly before the LORD his God.
2 Chronicles 27:7 (NIV)
7 The other events in Jotham’s reign, including all his wars and the other things he did, are written in the book of the kings of Israel and Judah.
2 Chronicles 27:8 (NIV)
8 He was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem sixteen years.
2 Chronicles 27:9 (NIV)
9 Jotham rested with his fathers and was buried in the City of David. And Ahaz his son succeeded him as king.
2 Chronicles Chapter 28
2 Chronicles 28:1 (NIV)
1 Ahaz was twenty years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem sixteen years. Unlike David his father, he did not do what was right in the eyes of the LORD.
2 Chronicles 28:2 (NIV)
2 He walked in the ways of the kings of Israel and also made cast idols for worshiping the Baals.
2 Chronicles 28:3 (NIV)
3 He burned sacrifices in the Valley of Ben Hinnom and sacrificed his sons in the fire, following the detestable ways of the nations the LORD had driven out before the Israelites.
2 Chronicles 28:4 (NIV)
4 He offered sacrifices and burned incense at the high places, on the hilltops and under every spreading tree.
2 Chronicles 28:5 (NIV)
5 Therefore the LORD his God handed him over to the king of Aram. The Arameans defeated him and took many of his people as prisoners and brought them to Damascus. He was also given into the hands of the king of Israel, who inflicted heavy casualties on him.
2 Chronicles 28:6 (NIV)
6 In one day Pekah son of Remaliah killed a hundred and twenty thousand soldiers in Judah–because Judah had forsaken the LORD, the God of their fathers.
2 Chronicles 28:7 (NIV)
7 Zicri, an Ephraimite warrior, killed Maaseiah the king’s son, Azrikam the officer in charge of the palace, and Elkanah, second to the king.
2 Chronicles 28:8 (NIV)
8 The Israelites took captive from their kinsmen two hundred thousand wives, sons and daughters. They also took a great deal of plunder, which they carried back to Samaria.
2 Chronicles 28:9 (NLT)
9 But a prophet of the LORD named Oded was there in Samaria when the army of Israel returned home. He went out to meet them and said, “The LORD, the God of your ancestors, was angry with Judah and let you defeat them. But you have gone too far, killing them without mercy, and all heaven is disturbed.
2 Chronicles 28:10 (NIV)
10 And now you intend to make the men and women of Judah and Jerusalem your slaves. But aren’t you also guilty of sins against the LORD your God?
2 Chronicles 28:11 (NIV)
11 Now listen to me! Send back your fellow countrymen you have taken as prisoners, for the LORD’s fierce anger rests on you.”
2 Chronicles 28:12 (NIV)
12 Then some of the leaders in Ephraim–Azariah son of Jehohanan, Berekiah son of Meshillemoth, Jehizkiah son of Shallum, and Amasa son of Hadlai–confronted those who were arriving from the war.
2 Chronicles 28:13 (NIV)
13 “You must not bring those prisoners here,” they said, “or we will be guilty before the LORD. Do you intend to add to our sin and guilt? For our guilt is already great, and his fierce anger rests on Israel.”
2 Chronicles 28:14 (NIV)
14 So the soldiers gave up the prisoners and plunder in the presence of the officials and all the assembly.
2 Chronicles 28:15 (NIV)
15 The men designated by name took the prisoners, and from the plunder they clothed all who were naked. They provided them with clothes and sandals, food and drink, and healing balm. All those who were weak they put on donkeys. So they took them back to their fellow countrymen at Jericho, the City of Palms, and returned to Samaria.
2 Chronicles 28:16 (NIV)
16 At that time King Ahaz sent to the king of Assyria for help.
2 Chronicles 28:17 (NIV)
17 The Edomites had again come and attacked Judah and carried away prisoners,
2 Chronicles 28:18 (NIV)
18 while the Philistines had raided towns in the foothills and in the Negev of Judah. They captured and occupied Beth Shemesh, Aijalon and Gederoth, as well as Soco, Timnah and Gimzo, with their surrounding villages.
2 Chronicles 28:19 (NIV)
19 The LORD had humbled Judah because of Ahaz king of Israel, for he had promoted wickedness in Judah and had been most unfaithful to the LORD.
2 Chronicles 28:20 (NIV)
20 Tiglath-Pileser king of Assyria came to him, but he gave him trouble instead of help.
2 Chronicles 28:21 (AMP)
21 For Ahaz took [treasure] from the house of the Lord and out of the house of the king and from the princes and gave it as tribute to the king of Assyria, but it did not help Ahaz.
2 Chronicles 28:22 (NIV)
22 In his time of trouble King Ahaz became even more unfaithful to the LORD.
2 Chronicles 28:23 (NIV)
23 He offered sacrifices to the gods of Damascus, who had defeated him; for he thought, “Since the gods of the kings of Aram have helped them, I will sacrifice to them so they will help me.” But they were his downfall and the downfall of all Israel.
2 Chronicles 28:24 (NIV)
24 Ahaz gathered together the furnishings from the temple of God and took them away. He shut the doors of the LORD’s temple and set up altars at every street corner in Jerusalem.
2 Chronicles 28:25 (NIV)
25 In every town in Judah he built high places to burn sacrifices to other gods and provoked the LORD, the God of his fathers, to anger.
2 Chronicles 28:26 (NIV)
26 The other events of his reign and all his ways, from beginning to end, are written in the book of the kings of Judah and Israel.
2 Chronicles 28:27 (NIV)
27 Ahaz rested with his fathers and was buried in the city of Jerusalem, but he was not placed in the tombs of the kings of Israel. And Hezekiah his son succeeded him as king.
2 Chronicles Chapter 29
2 Chronicles 29:1 (NIV)
1 Hezekiah was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem twenty-nine years. His mother’s name was Abijah daughter of Zechariah.
2 Chronicles 29:2 (NIV)
2 He did what was right in the eyes of the LORD, just as his father David had done.
2 Chronicles 29:3 (NIV)
3 In the first month of the first year of his reign, he opened the doors of the temple of the LORD and repaired them.
2 Chronicles 29:4 (NIV)
4 He brought in the priests and the Levites, assembled them in the square on the east side
2 Chronicles 29:5 (NIV)
5 and said: “Listen to me, Levites! Consecrate yourselves now and consecrate the temple of the LORD, the God of your fathers. Remove all defilement from the sanctuary.
2 Chronicles 29:6 (NIV)
6 Our fathers were unfaithful; they did evil in the eyes of the LORD our God and forsook him. They turned their faces away from the LORD’s dwelling place and turned their backs on him.
2 Chronicles 29:7 (NIV)
7 They also shut the doors of the portico and put out the lamps. They did not burn incense or present any burnt offerings at the sanctuary to the God of Israel.
2 Chronicles 29:8 (NIV)
8 Therefore, the anger of the LORD has fallen on Judah and Jerusalem; he has made them an object of dread and horror and scorn, as you can see with your own eyes.
2 Chronicles 29:9 (NIV)
9 This is why our fathers have fallen by the sword and why our sons and daughters and our wives are in captivity.
2 Chronicles 29:10 (NIV)
10 Now I intend to make a covenant with the LORD, the God of Israel, so that his fierce anger will turn away from us.
2 Chronicles 29:11 (NIV)
11 My sons, do not be negligent now, for the LORD has chosen you to stand before him and serve him, to minister before him and to burn incense.”
2 Chronicles 29:12 (NIV)
12 Then these Levites set to work: from the Kohathites, Mahath son of Amasai and Joel son of Azariah; from the Merarites, Kish son of Abdi and Azariah son of Jehallelel; from the Gershonites, Joah son of Zimmah and Eden son of Joah;
2 Chronicles 29:13 (NIV)
13 from the descendants of Elizaphan, Shimri and Jeiel; from the descendants of Asaph, Zechariah and Mattaniah;
2 Chronicles 29:14 (NIV)
14 from the descendants of Heman, Jehiel and Shimei; from the descendants of Jeduthun, Shemaiah and Uzziel.
2 Chronicles 29:15 (NIV)
15 When they had assembled their brothers and consecrated themselves, they went in to purify the temple of the LORD, as the king had ordered, following the word of the LORD.
2 Chronicles 29:16 (NIV)
16 The priests went into the sanctuary of the LORD to purify it. They brought out to the courtyard of the LORD’s temple everything unclean that they found in the temple of the LORD. The Levites took it and carried it out to the Kidron Valley.
2 Chronicles 29:17 (NIV)
17 They began the consecration on the first day of the first month, and by the eighth day of the month they reached the portico of the LORD. For eight more days they consecrated the temple of the LORD itself, finishing on the sixteenth day of the first month.
2 Chronicles 29:18 (NIV)
18 Then they went in to King Hezekiah and reported: “We have purified the entire temple of the LORD, the altar of burnt offering with all its utensils, and the table for setting out the consecrated bread, with all its articles.
2 Chronicles 29:19 (NIV)
19 We have prepared and consecrated all the articles that King Ahaz removed in his unfaithfulness while he was king. They are now in front of the LORD’s altar.”
2 Chronicles 29:20 (NIV)
20 Early the next morning King Hezekiah gathered the city officials together and went up to the temple of the LORD.
2 Chronicles 29:21 (NIV)
21 They brought seven bulls, seven rams, seven male lambs and seven male goats as a sin offering for the kingdom, for the sanctuary and for Judah. The king commanded the priests, the descendants of Aaron, to offer these on the altar of the LORD.
2 Chronicles 29:22 (NIV)
22 So they slaughtered the bulls, and the priests took the blood and sprinkled it on the altar; next they slaughtered the rams and sprinkled their blood on the altar; then they slaughtered the lambs and sprinkled their blood on the altar.
2 Chronicles 29:23 (NIV)
23 The goats for the sin offering were brought before the king and the assembly, and they laid their hands on them.
2 Chronicles 29:24 (NIV)
24 The priests then slaughtered the goats and presented their blood on the altar for a sin offering to atone for all Israel, because the king had ordered the burnt offering and the sin offering for all Israel.
2 Chronicles 29:25 (NIV)
25 He stationed the Levites in the temple of the LORD with cymbals, harps and lyres in the way prescribed by David and Gad the king’s seer and Nathan the prophet; this was commanded by the LORD through his prophets.
2 Chronicles 29:26 (NIV)
26 So the Levites stood ready with David’s instruments, and the priests with their trumpets.
2 Chronicles 29:27 (NIV)
27 Hezekiah gave the order to sacrifice the burnt offering on the altar. As the offering began, singing to the LORD began also, accompanied by trumpets and the instruments of David king of Israel.
2 Chronicles 29:28 (NIV)
28 The whole assembly bowed in worship, while the singers sang and the trumpeters played. All this continued until the sacrifice of the burnt offering was completed.
2 Chronicles 29:29 (NIV)
29 When the offerings were finished, the king and everyone present with him knelt down and worshiped.
2 Chronicles 29:30 (NIV)
30 King Hezekiah and his officials ordered the Levites to praise the LORD with the words of David and of Asaph the seer. So they sang praises with gladness and bowed their heads and worshiped.
2 Chronicles 29:31 (NIV)
31 Then Hezekiah said, “You have now dedicated yourselves to the LORD. Come and bring sacrifices and thank offerings to the temple of the LORD.” So the assembly brought sacrifices and thank offerings, and all whose hearts were willing brought burnt offerings.
2 Chronicles 29:32 (NIV)
32 The number of burnt offerings the assembly brought was seventy bulls, a hundred rams and two hundred male lambs–all of them for burnt offerings to the LORD.
2 Chronicles 29:33 (NIV)
33 The animals consecrated as sacrifices amounted to six hundred bulls and three thousand sheep and goats.
2 Chronicles 29:34 (NIV)
34 The priests, however, were too few to skin all the burnt offerings; so their kinsmen the Levites helped them until the task was finished and until other priests had been consecrated, for the Levites had been more conscientious in consecrating themselves than the priests had been.
2 Chronicles 29:35 (NIV)
35 There were burnt offerings in abundance, together with the fat of the fellowship offerings and the drink offerings that accompanied the burnt offerings. So the service of the temple of the LORD was reestablished.
2 Chronicles 29:36 (NIV)
36 Hezekiah and all the people rejoiced at what God had brought about for his people, because it was done so quickly.
2 Chronicles Chapter 30
2 Chronicles 30:1 (NIV)
1 Hezekiah sent word to all Israel and Judah and also wrote letters to Ephraim and Manasseh, inviting them to come to the temple of the LORD in Jerusalem and celebrate the Passover to the LORD, the God of Israel.
2 Chronicles 30:2 (NIV)
2 The king and his officials and the whole assembly in Jerusalem decided to celebrate the Passover in the second month.
2 Chronicles 30:3 (NIV)
3 They had not been able to celebrate it at the regular time because not enough priests had consecrated themselves and the people had not assembled in Jerusalem.
2 Chronicles 30:4 (NIV)
4 The plan seemed right both to the king and to the whole assembly.
2 Chronicles 30:5 (NLT2)
5 So they sent a proclamation throughout all Israel, from Beersheba in the south to Dan in the north, inviting everyone to come to Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover of the LORD, the God of Israel. The people had not been celebrating it in great numbers as required in the Law.
2 Chronicles 30:6 (NIV)
6 At the king’s command, couriers went throughout Israel and Judah with letters from the king and from his officials, which read: “People of Israel, return to the LORD, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, that he may return to you who are left, who have escaped from the hand of the kings of Assyria.
2 Chronicles 30:7 (NIV)
7 Do not be like your fathers and brothers, who were unfaithful to the LORD, the God of their fathers, so that he made them an object of horror, as you see.
2 Chronicles 30:8 (NLT2)
8 Do not be stubborn, as they were, but submit yourselves to the LORD. Come to his Temple, which he has set apart as holy forever. Worship the LORD your God so that his fierce anger will turn away from you.
2 Chronicles 30:9 (NLT2)
9 “For if you return to the LORD, your relatives and your children will be treated mercifully by their captors, and they will be able to return to this land. For the LORD your God is gracious and merciful. If you return to him, he will not continue to turn his face from you.”
2 Chronicles 30:10 (NASB)
10 So the couriers passed from city to city through the country of Ephraim and Manasseh, and as far as Zebulun, but they laughed them to scorn and mocked them.
2 Chronicles 30:11 (NIV)
11 Nevertheless, some men of Asher, Manasseh and Zebulun humbled themselves and went to Jerusalem.
2 Chronicles 30:12 (NIV)
12 Also in Judah the hand of God was on the people to give them unity of mind to carry out what the king and his officials had ordered, following the word of the LORD.
2 Chronicles 30:13 (NIV)
13 A very large crowd of people assembled in Jerusalem to celebrate the Feast of Unleavened Bread in the second month.
2 Chronicles 30:14 (NLT2)
14 They set to work and removed the pagan altars from Jerusalem. They took away all the incense altars and threw them into the Kidron Valley.
2 Chronicles 30:15 (NASB)
15 Then they slaughtered the Passover lambs on the fourteenth of the second month. And the priests and Levites were ashamed of themselves, and consecrated themselves and brought burnt offerings to the house of the LORD.
2 Chronicles 30:16 (NIV2011)
16 Then they took up their regular positions as prescribed in the Law of Moses the man of God. The priests splashed against the altar the blood handed to them by the Levites.
2 Chronicles 30:17 (NASB)
17 For there were many in the assembly who had not consecrated themselves; therefore, the Levites were over the slaughter of the Passover lambs for everyone who was unclean, in order to consecrate them to the LORD.
2 Chronicles 30:18 (NIV2011)
18 Although most of the many people who came from Ephraim, Manasseh, Issachar and Zebulun had not purified themselves, yet they ate the Passover, contrary to what was written. But Hezekiah prayed for them, saying, “May the LORD, who is good, pardon everyone
2 Chronicles 30:19 (NIV2011)
19 who sets their heart on seeking God—the LORD, the God of their ancestors—even if they are not clean according to the rules of the sanctuary.”
2 Chronicles 30:20 (NIV)
20 And the LORD heard Hezekiah and healed the people.
2 Chronicles 30:21 (NIV2011)
21 The Israelites who were present in Jerusalem celebrated the Festival of Unleavened Bread for seven days with great rejoicing, while the Levites and priests praised the LORD every day with resounding instruments dedicated to the LORD.
2 Chronicles 30:22 (NIV2011)
22 Hezekiah spoke encouragingly to all the Levites, who showed good understanding of the service of the LORD. For the seven days they ate their assigned portion and offered fellowship offerings and praised the LORD, the God of their ancestors.
2 Chronicles 30:23 (AMP)
23 And the whole assembly took counsel to prolong the feast another seven days; and they kept it another seven days with joy.
2 Chronicles 30:24 (NIV)
24 Hezekiah king of Judah provided a thousand bulls and seven thousand sheep and goats for the assembly, and the officials provided them with a thousand bulls and ten thousand sheep and goats. A great number of priests consecrated themselves.
2 Chronicles 30:25 (NIV2011)
25 The entire assembly of Judah rejoiced, along with the priests and Levites and all who had assembled from Israel, including the foreigners who had come from Israel and also those who resided in Judah.
2 Chronicles 30:26 (NASB)
26 So there was great joy in Jerusalem, because there was nothing like this in Jerusalem since the days of Solomon the son of David, king of Israel.
2 Chronicles 30:27 (NLT2)
27 Then the priests and Levites stood and blessed the people, and God heard their prayer from his holy dwelling in heaven.
2 Chronicles Chapter 31
2 Chronicles 31:1 (NIV)
1 When all this had ended, the Israelites who were there went out to the towns of Judah, smashed the sacred stones and cut down the Asherah poles. They destroyed the high places and the altars throughout Judah and Benjamin and in Ephraim and Manasseh. After they had destroyed all of them, the Israelites returned to their own towns and to their own property.
2 Chronicles 31:2 (NIV)
2 Hezekiah assigned the priests and Levites to divisions–each of them according to their duties as priests or Levites–to offer burnt offerings and fellowship offerings, to minister, to give thanks and to sing praises at the gates of the LORD’s dwelling.
2 Chronicles 31:3 (NIV)
3 The king contributed from his own possessions for the morning and evening burnt offerings and for the burnt offerings on the Sabbaths, New Moons and appointed feasts as written in the Law of the LORD.
2 Chronicles 31:4 (NIV)
4 He ordered the people living in Jerusalem to give the portion due the priests and Levites so they could devote themselves to the Law of the LORD.
2 Chronicles 31:5 (NIV)
5 As soon as the order went out, the Israelites generously gave the firstfruits of their grain, new wine, oil and honey and all that the fields produced. They brought a great amount, a tithe of everything.
2 Chronicles 31:6 (NIV)
6 The men of Israel and Judah who lived in the towns of Judah also brought a tithe of their herds and flocks and a tithe of the holy things dedicated to the LORD their God, and they piled them in heaps.
2 Chronicles 31:7 (NIV)
7 They began doing this in the third month and finished in the seventh month.
2 Chronicles 31:8 (NIV)
8 When Hezekiah and his officials came and saw the heaps, they praised the LORD and blessed his people Israel.
2 Chronicles 31:9 (NASB)
9 Then Hezekiah questioned the priests and the Levites concerning the heaps.
2 Chronicles 31:10 (NIV)
10 and Azariah the chief priest, from the family of Zadok, answered, “Since the people began to bring their contributions to the temple of the LORD, we have had enough to eat and plenty to spare, because the LORD has blessed his people, and this great amount is left over.”
2 Chronicles 31:11 (NIV)
11 Hezekiah gave orders to prepare storerooms in the temple of the LORD, and this was done.
2 Chronicles 31:12 (NKJV)
12 Then they faithfully brought in the offerings, the tithes, and the dedicated things; Cononiah the Levite had charge of them, and Shimei his brother was the next.
2 Chronicles 31:13 (NLT2)
13 The supervisors under them were Jehiel, Azaziah, Nahath, Asahel, Jerimoth, Jozabad, Eliel, Ismakiah, Mahath, and Benaiah. These appointments were made by King Hezekiah and Azariah, the chief official in the Temple of God.
2 Chronicles 31:14 (NIV)
14 Kore son of Imnah the Levite, keeper of the East Gate, was in charge of the freewill offerings given to God, distributing the contributions made to the LORD and also the consecrated gifts.
2 Chronicles 31:15 (NASB)
15 Under his authority were Eden, Miniamin, Jeshua, Shemaiah, Amariah and Shecaniah in the cities of the priests, to distribute faithfully their portions to their brothers by divisions, whether great or small,
2 Chronicles 31:16 (NIV)
16 In addition, they distributed to the males three years old or more whose names were in the genealogical records–all who would enter the temple of the LORD to perform the daily duties of their various tasks, according to their responsibilities and their divisions.
2 Chronicles 31:17 (NIV)
17 And they distributed to the priests enrolled by their families in the genealogical records and likewise to the Levites twenty years old or more, according to their responsibilities and their divisions.
2 Chronicles 31:18 (NIV)
18 They included all the little ones, the wives, and the sons and daughters of the whole community listed in these genealogical records. For they were faithful in consecrating themselves.
2 Chronicles 31:19 (NIV)
19 As for the priests, the descendants of Aaron, who lived on the farm lands around their towns or in any other towns, men were designated by name to distribute portions to every male among them and to all who were recorded in the genealogies of the Levites.
2 Chronicles 31:20 (NIV)
20 This is what Hezekiah did throughout Judah, doing what was good and right and faithful before the LORD his God.
2 Chronicles 31:21 (NIV)
21 In everything that he undertook in the service of God’s temple and in obedience to the law and the commands, he sought his God and worked wholeheartedly. And so he prospered.
2 Chronicles chapter 32
2 Chronicles 32:1 (NIV)
1 After all that Hezekiah had so faithfully done, Sennacherib king of Assyria came and invaded Judah. He laid siege to the fortified cities, thinking to conquer them for himself.
2 Chronicles 32:2 (NIV)
2 When Hezekiah saw that Sennacherib had come and that he intended to make war on Jerusalem,
2 Chronicles 32:3 (NIV)
3 he consulted with his officials and military staff about blocking off the water from the springs outside the city, and they helped him.
2 Chronicles 32:4 (NIV)
4 A large force of men assembled, and they blocked all the springs and the stream that flowed through the land. “Why should the kings of Assyria come and find plenty of water?” they said.
2 Chronicles 32:5 (CJB)
5 Then, taking courage, he rebuilt all the broken sections of the wall, raised towers on it, built another wall outside that, strengthened the Millo in the City of David, and made a large quantity of spears and shields.
2 Chronicles 32:6 (CJB)
6 He appointed military commanders over the people, then gathered them before him in the open space at the city gate and spoke these words of encouragement to them:
2 Chronicles 32:7 (NIV)
7 “Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or discouraged because of the king of Assyria and the vast army with him, for there is a greater power with us than with him.
2 Chronicles 32:8 (NIV)
8 With him is only the arm of flesh, but with us is the LORD our God to help us and to fight our battles.” And the people gained confidence from what Hezekiah the king of Judah said.
2 Chronicles 32:9 (NIV)
9 Later, when Sennacherib king of Assyria and all his forces were laying siege to Lachish, he sent his officers to Jerusalem with this message for Hezekiah king of Judah and for all the people of Judah who were there:
2 Chronicles 32:10 (CJB)-M
10 “This is what Sennacherib king of Assyria says: ‘What gives you the confidence that you can endure a siege against Jerusalem?
2 Chronicles 32:11 (AMP)
11 Is not Hezekiah leading you on in order to let you die by famine and thirst, saying, The Lord our God will deliver us out of the hand of the king of Assyria?
2 Chronicles 32:12 (CJB)-M
12 Isn’t this the same Hezekiah who removed [your God’s] high places and altars and ordered Judah and Jerusalem to worship before one altar and offer sacrifices only on it?
2 Chronicles 32:13 (CJB)
13 Don’t you realize what I and my ancestors have done to all the peoples of the other countries? Were the gods of these nations able to do a thing to rescue their country from me?
2 Chronicles 32:14 (CJB)
14 Who of all the gods of those nations that my ancestors completely destroyed was able to rescue his people from me? How then will your God rescue you from me?
2 Chronicles 32:15 (CJB)-M
15 Don’t let Hezekiah mislead you or delude you this way, don’t believe him. For no god of any nation or kingdom has ever been able to rescue his people from me or my ancestors; how much less will your God rescue you from me!’”
2 Chronicles 32:16 (HCSB)
16 His servants said more against the LORD God and against His servant Hezekiah.
2 Chronicles 32:17 (NLT2)
17 The king also sent letters scorning the LORD, the God of Israel. He wrote, “Just as the gods of all the other nations failed to rescue their people from my power, so the God of Hezekiah will also fail.”
2 Chronicles 32:18 (NIV)
18 Then they called out in Hebrew to the people of Jerusalem who were on the wall, to terrify them and make them afraid in order to capture the city.
2 Chronicles 32:19 (CJB)-M
19 They spoke about the God of Jerusalem in the same way as about the gods of the other peoples of the earth, which are merely human artifacts.
2 Chronicles 32:20 (NIV)
20 King Hezekiah and the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz cried out in prayer to heaven about this.
2 Chronicles 32:21 (NIV)
21 And the LORD sent an angel, who annihilated all the fighting men and the leaders and officers in the camp of the Assyrian king. So he withdrew to his own land in disgrace. And when he went into the temple of his god, some of his sons cut him down with the sword.
2 Chronicles 32:22 (CJB)-M
22 In this way the Lord rescued Hezekiah and those living in Jerusalem from Sennacherib the king of Assyria and from everyone, caring for them in every respect.
2 Chronicles 32:23 (NIV)
23 Many brought offerings to Jerusalem for the LORD and valuable gifts for Hezekiah king of Judah. From then on he was highly regarded by all the nations.
2 Chronicles 32:24 (NIV)
24 In those days Hezekiah became ill and was at the point of death. He prayed to the LORD, who answered him and gave him a miraculous sign.
2 Chronicles 32:25 (NIV)
25 But Hezekiah’s heart was proud and he did not respond to the kindness shown him; therefore the LORD’s wrath was on him and on Judah and Jerusalem.
2 Chronicles 32:26 (CJB)-M
26 But Hezekiah then humbled himself for his pride, both he and the people living in Jerusalem, so that the Lord ’s anger did not strike them during Hezekiah’s lifetime.
2 Chronicles 32:27 (CJB)-M
27 Hezekiah had vast riches and great honor. He provided himself with storage places for silver, gold, precious stones, spices, shields and all kinds of valuable articles;
2 Chronicles 32:28 (NIV)
28 He also made buildings to store the harvest of grain, new wine and oil; and he made stalls for various kinds of cattle, and pens for the flocks.
2 Chronicles 32:29 (CJB)
29 He provided cities for himself and purchased flocks and herds in abundance, for God had made him extremely wealthy.
2 Chronicles 32:30 (NIV)
30 It was Hezekiah who blocked the upper outlet of the Gihon spring and channeled the water down to the west side of the City of David. He succeeded in everything he undertook.
2 Chronicles 32:31 (CJB)-M
31 However, in the matter of the ambassadors from the princes of Babylon, who sent to him to learn of the marvel that had taken place in the land, God left him by himself, in order to test him, so that he might know everything that was in his heart.
2 Chronicles 32:32 (NIV)
32 The other events of Hezekiah’s reign and his acts of devotion are written in the vision of the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz in the book of the kings of Judah and Israel.
2 Chronicles 32:33 (NIV)
33 Hezekiah rested with his fathers and was buried on the hill where the tombs of David’s descendants are. All Judah and the people of Jerusalem honored him when he died. And Manasseh his son succeeded him as king.
2 Chronicles Chapter 33
2 Chronicles 33:1 (NIV)
1 Manasseh was twelve years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem fifty-five years.
2 Chronicles 33:2 (CJB)-M
2 He did what was evil from the Lord’s perspective, following the disgusting practices of the nations whom the Lord had expelled ahead of the people of Israel.
2 Chronicles 33:3 (NIV)
3 He rebuilt the high places his father Hezekiah had demolished; he also erected altars to the Baals and made Asherah poles. He bowed down to all the starry hosts and worshiped them.
2 Chronicles 33:4 (NIV)
4 He built altars in the temple of the LORD, of which the LORD had said, “My Name will remain in Jerusalem forever.”
2 Chronicles 33:5 (NIV)
5 In both courts of the temple of the LORD, he built altars to all the starry hosts.
2 Chronicles 33:6 (CJB)-M
6 He made his children pass through the fire [as a sacrifice] in the Ben-Hinnom Valley. He practiced soothsaying, divination and sorcery; and he appointed mediums and persons who used spirit guides. He did much that was evil from the Lord’s perspective, thus provoking him to anger.
2 Chronicles 33:7 (NLT2)
7 Manasseh even took a carved idol he had made and set it up in God’s Temple, the very place where God had told David and his son Solomon: “My name will be honored forever in this Temple and in Jerusalem—the city I have chosen from among all the tribes of Israel.
2 Chronicles 33:8 (NIV2011)
8 I will not again make the feet of the Israelites leave the land I assigned to your ancestors, if only they will be careful to do everything I commanded them concerning all the laws, decrees and regulations given through Moses.”
2 Chronicles 33:9 (CJB)-M
9 Manasseh caused Judah and the people of Jerusalem to go astray, so that they did even worse things than the nations whom the Lord destroyed ahead of the people of Israel.
2 Chronicles 33:10 (NIV)
10 The LORD spoke to Manasseh and his people, but they paid no attention.
2 Chronicles 33:11 (NIV)
11 So the LORD brought against them the army commanders of the king of Assyria, who took Manasseh prisoner, put a hook in his nose, bound him with bronze shackles and took him to Babylon.
2 Chronicles 33:12 (NIV)
12 In his distress he sought the favor of the LORD his God and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers.
2 Chronicles 33:13 (NIV)
13 And when he prayed to him, the LORD was moved by his entreaty and listened to his plea; so he brought him back to Jerusalem and to his kingdom. Then Manasseh knew that the LORD is God.
2 Chronicles 33:14 (NIV)
14 Afterward he rebuilt the outer wall of the City of David, west of the Gihon spring in the valley, as far as the entrance of the Fish Gate and encircling the hill of Ophel; he also made it much higher. He stationed military commanders in all the fortified cities in Judah.
2 Chronicles 33:15 (NIV)
15 He got rid of the foreign gods and removed the image from the temple of the LORD, as well as all the altars he had built on the temple hill and in Jerusalem; and he threw them out of the city.
2 Chronicles 33:16 (NIV)
16 Then he restored the altar of the LORD and sacrificed fellowship offerings and thank offerings on it, and told Judah to serve the LORD, the God of Israel.
2 Chronicles 33:17 (NIV)
17 The people, however, continued to sacrifice at the high places, but only to the LORD their God.
2 Chronicles 33:18 (NIV)
18 The other events of Manasseh’s reign, including his prayer to his God and the words the seers spoke to him in the name of the LORD, the God of Israel, are written in the annals of the kings of Israel.
2 Chronicles 33:19 (NIV)
19 His prayer and how God was moved by his entreaty, as well as all his sins and unfaithfulness, and the sites where he built high places and set up Asherah poles and idols before he humbled himself–all are written in the records of the seers.
2 Chronicles 33:20 (CJB)-M
20 Then Manasseh slept with his ancestors and was buried at his own house, and Amon his son took his place as king.
2 Chronicles 33:21 (AMP)
21 Amon was twenty-two years old when he began his two-year reign in Jerusalem.
2 Chronicles 33:22 (CJB)
22 He did what was evil from the Lord’s perspective, as had Manasseh his father. Amon sacrificed to all the carved images that Manasseh his father had made, and served them.
2 Chronicles 33:23 (CJB)-M
23 He did not humble himself before the Lord, as Manasseh his father had done; rather, this Amon kept adding to his guilt.
2 Chronicles 33:24 (NIV)
24 Amon’s officials conspired against him and assassinated him in his palace.
2 Chronicles 33:25 (NIV)
25 Then the people of the land killed all who had plotted against King Amon, and they made Josiah his son king in his place.
2 Chronicles Chapter 34
2 Chronicles 34:1 (NIV)
1 Josiah was eight years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem thirty-one years.
2 Chronicles 34:2 (NLT2)
2 He did what was pleasing in the LORD’s sight and followed the example of his ancestor David. He did not turn away from doing what was right.
2 Chronicles 34:3 (NIV)
3 In the eighth year of his reign, while he was still young, he began to seek the God of his father David. In his twelfth year he began to purge Judah and Jerusalem of high places, Asherah poles, carved idols and cast images.
2 Chronicles 34:4 (NIV)
4 Under his direction the altars of the Baals were torn down; he cut to pieces the incense altars that were above them, and smashed the Asherah poles, the idols and the images. These he broke to pieces and scattered over the graves of those who had sacrificed to them.
2 Chronicles 34:5 (NLT2)
5 He burned the bones of the pagan priests on their own altars, and so he purified Judah and Jerusalem.
2 Chronicles 34:6 (NIV)
6 In the towns of Manasseh, Ephraim and Simeon, as far as Naphtali, and in the ruins around them,
2 Chronicles 34:7 (NIV)
7 he tore down the altars and the Asherah poles and crushed the idols to powder and cut to pieces all the incense altars throughout Israel. Then he went back to Jerusalem.
2 Chronicles 34:8 (CJB)-M
8 In the eighteenth year of his reign, after he had cleansed the land and the house, he sent Shaphan the son of Azaliah, Maaseiah the governor of the city and Joah the son of Joahaz the recorder to repair the house of the Lord his God.
2 Chronicles 34:9 (NIV)
9 They went to Hilkiah the high priest and gave him the money that had been brought into the temple of God, which the Levites who were the doorkeepers had collected from the people of Manasseh, Ephraim and the entire remnant of Israel and from all the people of Judah and Benjamin and the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
2 Chronicles 34:10 (NIV)
10 Then they entrusted it to the men appointed to supervise the work on the LORD’s temple. These men paid the workers who repaired and restored the temple.
2 Chronicles 34:11 (NIV)
11 They also gave money to the carpenters and builders to purchase dressed stone, and timber for joists and beams for the buildings that the kings of Judah had allowed to fall into ruin.
2 Chronicles 34:12 (NKJV)
12 And the men did the work faithfully. Their overseers were Jahath and Obadiah the Levites, of the sons of Merari, and Zechariah and Meshullam, of the sons of the Kohathites, to supervise. Others of the Levites, all of whom were skillful with instruments of music,
2 Chronicles 34:13 (CJB)-M
13 They supervised those carrying the loads and everyone doing any kind of work; and there were also Levites who were secretaries, officials and gatekeepers.
2 Chronicles 34:14 (NIV)
14 While they were bringing out the money that had been taken into the temple of the LORD, Hilkiah the priest found the Book of the Law of the LORD that had been given through Moses.
2 Chronicles 34:15 (CJB)-M
15 Hilkiah said to Shaphan the secretary, “I have found the scroll of the Torah in the house of the Lord.” Hilkiah gave the scroll to Shaphan.
2 Chronicles 34:16 (CJB)-M
16 Shaphan the secretary brought the scroll to the king. Turning to the king, he gave him this report: “Your servants are doing everything you ordered them to do.
2 Chronicles 34:17 (NIV)
17 They have paid out the money that was in the temple of the LORD and have entrusted it to the supervisors and workers.”
2 Chronicles 34:18 (CJB)-M
18 Then Shaphan the secretary told the king, “Hilkiah the priest gave me a scroll.” Shaphan read it aloud before the king.
2 Chronicles 34:19 (CJB)
19 After the king had heard what was written in the Torah, he tore his clothes.
2 Chronicles 34:20 (NIV)
20 He gave these orders to Hilkiah, Ahikam son of Shaphan, Abdon son of Micah, Shaphan the secretary and Asaiah the king’s attendant:
2 Chronicles 34:21 (CJB)-M
21 “Go, and consult the Lord for me and for the people left in Israel and Judah in regard to what is written in this scroll which has been found. For the Lord must be furious at us, since our ancestors did not observe the word of the Lord and do everything written in this scroll.”
2 Chronicles 34:22 (NLT2)
22 So Hilkiah and the other men went to the New Quarter of Jerusalem to consult with the prophet Huldah. She was the wife of Shallum son of Tikvah, son of Harhas, the keeper of the Temple wardrobe.
2 Chronicles 34:23 (NIV)
23 She said to them, “This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: Tell the man who sent you to me,
2 Chronicles 34:24 (CJB)-M
24 that the Lord says this: ‘I am going to bring calamity on this place and on its inhabitants, all the curses written in the scroll they read to the king of Judah;
2 Chronicles 34:25 (NIV)
25 Because they have forsaken me and burned incense to other gods and provoked me to anger by all that their hands have made, my anger will be poured out on this place and will not be quenched.’
2 Chronicles 34:26 (CJB)-M
26 “But you are to tell the king of Judah, who sent you to consult the Lord, that the Lord the God of Israel also says this: ‘In regard to the words you have heard,
2 Chronicles 34:27 (CJB)-M
27 because your heart was tender, and you humbled yourself before God when you heard his words against this place and its inhabitants — you humbled yourself before me, tore your clothes and cried before me — I have also heard you,’ says the Lord.
2 Chronicles 34:28 (CJB)
28 ‘Here, I will gather you to your ancestors; you will go to your grave in peace; and your eyes will not see all the calamity I am going to bring on this place and its inhabitants.’” So they brought back word to the king.
2 Chronicles 34:29 (CJB)-M
29 Then the king summoned and assembled all the leaders of Judah and Jerusalem.
2 Chronicles 34:30 (CJB)-M
30 The king went up to the house of the Lord with all the men of Judah, those living in Jerusalem, the priests, the Levites and all the people, both great and small; and he read in their hearing everything written in the scroll of the covenant that had been found in the house of the Lord .
2 Chronicles 34:31 (CJB)-M
31 The king stood in his place and made a covenant in the presence of the Lord to live following the Lord, observing his commands, instructions and laws wholeheartedly and with all his being, so as to perform the words of the covenant written in this scroll.
2 Chronicles 34:32 (NIV2011)
32 Then he had everyone in Jerusalem and Benjamin pledge themselves to it; the people of Jerusalem did this in accordance with the covenant of God, the God of their ancestors.
2 Chronicles 34:33 (NIV2011)
33 Josiah removed all the detestable idols from all the territory belonging to the Israelites, and he had all who were present in Israel serve the LORD their God. As long as he lived, they did not fail to follow the LORD, the God of their ancestors.
2 Chronicles Chapter 35
2 Chronicles 35:1 (NIV)
1 Josiah celebrated the Passover to the LORD in Jerusalem, and the Passover lamb was slaughtered on the fourteenth day of the first month.
2 Chronicles 35:2 (NIV)
2 He appointed the priests to their duties and encouraged them in the service of the LORD’s temple.
2 Chronicles 35:3 (CJB)-M
3 To the Levites who were teaching all Israel and were holy for the Lord he said, “Put the holy ark in the house which Solomon the son of David, king of Israel, built; after this, you will not have to carry it again. Now serve the Lord your God and his people Israel.
2 Chronicles 35:4 (CJB)-M
4 Organize yourselves by clans and duty divisions according to the arrangement written down by David king of Israel and Solomon his son.
2 Chronicles 35:5 (NASB)
5 “Moreover, stand in the holy place according to the sections of the fathers’ households of your brethren the lay people, and according to the Levites, by division of a father’s household.
2 Chronicles 35:6 (NIV2011)
6 Slaughter the Passover lambs, consecrate yourselves and prepare the lambs for your fellow Israelites, doing what the LORD commanded through Moses.”
2 Chronicles 35:7 (NASB)
7 Josiah contributed to the lay people, to all who were present, flocks of lambs and young goats, all for the Passover offerings, numbering 30,000 plus 3,000 bulls; these were from the king’s possessions.
2 Chronicles 35:8 (NIV)
8 His officials also contributed voluntarily to the people and the priests and Levites. Hilkiah, Zechariah and Jehiel, the administrators of God’s temple, gave the priests twenty-six hundred Passover offerings and three hundred cattle.
2 Chronicles 35:9 (NIV)
9 Also Conaniah along with Shemaiah and Nethanel, his brothers, and Hashabiah, Jeiel and Jozabad, the leaders of the Levites, provided five thousand Passover offerings and five hundred head of cattle for the Levites.
2 Chronicles 35:10 (NIV)
10 The service was arranged and the priests stood in their places with the Levites in their divisions as the king had ordered.
2 Chronicles 35:11 (CJB)-M
11 They slaughtered the Passover lambs; the priests splashed [the blood, which they received from the Levites], and the Levites skinned and butchered them.
2 Chronicles 35:12 (NASB)
12 Then they removed the burnt offerings that they might give them to the sections of the fathers’ households of the lay people to present to the LORD, as it is written in the book of Moses. They did this also with the bulls.
2 Chronicles 35:13 (NIV)
13 They roasted the Passover animals over the fire as prescribed, and boiled the holy offerings in pots, caldrons and pans and served them quickly to all the people.
2 Chronicles 35:14 (NIV)
14 After this, they made preparations for themselves and for the priests, because the priests, the descendants of Aaron, were sacrificing the burnt offerings and the fat portions until nightfall. So the Levites made preparations for themselves and for the Aaronic priests.
2 Chronicles 35:15 (NIV)
15 The musicians, the descendants of Asaph, were in the places prescribed by David, Asaph, Heman and Jeduthun the king’s seer. The gatekeepers at each gate did not need to leave their posts, because their fellow Levites made the preparations for them.
2 Chronicles 35:16 (NIV)
16 So at that time the entire service of the LORD was carried out for the celebration of the Passover and the offering of burnt offerings on the altar of the LORD, as King Josiah had ordered.
2 Chronicles 35:17 (NIV)
17 The Israelites who were present celebrated the Passover at that time and observed the Feast of Unleavened Bread for seven days.
2 Chronicles 35:18 (NIV)
18 The Passover had not been observed like this in Israel since the days of the prophet Samuel; and none of the kings of Israel had ever celebrated such a Passover as did Josiah, with the priests, the Levites and all Judah and Israel who were there with the people of Jerusalem.
2 Chronicles 35:19 (NIV)
19 This Passover was celebrated in the eighteenth year of Josiah’s reign.
2 Chronicles 35:11 (CJB)-M
11 They slaughtered the Passover lambs; the priests splashed [the blood, which they received from the Levites], and the Levites skinned and butchered them.
2 Chronicles 35:21 (NLT2)
21 But King Neco sent messengers to Josiah with this message: “What do you want with me, king of Judah? I have no quarrel with you today! I am on my way to fight another nation, and God has told me to hurry! Do not interfere with God, who is with me, or he will destroy you.”
2 Chronicles 35:22 (NIV)
22 Josiah, however, would not turn away from him, but disguised himself to engage him in battle. He would not listen to what Neco had said at God’s command but went to fight him on the plain of Megiddo.
2 Chronicles 35:23 (NIV)
23 Archers shot King Josiah, and he told his officers, “Take me away; I am badly wounded.”
2 Chronicles 35:24 (NIV)
24 So they took him out of his chariot, put him in the other chariot he had and brought him to Jerusalem, where he died. He was buried in the tombs of his fathers, and all Judah and Jerusalem mourned for him.
2 Chronicles 35:25 (NIV)
25 Jeremiah composed laments for Josiah, and to this day all the men and women singers commemorate Josiah in the laments. These became a tradition in Israel and are written in the Laments.
2 Chronicles 35:26 (NIV)
26 The other events of Josiah’s reign and his acts of devotion, according to what is written in the Law of the LORD–
2 Chronicles 35:27 (NIV)
27 all the events, from beginning to end, are written in the book of the kings of Israel and Judah.
2 Chronicles Chapter 36
2 Chronicles 36:1 (NIV)
1 And the people of the land took Jehoahaz son of Josiah and made him king in Jerusalem in place of his father.
2 Chronicles 36:2 (NIV)
2 Jehoahaz was twenty-three years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem three months.
2 Chronicles 36:3 (CJB)-M
3 But the king of Egypt deposed him in Jerusalem and imposed a penalty on the land of three-and-a-third tons of silver and sixty-six pounds of gold.
2 Chronicles 36:4 (NIV)
4 The king of Egypt made Eliakim, a brother of Jehoahaz, king over Judah and Jerusalem and changed Eliakim’s name to Jehoiakim. But Neco took Eliakim’s brother Jehoahaz and carried him off to Egypt.
2 Chronicles 36:5 (NIV)
5 Jehoiakim was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem eleven years. He did evil in the eyes of the LORD his God.
2 Chronicles 36:6 (NIV)
6 Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon attacked him and bound him with bronze shackles to take him to Babylon.
2 Chronicles 36:7 (NIV)
7 Nebuchadnezzar also took to Babylon articles from the temple of the LORD and put them in his temple there.
2 Chronicles 36:8 (CJB)-M
8 Other activities of Jehoiakim, including all the abominations he did publicly and those discovered later, are recorded in the Annals of the Kings of Israel and Judah. Then Jehoiachin his son took his place as king.
2 Chronicles 36:9 (NIV)
9 Jehoiachin was eighteen years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem three months and ten days. He did evil in the eyes of the LORD.
2 Chronicles 36:10 (NIV)
10 In the spring, King Nebuchadnezzar sent for him and brought him to Babylon, together with articles of value from the temple of the LORD, and he made Jehoiachin’s uncle, Zedekiah, king over Judah and Jerusalem.
2 Chronicles 36:11 (NIV)
11 Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem eleven years.
2 Chronicles 36:12 (NIV)
12 He did evil in the eyes of the LORD his God and did not humble himself before Jeremiah the prophet, who spoke the word of the LORD.
2 Chronicles 36:13 (NIV)
13 He also rebelled against King Nebuchadnezzar, who had made him take an oath in God’s name. He became stiff-necked and hardened his heart and would not turn to the LORD, the God of Israel.
2 Chronicles 36:14 (CJB)
14 In addition, the chief priests and the people grew increasingly unfaithful, following all the abominable practices of the other nations; and they polluted the house of the Lord, which he had consecrated in Jerusalem.
2 Chronicles 36:15 (NIV)
15 The LORD, the God of their fathers, sent word to them through his messengers again and again, because he had pity on his people and on his dwelling place.
2 Chronicles 36:16 (CJB)-M
16 But they ridiculed God’s messengers, treating his words with contempt and scoffing at his prophets, until the anger of the Lord rose up against his people to the extent that there was no longer any remedy.
2 Chronicles 36:17 (NIV)
17 He brought up against them the king of the Babylonians, who killed their young men with the sword in the sanctuary, and spared neither young man nor young woman, old man or aged. God handed all of them over to Nebuchadnezzar.
2 Chronicles 36:18 (NIV)
18 He carried to Babylon all the articles from the temple of God, both large and small, and the treasures of the LORD’s temple and the treasures of the king and his officials.
2 Chronicles 36:19 (NIV)
19 They set fire to God’s temple and broke down the wall of Jerusalem; they burned all the palaces and destroyed everything of value there.
2 Chronicles 36:20 (NIV)
20 He carried into exile to Babylon the remnant, who escaped from the sword, and they became servants to him and his sons until the kingdom of Persia came to power.
2 Chronicles 36:21 (NIV)
21 The land enjoyed its Sabbath rests; all the time of its desolation it rested, until the seventy years were completed in fulfillment of the word of the LORD spoken by Jeremiah.
2 Chronicles 36:22 (NIV)
22 In the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, in order to fulfill the word of the LORD spoken by Jeremiah, the LORD moved the heart of Cyrus king of Persia to make a proclamation throughout his realm and to put it in writing:
2 Chronicles 36:23 (NIV2011)
23 “This is what Cyrus king of Persia says: “ ‘The LORD, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth and he has appointed me to build a temple for him at Jerusalem in Judah. Any of his people among you may go up, and may the LORD their God be with them.’ ”