Category: 2 Kings

1 Manasseh was twelve years old when he had begun to reign, and he reigned for fifty-five years in Jerusalem. The name of his mother was Hephzibah.

2 And he did evil in the sight of the Lord, in accord with the idols of the nations that the Lord destroyed before the face of the sons of Israel.

3 And he turned away. And he built up the high places that his father, Hezekiah, had destroyed. And he erected altars to Baal, and he made sacred groves, just as Ahab, the king of Israel, had done. And he adored the entire army of heaven, and he served them.

4 And he constructed altars in the house of the Lord, about which the Lord said: “In Jerusalem, I will place my name.”

5 And he constructed altars, for the entire army of heaven, within the two courts of the temple of the Lord.

6 And he led his son through fire. And he used divinations, and observed omens, and appointed soothsayers, and multiplied diviners, so that he did evil before the Lord, and provoked him.

7 Also, he set up an idol, of the sacred grove that he had made, in the temple of the Lord, about which the Lord said to David, and to his son Solomon: “In this temple, and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, I will place my name forever.

8 And I will no longer cause the feet of Israel to be moved from the land that I gave to their fathers: if only they will take care to do all that I have instructed them, and the entire law that my servant Moses commanded to them.”

9 Yet truly, they did not listen. Instead, they were seduced by Manasseh, so that they did evil, more so than the nations that the Lord crushed before the face of the sons of Israel.

10 And so the Lord spoke, by the hand of his servants, the prophets, saying:

11 “Since Manasseh, the king of Judah, has committed these wicked abominations, beyond all that the Amorites before him have done, and also has caused Judah to sin by his defilements,

12 because of this, thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: Behold, I will lead evils over Jerusalem and over Judah, such that, whoever will hear of these things, both his ears will ring.

13 And I will extend the measuring line of Samaria over Jerusalem, with the scale of the house of Ahab. And I will erase Jerusalem, just as writing tablets are usually erased. And after erasing, I will turn it and repeatedly drag a stylus over its surface.

14 And truly, I will send away the remnants of my inheritance, and I will deliver them into the hands of their enemies. And they will be devastated and plundered by all their adversaries.

15 For they have done evil before me, and they have persevered in provoking me, from the day when their fathers departed from Egypt, even to this day.

16 Moreover, Manasseh also has shed an exceedingly great amount of innocent blood, until he filled Jerusalem even to the mouth, aside from his sins by which he caused Judah to sin, so that they did evil before the Lord.”

17 Now the rest of the words of Manasseh, and all that he did, and his sin that he sinned, have these not been written in the book of the words of the days of the kings of Judah?

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

19 Amon was twenty-two years old when he had begun to reign, and he reigned for two years in Jerusalem. The name of his mother was Meshullemeth, the daughter of Haruz, from Jotbah.

20 And he did evil in the sight of the Lord, just as his father, Manasseh, had done.

21 And he walked in all the ways in which his father had walked. And he served the unclean things that his father had served, and he adored them.

22 And he abandoned the Lord, the God of his fathers, and he did not walk in the way of the Lord.

23 And his servants undertook treachery against him. And they killed the king in his own house.

24 But the people of the land slew all those who had conspired against king Amon. And they appointed for themselves Josiah, his son, as king in his place.

25 But the rest of the words of Amon, which he did, have these not been written in the book of the words of the days of the kings of Judah?

26 And they buried him in his sepulcher, in the garden of Uzza. And his son, Josiah, reigned in his place.

1 Josiah was eight years old when he had begun to reign. He reigned for thirty-one years in Jerusalem. The name of his mother was Jedidah, the daughter of Adaiah, from Bozkath.

2 And he did what was pleasing before the Lord, and he walked in all the ways of his father David. He did not turn aside to the right, or to the left.

3 Then, in the eighteenth year of king Josiah, the king sent Shaphan, the son of Azaliah, the son of Meshullam, the scribe of the temple of the Lord, saying to him:

4 “Go to Hilkiah, the high priest, so that the money may be put together which has been brought into the temple of the Lord, which the doorkeepers of the temple have collected from the people.

5 And let it be given, by those in charge of the house of the Lord, to the workers. And let them distribute it to those who are working in the temple of the Lord in order to repair the surfaces of the temple,

6 specifically, to carpenters and masons, and to those who mend gaps, and so that wood may be purchased, and stones from the quarries, in order to repair the temple of the Lord.

7 Yet truly, let no account be given by them of the money that they receive. Instead, let them have it within their power and trust.”

8 Then Hilkiah, the high priest, said to Shaphan, the scribe, “I have found the book of the law in the house of the Lord.” And Hilkiah gave the volume to Shaphan, and he read it.

9 Also, Shaphan, the scribe, went to the king, and reported to him what he had instructed. And he said: “Your servants have brought together the money which was found in the house of the Lord. And they have given it so that it would be distributed to the workers by the overseers of the works of the temple of the Lord.”

10 Also, Shaphan, the scribe, explained to the king, saying, “Hilkiah, the priest, gave the book to me.” And when Shaphan had read it before the king,

11 and the king had heard the words of the book of the law of the Lord, he tore his garments.

12 And he instructed Hilkiah, the priest, and Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, and Achbor, the son of Micaiah, and Shaphan, the scribe, and Asaiah, the servant of the king, saying:

13 “Go and consult the Lord concerning me, and the people, and all of Judah, about the words of this volume which has been found. For the great wrath of the Lord has been kindled against us because our fathers did not listen to the words of this book, so that they would do all that has been written for us.”

14 Therefore, Hilkiah, the priest, and Ahikam, and Achbor, and Shaphan, and Asaiah, went to Huldah, the prophetess, the wife of Shallum, the son of Tikvah, the son of Harhas, the keeper of the vestments, who was living in Jerusalem, in the second part. And they spoke with her.

15 And she responded to them: “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: Tell the man who sent you to me:

16 Thus says the Lord: Behold, I will lead evils over this place, and over its inhabitants, all the words of the law that the king of Judah has read.

17 For they have abandoned me, and they have sacrificed to foreign gods, provoking me by all the works of their hands. And so my indignation will be kindled against this place. And it will not be extinguished.

18 But to the king of Judah, who sent you so that you would consult the Lord, so shall you say: Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: In so far as you have heard the words of the volume,

19 and your heart was terrified, and you humbled yourself before the Lord, listening to the words against this place and its inhabitants, specifically, that they would become an astonishment and a curse, and because you have torn your garments, and have wept before me: I also have heard you, says the Lord.

20 For this reason, I will gather you to your fathers, and you will be gathered to your sepulcher in peace, so that your eyes may not see all the evils that I will bring over this place.”

1 And they reported to the king what she had said. And he sent, and all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem were gathered to him.

2 And the king ascended to the temple of the Lord. And with him were all the men of Judah and all who were living in Jerusalem: the priests, and the prophets, and all the people, from the small to the great. And in the hearing of everyone, he read all the words of the book of the covenant, which was found in the house of the Lord.

3 And the king stood upon the step. And he struck a covenant before the Lord, so that they would walk after the Lord, and keep his precepts and testimonies and ceremonies, with all their heart and with all their soul, and so that they would carry out the words of this covenant, which had been written in that book. And the people agreed to the covenant.

4 And the king instructed Hilkiah, the high priest, and the priests of the second order, and the doorkeepers, so that they would cast out of the temple of the Lord all the vessels which had been made for Baal, and for the sacred grove, and for the entire army of heaven. And he burned them outside of Jerusalem, in the steep valley of Kidron. And he carried their dust into Bethel.

5 And he destroyed the soothsayers, whom the kings of Judah had appointed to sacrifice in the high places throughout the cities of Judah, and all around Jerusalem, along with those who were burning incense to Baal, and to the Sun, and to the Moon, and to the twelve signs, and to the entire army of heaven.

6 And he caused the sacred grove to be carried away from the house of the Lord, outside of Jerusalem, to the steep valley of Kidron. And he burned it there, and reduced it to dust. And he cast the dust over the graves of the common people.

7 Also, he destroyed the small places of the effeminate, which were in the house of the Lord, for which the women were weaving something like little houses in the sacred grove.

8 And he gathered together all the priests from the cities of Judah. And he defiled the high places, where the priests were sacrificing, from Geba as far as Beersheba. And he tore down the altars of the gates at the entrance to the gate of Joshua, the leader of the city, which was to the left of the gate of the city.

9 Yet truly, the priests of the high places did not ascend to the altar of the Lord in Jerusalem. For they would only eat from the unleavened bread in the midst of their brothers.

10 Also, he defiled Topheth, which is in the steep valley of the son of Hinnom, so that no one would consecrate his son or his daughter, through fire, to Molech.

11 Also, he took away the horses that the kings of Judah had given to the Sun, at the entrance to the temple of the Lord, beside the hallway of Nathan-melech, the eunuch, who was in Pharurim. And he burned the chariots of the Sun with fire.

12 Also, the altars which were upon the roof of the upper room of Ahaz, which the kings of Judah had made, and the altars which Manasseh had made in the two courts of the temple of the Lord, the king destroyed. And he hurried from there, and he scattered their ashes into the torrent Kidron.

13 Also, the high places which were in Jerusalem, to the right side of the Mount of Offense, which Solomon, the king of Israel, had built to Ashtoreth, the idol of the Sidonians, and to Chemosh, the offense of Moab, and to Milcom, the abomination of the sons of Ammon, the king defiled.

14 And he crushed the statues, and he cut down the sacred groves. And he filled their places with the bones of the dead.

15 Then too, the altar which was in Bethel, and the high place which Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, who caused Israel to sin, had made: both that altar and the high place he tore down, and burned, and reduced to dust. And then he also set fire to the sacred grove.

16 And in that place Josiah, turning, saw the sepulchers which were on the mount. And he sent and took the bones from the sepulchers. And he burned them upon the altar, and he defiled it in accord with the word of the Lord, which was spoken by the man of God, who had predicted these events.

17 And he said, “What is that monument that I see?” And the citizens of that city responded to him: “It is the sepulcher of the man of God, who came from Judah, and who predicted these events, which you have carried out concerning the altar of Bethel.”

18 And he said: “Permit him. Let no one move his bones.” And his bones have remained untouched, with the bones of the prophet who had arrived from Samaria.

19 Then too, all the shines of the high places, which were in the cities of Samaria, which the kings of Israel had made to provoke the Lord, Josiah took away. And he acted toward them according to all the works that he had done in Bethel.

20 And all the priests of the high places, who were in that place, he killed upon the altars. And he burned the bones of the men upon them. And he returned to Jerusalem.

21 And he instructed all the people, saying: “Keep the Passover to the Lord your God, according to what has been written in the book of this covenant.”

22 Now no similar Passover was kept, from the days of the judges, who judged Israel, and from all the days of the kings of Israel and the kings of Judah,

23 as this Passover, which was kept to the Lord in Jerusalem, in the eighteenth year of king Josiah.

24 Then too, Josiah took away those who divined by spirits, and the soothsayers, and the images of the idols, and the defilements, and the abominations, which had been in the land of Judah and Jerusalem, so that he might establish the words of the law, which were written in the book, which Hilkiah, the priest, found in the temple of the Lord.

25 There was no king before him similar to him, who returned to the Lord with all his heart, and with all his soul, and with all his strength, in accord with the entire law of Moses. And after him, there rose up no one similar to him.

26 Yet truly, the Lord did not turn away from the wrath of his great fury, his fury which was enraged against Judah because of the provocations by which Manasseh had provoked him.

27 And so the Lord said: “And now I will remove Judah from my face, just as I removed Israel. And I will cast aside this city, Jerusalem, which I have chosen, and the house, about which I said: My name shall be there.”

28 Now the rest of the words of Josiah, and all that he did, have these not been written in the book of the words of the days of the kings of Judah?

29 During his days, Pharaoh Neco, the king of Egypt, ascended against the king of the Assyrians to the river Euphrates. And king Josiah went out to meet him. And when he had seen him, he was killed at Megiddo.

30 And his servants carried him dead from Megiddo. And they took him to Jerusalem, and they buried him in his own sepulcher. And the people of the land took Jehoahaz, the son of Josiah. And they anointed him, and made him king in place of his father.

31 Jehoahaz was twenty-three years old when he had begun to reign, and he reigned for three months in Jerusalem. The name of his mother was Hamutal, the daughter of Jeremiah, from Libnah.

32 And he did evil before the Lord, according to all that his fathers had done.

33 And Pharaoh Neco bound him at Riblah, which is in the land of Hamath, so that he would not reign in Jerusalem. And he imposed a penalty on the land: one hundred talents of silver, and one talent of gold.

34 And Pharaoh Neco appointed Eliakim, the son of Josiah, as king in place of Josiah his father. And he changed his name to Jehoiakim. Then he took Jehoahaz away, and he brought him into Egypt, and there he died.

35 Now Jehoiakim gave silver and gold to Pharaoh, when he had taxed the land, according to each one who would contribute by the command of Pharaoh. And he exacted both silver and gold from the people of the land, from each one according to his ability, so that he would give to Pharaoh Neco.

36 Jehoiakim was twenty-five years old when he had begun to reign, and he reigned for eleven years in Jerusalem. The name of his mother was Zebidah, the daughter of Pedaiah, from Rumah.

37 And he did evil before the Lord, in accord with all that his fathers had done.

1 During his days, Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, ascended, and Jehoiakim became his servant for three years. And again he rebelled against him.

2 And the Lord sent to him the robbers of the Chaldeans, and the robbers of Syria, and the robbers of Moab, and the robbers of the sons of Ammon. And he sent them into Judah, so that they might destroy it, in accord with the word of the Lord, which he had spoken through his servants, the prophets.

3 Then this occurred, by the word of the Lord against Judah, that he took him away from before himself because of all the sins of Manasseh which he did,

4 and because of the innocent blood which he shed, and because he filled Jerusalem with the slaughter of the innocent. And for this reason, the Lord was not willing to be appeased.

5 But the rest of the words of Jehoiakim, and all that he did, have these not been written in the book of the words of the days of the kings of Judah? And Jehoiakim slept with his fathers.

6 And Jehoiachin, his son, reigned in his place.

7 And the king of Egypt no longer continued to go out from his own land. For the king of Babylon had taken all that had belonged to the king of Egypt, from the river of Egypt as far as the river Euphrates.

8 Jehoiachin was eighteen years old when he had begun to reign, and he reigned for three months in Jerusalem. The name of his mother was Nehushta, the daughter of Elnathan, from Jerusalem.

9 And he did evil before the Lord, in accord with all that his father had done.

10 At that time, the servants of Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, ascended against Jerusalem. And the city was encircled with fortifications.

11 And Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, went to the city, with his servants, so that he might fight against it.

12 And Jehoiachin, the king of Judah, went out to the king of Babylon, he, and his mother, and his servants, and his leaders, and his eunuchs. And the king of Babylon received him, in the eighth year of his reign.

13 And he took from there all the treasures of the house of the Lord, and the treasures of the house of the king. And he cut up all the gold vessels which Solomon, the king of Israel, had made for the temple of the Lord, in accord with the word of the Lord.

14 And he carried away all of Jerusalem, and all the leaders, and all the strong men of the army, ten thousand, into captivity, with every artisan and craftsman. And no one was left behind, except the poor among the people of the land.

15 Also, he carried away Jehoiachin into Babylon, and the mother of the king, and the wives of the king, and his eunuchs. And he led into captivity the judges of the land, from Jerusalem to Babylon,

16 and all the robust men, seven thousand, and the artisans and craftsman, one thousand: all who were strong men and fit for war. And the king of Babylon led them away as captives, into Babylon.

17 And he appointed Mattaniah, his uncle, in his place. And he imposed the name Zedekiah upon him.

18 Zedekiah held twenty-one years of life when he had begun to reign. And he reigned for eleven years in Jerusalem. The name of his mother was Hamutal, the daughter of Jeremiah, from Libnah.

19 And he did evil before the Lord, in accord with all that Jehoiakim had done.

20 For the Lord was angry against Jerusalem and against Judah, until he cast them away from his face. And so Zedekiah withdrew from the king of Babylon.

1 Then it happened that, in the ninth year of his reign, in the tenth month, on the tenth day of the month, Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, he and his entire army, arrived against Jerusalem. And they encircled it, and they constructed fortifications all around it.

2 And the city was enclosed and besieged, even until the eleventh year of king Zedekiah,

3 on the ninth day of the month. And a famine prevailed in the city; neither was there bread for the people of the land.

4 And the city was breached. And all the men of war fled in the night along the way of the gate which is between the double wall at the garden of the king. Now the Chaldeans were besieging the city on all sides. And so Zedekiah fled along the way which leads to the plains of the wilderness.

5 And the army of the Chaldeans pursued the king, and they overtook him in the plains of Jericho. And all the warriors who were with him were dispersed, and they abandoned him.

6 Therefore, having apprehended him, they led the king to the king of Babylon at Riblah. And he was speaking with him in judgment.

7 Then he killed the sons of Zedekiah before him, and he dug out his eyes, and he bound him with chains, and he led him away to Babylon.

8 In the fifth month, on the seventh day of the month, the same is the nineteenth year of the king of Babylon, Nebuzaradan, the leader of the army, a servant of the king of Babylon, went into Jerusalem.

9 And he set fire to the house of the Lord, and to the house of the king. And the houses of Jerusalem, and every great house, he burned with fire.

10 And the entire army of the Chaldeans, which was with the leader of the military, tore down the walls of Jerusalem all around.

11 Then Nebuzaradan, the leader of the military, carried away the rest of the people, who had remained in the city, and the fugitives, who had fled over to the king of Babylon, and the remnant of the common people.

12 But he left behind some vinedressers and farmers from the poor of the land.

13 Now the pillars of brass which were in the temple of the Lord, and the bases, and the sea of brass, which was in the house of the Lord, the Chaldeans broke apart. And they took all the brass to Babylon.

14 Also, they took away the cooking pots of brass, and the scoops, and the forks, and the cups, and the little mortars, and all the articles of brass with which they were ministering.

15 And the leader of the military even took away the censers and the bowls, whatever was of gold for the gold, and whatever was of silver for the silver,

16 and also the two pillars, the one sea, and the bases which Solomon had made for the temple of the Lord. The brass of all these items was beyond measure.

17 One pillar had eighteen cubits in height. And the head of brass upon it was three cubits in height. And the network and pomegranates upon the head of the pillar were all of brass. And the second pillar had a similar adornment.

18 Also, the leader of the military took away Seraiah, the chief priest, and Zephaniah, the second priest, and three doorkeepers,

19 and from the city, one eunuch, who was in charge of the men of war, and five men out of those who had stood before the king, whom he found in the city, and Sopher, the leader of the army who trained the young soldiers from the people of the land, and sixty men from the common people, who had been found in the city.

20 Taking them, Nebuzaradan, the leader of the military, led them to the king of Babylon at Riblah.

21 And the king of Babylon struck them and killed them at Riblah, in the land of Hamath. And Judah was taken away from his land.

22 But over the people who had remained in the land of Judah, whom Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, had permitted, he appointed as ruler Gedaliah, the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan.

23 And when all the commanders of the military had heard this, they and the men who were with them, specifically, that the king of Babylon had appointed Gedaliah, they went to Gedaliah at Mizpah: Ishmael, the son of Nethaniah, and Johanan, the son of Kareah, and Seraiah, the son of Tanhumeth, the Netophathite, and Jaazaniah, the son of a Maacathite, they and their companions.

24 And Gedaliah swore to them and to their companions, saying: “Do not be afraid to serve the Chaldeans. Remain in the land, and serve the king of Babylon, and it shall be well with you.”

25 But it happened that, in the seventh month, Ishmael, the son of Nethaniah, the son of Elishama, of royal offspring, and ten men with him, went and struck Gedaliah, who then died, along with the Jews and the Chaldeans who were with him at Mizpah.

26 And all the people, from small to great, and the leaders of the military, rising up, went away to Egypt, fearing the Chaldeans.

27 Truly, it happened that, in the thirty-seventh year of the transmigration of Jehoiachin, the king of Judah, in the twelfth month, on the twenty-seventh day of the month, Evilmerodach, the king of Babylon, in the year when he had begun to reign, lifted up the head of Jehoiachin, the king of Judah, from prison.

28 And he spoke kindly to him. And he set his throne above the throne of the kings who were with him at Babylon.

29 And he changed his garments that he had worn in prison. And he ate bread before him always, during all the days of his life.

30 Also, he appointed to him an allowance without ceasing, which also was given to him by the king, for each day, during all the days of his life.