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The 19th Chapter
When king
Hezekiah heard that, he rent his clothes and put on sack, and went
into the house of the Lord. Furthermore he sent Eliakim steward of
the household and Sobnah the scribe, and the elders of the Priests
clothed in sack, to Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz. And they
said to him, thus saith Hezekiah: this day is a day of tribulation,
rebuking and railing. Even as when the children are ready to be
born, and the mothers have no power to be delivered. Oh that the
Lord thy God would hear all the words of Rabsakeh whom the king of
Assiria his master hath sent to rail on the living God, and to
rebuke him with words which the Lord thy God hath heard. Wherefore
lift up thy prayer for the remnant that are left. When the servants
of king Hezekiah were come to Isaiah: Isaiah said to them: So shall
we say to your master. Thus saith the Lord: be not afraid of the
words thou heardest, with which the young men of the king of Assiria
have railed on me. For I will send him a blast that he shall hear
tidings, and so return to his own land: And I will overthrow him
with the sword even in his own land.
And Rabsakeh went back again and found the king of Assiria
fighting against Lobnah: for he had heard how that he was departed
from Lachis. And he heard tidings of Therhakah king of the black
Moors, how that he was come out to fight against him. And thereupon
he departed and sent messengers unto Hezekiah saying. Thus say to
Hezekiah king of Juda, let not thy God carry thee out of the way, in
whom thou so trustest saying: Jerusalem shall not be delivered into
the hand of the King of Assiria. Behold, thou hast heard what the
Kings of Assiria have done to all lands, how they have utterly
destroyed`them. And how then shouldest thou escape? hath the Gods of
the heathen delivered them which mine ancestries have destroyed: as
Gozan, Haran, Rezeph, and the children of Eden which were in
Thelasar? where is the king of Hemath, the King of Arphad, the King
of the city of Sepharuaim, and the King of Ana and the King of Auah?
When Hezekiah had received the letter of the hand of the
messenger and had read it: he went into the house of the Lord and
laid it abroad before the Lord. And Hezekiah prayed before the Lord
and said: Lord God of Israel which dwellest between the Cherubs,
thou art God alone over all the kingdoms of the earth, and thou hast
made both heaven and earth. Lord, bow thine ears and hear: Open Lord
thine eyes and see: and hear the words of Sennaherib which hath sent
to rail on the living God. But of a truth, Lord, the Kings of
Assiria have destroyed nations and their lands, and have set fire on
their Gods. For they were no Gods, but the work of the hands of man:
even wood and stone. And therefore they destroyed them. Now
therefore Lord our God, save thou us out of his hand, that all the
Kingdoms of the earth may know, that thou Lord art God alone. And
Isaiah the son of Amoz sent to Hezekiah saying: thus saith the Lord
God of Israel, that thou hast prayed to me concerning Sennaherib
king of Assiria, I have heard it. This is the thing that the Lord
saith of him: he hath despised thee, O virgin daughter of Sihon: he
hath shaked his head at thee, thou daughter of Jerusalem: whom hast
thou railed on, and whom hast thou reviled? Against whom hast thou
exalted thy voice, and hast lift up thine eyes so high? Even against
the holy of Israel. By the hand of thy messengers thou hast railed
on the Lord and said: with the multitude of my chariots I am come up
to the height of the mountains even along by the sides of Libanon,
and have cut off the high Cedar trees and the lusty fir trees
thereof even to the wood of Carmel that belongeth thereto. I have
digged and drunk strange waters, and have dried up with the soles of
my feet pools enclosed.
But hast thou not heard how I have ordained such a thing a
great while ago, and have prepared it from the beginning? And now I
bring it forth and it shall be to destroy and to bring strong cities
in to rude heaps of stones. And the inhabiters of them shall be of
little power, and faint hearted and confounded. They shall be like
the grass of the field and green herbs, and as the hay on the tops
of the houses which withereth or it come to any height. I know where
thou dwellest, and thy coming out and going in know I too, and how
thou settest up thy bristles against me.
And because thou settest up thy bristles against me, and that
thy raging is come up to mine ears: therefore I will put a ring in
thy nose and a bit in thy lips, and will bring thee back again the
same way thou camest.
And this shall be a sign unto thee: eat this year of the
fruits of the seed that fell out, and the next year, that waxeth of
itself. And the third year sow ye and reap, plant vineyards and eat
the fruits thereof. For the daughter of Juda that is escaped and
left, shall yet again take rooting downward and bear fruit upward.
For out of Jerusalem shall go a remnant, and a number that shall
escape out of mount Sion: the zeal of the Lord of Hosts shall bring
this thing to pass. Wherefore thus saith the Lord, of the king
of Assiria: he shall not come to this city, nor shoot arrow into it,
nor come before with shield nor cast any bank against it: but shall
go back again the way he came, and shall not come at his city saith
the Lord. For I will defend this city and save it, for mine own sake
and for David my servants sake.
And the self same night the Angel of the Lord went out and
smote in the Host of the Assirians an hundred and four score and
five thousand. And when they were up early in the morning: behold,
they were all dead corpses. And so Sennaherib king of Assiria
avoided and departed and went again, and dwelt at Nineveh. And as he
was in his devotion kneeling in the house of Nisroch his God,
Adramelech and Sarafar smote him with the sword. And they escaped
into the land of Ararat, and Asarhadon his son reigned in his stead.
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The 20th Chapter
About that time
Hezekiah was sick unto the death. And the Prophet Isaiah son of Amoz
came to him and said to him: Thus saith the Lord: put thine
household in an order, for thou shalt die and not live. And Hezekiah
turned his face to the wall and besought the Lord saying: Oh Lord,
remember yet how I have walked before thee truly and with a perfect
heart, and have done that which is good in thy sight, and wept a
great pace.
And Isaiah was scarce gone out into the middle of the city,
but that the word of the Lord came to him saying: turn again and
tell Hezekiah the captain of my people. Thus saith the Lord God of
David thy father. I have heard thy prayer and seen thy tears.
Behold, I will heal thee, and this day three days thou shalt go up
into the house of the Lord. And I will lengthen thy days yet fifteen
year, and will deliver both thee and this city out of the hand of
the king of Assiria, and will defend this city for mine own sake,
and for David my servants sake. And Isaiah said: bring a lump of
figs. And they brought and put it on the sore, and he recovered.
Then said Hezekiah to Isaiah: what is the sign, that the Lord
will heal me, and that I shall go up into the house of the Lord the
third day? And Isaiah said: this sign shalt thou have of the Lord,
that the Lord will do that he hath spoken: shall the shadow go
forward ten degrees, or go back again ten degrees? And Hezekiah
said: it is a light thing for the shadow to go down ten degrees.
Therefore I will not that: but let the shadow go backward ten
degrees. And Isaiah the Prophet called to the Lord, and he brought
the shadow ten degrees backward by which it had gone down, in the
dial of Ahaz.
The same season Berodach Baladan the son of Baladan king of
Babilon sent letters and presents unto Hezekiah, for he heard how
that Hezekiah was sick. And Hezekiah hearkened unto them and showed
them all that was in the spicery house, and his silver and gold and
odors and precious ointments and his armory and all that was found
in his treasure: there was nothing in his house or in all his realm,
that he showed them not.
Then came Isaiah the Prophet unto king Hezekiah and said to
him: What say these men and from whence come they to thee? And
Hezekiah said: they be come from a far country, even from Babylon.
And he said: what have they seen in thy house? And Hezekiah said:
all that is in my house have they seen: there is nothing among my
treasure that I have not showed them. And Isaiah said to Hezekiah:
hear the word of the Lord. Behold the day shall come, that all that
is in thine house and that thy fathers have laid up in store unto
this day, shall be carried to Babylon, and nothing shall be left
saith the Lord. And of thy sons that proceeded out of thee, which
thou begattest, shall there be carried away, and shall be made
chamberlains in the palace of the king of Babylon. And Hezekiah said
to Isaiah: welcome be the word of the Lord which thou hast spoken:
so that peace and truth be kept in my days.
The remnant of the deeds of Hezekiah and all his power, and
how he made a pool and a conduit and brought the water into the
city, are written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Juda.
And Hezekiah laid him to rest with his fathers, and Manasseh his son
reigned in his stead.
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The 21st Chapter
Manasseh was
twelve year old when he began to reign and reigned fifty and five
year in Jerusalem: his mothers name was Haphzibah. And he did that
displeased the Lord, even after the abominations of the Heathen
which the Lord cast out before the children of Israel. And he went
and built the hillaltars again, which Hezekiah his father had
destroyed. And he reared up altars to Baal and made groves, as did
Ahab king of Israel. And he bowed himself unto all the Host of
heaven and served them. And he built altars in the very house of the
Lord, of which the Lord had said: in Jerusalem I will put my name.
And he built altars unto all the Host of heaven, even in two courts
of the house of the Lord. And he offered his son in fire, and
observed dismal days, and used witchcraft and maintained workers
with spirits, and tellers of fortunes: and wrought much wickedness
in the sight of the Lord to anger him.
And he put an image of a grove that he had made, even in the
very temple of which the Lord had said to David and to Salomon his
son, in this house and in Jerusalem which I have chosen out of all
tribes of Israel, will I put my name for ever. Neither will I make
the feet of Israel move any more out of the land which I gave their
fathers: so that they will be diligent to do all I have commanded
them, and all the law that my servant Moses commanded them. But they
hearkened not: for Manasseh had led them out of the way, to do more
wickedness than did the heathen people which the Lord destroyed from
before the children of Israel.
And the Lord spake by his servants the Prophets, saying:
because Manasseh king of Juda hath done such abominations, and hath
wrought wickedly above all that the Amorites which were before him
did: and hath made Juda sin also with his Idols. Therefore thus
saith the Lord God of Israel. Behold, I will bring such evil upon
Jerusalem and Juda, that the ears of all that hear it, shall tingle
at it. And I will stretch over Jerusalem the squaring line of
Samaria and the plummet of the house of Ahab. And I will wipe out
Jerusalem, as a man would wipe a dish, and when he hath wiped it
turneth it upside down. And though I leave a remnant of mine
inheritance, yet I will deliver them into the hands of them that
hate them, and they shall be robbed and spoiled of all their
enemies: even because they have done wickedly and have angered me,
since the time their fathers came out of Egypt unto this day.
And thereto Manasseh shed innocent blood exceeding abundantly,
in so much that he replenished Jerusalem in all corners, beside his
sin wherewith he made Juda sin and to do evil in the sight of the
Lord.
The rest of the acts of Manasseh and all he did and his sin
that he sinned, are written in the book of the chronicles of the
kings of Juda. And Manasseh laid him to sleep with his fathers, and
was buried in the garden of his own house, even in the garden of Oza:
and Amon his son reigned in his stead.
Amon was twenty two year old when he began to reign, and he
reigned two years in Jerusalem. His mothers name was Mesalemeth the
daughter of Haru of Jathbah. And he did that displeased the Lord as
his father Manasseh did. And he walked in all the way that his
father walked in, and served the Idols that his father served, and
bowed himself to them. And he forsook the Lord God of his fathers
and walked not in the way of the Lord.
And the servants of Amon conspired against him, and slew him
in his own house. But the people of the land slew all that conspired
against king Amon, and made Josiah his son king in his room. The
rest of the acts of Amon which he did are written in the Chronicle
of the kings of Juda. And they buried him in his sepulcher in the
garden of Oza, and Josiah his son reigned in his stead.
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The 22nd Chapter
Josiah was eight
year old when he began to reign, and he reigned thirty one year in
Jerusalem. His mother s name was Ididah the daughter of Adaiah of
Bezecath. And he did that seemed right in the sight of the Lord, and
walked in all the ways of David his father, and bowed neither to the
right hand nor to the left.
And the eighteenth year of his reign king Josiah sent Saphan
the son of Azaliah the son of Mesulam the scribe to the house of the
Lord, saying: go to Helkiah the high priest, and let him sum the
silver that is brought into the house of the Lord, which the keepers
of the doors have gathered of the people, and let them deliver it
into the hands of the workmen that have the oversight of the house
of the Lord, which shall give it to them that work upon the house of
the Lord, to repair the decayed places thereof, even unto carpenters
and masons, and for to buy timber and free stone to repair the
house. How be it let no reckoning be made with them of the money
that is delivered into their hands, but let them do it of their
conscience.
And Helkiah the high priest said to Saphan the scribe: I have
found the book of the law in the temple of the Lord, and Helkiah
gave the book to Saphan, and he read it. And then Saphan the scribe
went to the king and brought him word again, and said: thy servants
poured out the silver that was found in the temple, and have
delivered it unto the workmen that have the oversight of the house
of the Lord. Furthermore Saphan the scribe showed the king saying:
Helkiah the priest hath delivered me here a book. And Saphan read it
before the king.
And the king as soon as he had heard the words of the book of
the law, he rent his clothes and commanded Helkiah the priest and
Ahikam the son of Saphan and Achobor the son of Michaiah, and Saphan
the scribe, and Asahiah a servant of the Kings, saying: go ye and
seek of the Lord for me and the people and for all Juda, concerning
the words of this book that is found. For it is a great wrath of the
Lord that is kindled upon us, that our fathers have not hearkened
unto the words of this book, to do in all points as it is written
therein.
And Helkiah the high priest and Ahikam, Achobor, Saphan,
Asahiah went unto Oldah the Prophetess wife of Selum the son of
Tekuah the son of Haraham keeper of the robes, which Prophetess
dwelt in Jerusalem in the second ward, and communed with her. And
she said to them: thus saith the Lord God of Israel. Tell the man
that sent you to me: thus saith the Lord: behold I will bring evil
upon this place and on the dwellers therein: even all the words of
the book which the King of Juda hath read, because they have
forsaken me and have burnt offerings unto other Gods, to anger me
with all the works of their hands. Therefore is my wrath kindled
against this place, and shall not be quenched.
But to the king of Juda which sent you to enquire of the Lord,
so shall ye say: thus saith the Lord God of Israel, as touching the
words which thou heardest. Because thine heart did melt and thou
meekedest thyself before me the Lord, when thou heardest what I
spake against this place and the inhabiters of the same, how that it
should be destroyed and made accursed: and tearest thy clothes and
weepest before me: of that also I have heard saith the Lord. And
therefore see, I will receive ye unto thy fathers and will fetch
thee unto thy grave in peace, thine eyes shall see none of the evil
which I will bring upon this place. And they brought the King word
again.
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The 23rd Chapter
And then the King sent and
gathered unto him all the elders of Juda and of Jerusalem. And the
King went up into the house of the Lord, and all the men of Juda and
all the inhabiters of Jerusalem with him, and the priests and the
Prophets and all the people both small and great. And he read in the
ears of them all the words of the book of the covenant, which was
found in the house of the Lord. And the king stood by a pillar and
made a covenant before the Lord that they should walk after the
Lord, and keep his commandments and his witnesses and his ordinances
with all their hearts and all their souls, and make good the words
of the said appointment that were written in the foresaid book. And
all the people consented to the appointment.
And the King commanded Helkiah the high priest and the
inferior priests and the keepers of the door, to bring out of the
temple of the Lord, all the vessels that were made for Baal and for
the grove and for all the Host of heaven. And he burnt them without
Jerusalem in the fields of Cedron and carried the ashes of them into
Bethel. And he put down the Camarites which the kings of Juda had
set to burn offerings in the hillaltars in the cities of Juda round
about Jerusalem and also them that burnt sacrifices unto Baal to the
*son and to the moon and to the planets, and to all the Host of
heaven. And he brought out the grove from the temple of the Lord
without Jerusalem unto the brook Cedron, and stamped it to powder,
and cast the dust thereof upon the graves of people of the country.
And he brake down the cells of the male whores that were in the
house of the Lord, where the women wove little houses for the grove.
And he brought all the priests out of the cities of Juda, and
defiled the hillaltars where the priests did burn sacrifice, even
from Gabaa to Bersabe. And he brake down the hillaltars of the
Gates, that were in the entering of the gate of Josua the governor
of the city, which were on the left hand of the gate of the city.
Nevertheless the priests of the hillaltars might not come at the
altar of the Lord in Jerusalem, save only they did eat of the sweet
bread among their brethren.
And he defiled Topheth also, which is in the valley of the
children of Hennom, because no man should offer his son or his
daughter in fire to Moloch: he put down the horses that the kings of
Israel had given to the *son at the entering of the house of the
Lord, in the chamber of Nathanmeleh the chamberlain which was of
Paruarim, and burnt the chariots of the *son with fire. And the
altars that were on the top of the parlor of Ahaz which the king of
Juda had made, and the altars which Manasseh had made in the two
courts of the house of the Lord, the king brake down, and ran thence
and cast the dust of them into the brook Cedron.
And the hillaltars that before Jerusalem on the right hand of
the mount Nashith, which Salomon king of Israel built to Astharoth
the abomination of the Zidons and to Chamos the abomination of the
Moabites, and to Milchom the abomination of the children of Ammon,
the king defiled: and brake the images and cut down the groves and
filled the places with the bones of men.
Moreover the altar that was at Bethel, the hillaltar made by
Jeroboam the son of Nabat which made Israel sin: both the altar and
also the hill he brake down and burnt the hill and stamped it to
powder, and burnt the grove. And as Josiah turned himself, he spied
the graves that were in the mount and sent and fetched the bones out
of the graves and burnt them upon the altar and polluted it
according to the word of the Lord that the man of God had
proclaimed, which openly had denounced the same things.
Then the king said: what meaneth yonder grave stone that I
see? And the men of the city told him, it is the sepulcher of the
man of God, which came from Juda and openly denounced the self same
things that thou hast done to the altar of Bethel. And he said let
him be: see that no man move his bones. And so his bones escaped
with the bones of a Prophet that came out of Samaria.
And thereto all the houses of the hillaltars of the cities of
Samaria which the kings of Israel had made, to anger with all:
Josiah put out of the way and did to them in all points as he did in
Bethel. And he sacrificed all the priests of the hillaltars that
were there, even upon the altars, and burnt mens bones upon them,
and returned to Jerusalem.
And the king commanded all the people saying: keep the feast
of passover unto the Lord your God, as it is written in the book of
this covenant. For there was no passover held like that from the
days of the judges that judged Israel, and throughout all the days
of the kings of Israel and of Juda. And in the eighteenth year of
king Josiah was this passover holden to the Lord in Jerusalem.
And thereto workers with spirits, soothsayers, Images of
witchcraft, idols and all other abominations that were spied in the
land of Juda and in Jerusalem, Josiah put out of the way to make
good the words of the law, which were written in the book that
Helkiah the priest found in the house of the Lord: like unto him was
there no king before him, that turned to the Lord with all his
heart, with all his soul, and all his might, according to all the
law of Moses, neither after him arose there any such.
Notwithstanding the Lord turned not from his fierce and great
wrath wherewith he was angry against Juda upon all the provocations
that Manasseh provoked him.
But the Lord said: I will put Juda too, out of my sight, as I
have done Israel, and will cast off this city Jerusalem which I have
chosen, and the house of which I have said, my name shall be there.
The rest of the deeds of Josiah and all he did are written in
the book of the stories of the kings of Juda.
In his days Pharao Necoh king of Egypt went against the king
of Assiria to the river of Euphrates. And king Josiah went against
him, and was slain of him at Magedo when he had seen him. And his
servants carried him dead from Magedo and brought him to Jerusalem
and buried him in his own sepulcher. And the people of the land took
Jehoahaz the son of Josiah and anointed him and made him king in his
fathers room.
And Jehoahaz was twenty three years old when he began to reign
and reigned three months in Jerusalem. His mothers name was Namital
the daughter of Jeremiah of Lobnah. And he did that displeased the
Lord, in all things as his fathers had done. And Pharao Necoh put
him in bonds at Reblah in the land of Hemath in the time of his
reign in Jerusalem, and put the land to a tribute of an hundred
talents of silver and a talent of gold. And Pharao Necoh made
Eliakim the son of Josiah king in the room of Josiah his father, and
turned his name to Jehoakim, and took Jehoahaz away which when he
came to Egypt died there.
And Jehoakim gave the silver and the gold to Pharao: how be it
he taxed the land, to give the money at the commandment of Pharao
and as every man was set at, so he required the silver and the gold
of the people of the land, to give Pharao Necoh. Jehoakim was twenty
five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned an eleven
years in Jerusalem. His mother was named Zebda the daughter of
Phadaiah of Ramah. And he did that was evil favoured in the sight of
the Lord, like in all things as did his fathers.
*son: sonne exactly as it
appears in the text, else where sun is written sunne.
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The 24th Chapter
In his days came
Nabuchodonozor king of Babylon, and Jehoakim became his servant
three years, and then turned and rebelled against him. And the Lord
sent upon him men of war out of Galdey, out of Siria, out of the
Moabites, and from the children of Ammon: and sent them into Juda,
to destroy it, according to the saying of the Lord which he spake by
his servants the Prophets. Only at the bidding of the Lord happened
it so to Juda, to put them out of his sight, for the sin of Manasseh
according to all he did: and for the innocent blood that he shed and
filled Jerusalem with innocent blood, which the Lord would not
forgive.
The rest of the deeds of Jehoakim and all he did, are written
in the chronicles of the kings of Juda. And Jehoakim laid him to
sleep with his fathers, and Jehoacin his son reigned in his stead.
But the king of Egypt came now no more out of his land: for the king
of Babylon had taken from the river of Euphrates, all that pertained
to the king of Egypt. Jehoacin was eighteen year old when he began
to reign, and reigned in Jerusalem three months. His mothers name
was Nehustha the daughter of Elnathan of Jerusalem. And he did that
displeased the eyes of the Lord in all points as his father did.
In his time came the servants of Nabuchodonozor king of
Babylon, to Jerusalem and the city was besieged. And Nabuchodonozor
came to the city as his servants were yet a besieging of it. And
Jehoacin the king of Juda came out to the king of Babylon, with his
mother, his servants, his Lords and his chamberlains. And the king
of Babylon took him, in the eighth year of his reign.
And he carried out thence all the treasure of the house of the
Lord, and the treasure of the kings house, and brake all the vessels
of gold which Salomon king of Israel had made, in the temple of the
Lord, as the Lord had said. And he carried away all Jerusalem, and
all the Lords and all the men of might, to the number of ten
thousand into captivity and all craftsmen and Joiners, none
remaining save the poor people of the land. And he carried away
Jehoacin to Babylon, and the kings mother, and the kings wives, and
his chamberlains, and the mighty of the land carried he away from
Jerusalem to Babylon. And all the men of activity to the number of
seven thousand, and craftsmen and joiners a thousand, all strong and
apt for war, did the king of Babylon bring to Babylon to dwell. And
the king of Babylon made Mathaniah his fathers brother, king in his
stead, and changed his name and called him Zedekiah.
Zedekiah was twenty one years old when he began to reign and
he reigned an eleven year in Jerusalem. His mothers name was Hamital
the daughter of Jeremiah of Lobnah. And he did evil in the sight of
the Lord, in all points like to Jehoakim. For through the wrath of
the Lord it so chanced to Jerusalem and Juda, until he had cast them
out of his sight. And the said Zedekiah rebelled against the king of
Babylon.
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The 25th Chapter
Wherefore in the
ninth year of his reign, the tenth day of the tenth month, came
Nabuchodonozor king of Babylon with all his power to Jerusalem: and
pitched against the town and made engines against it on every side.
And the city continued besieged until the eleventh year of King
Zedekiah. And the ninth day of the fourth month of that year, there
was so great hunger in the city, that there was no sustenance for
the people of the land.
And thereto the city was broken up: wherefore all the men of
Arms fled by night, by a way through a gate, between two walls hard
on the Kings garden: the Caldeyes lying about the city.
And the King went straight toward the desert. And the host of
the Caldeyes followed after him, and took him in the desert of
Jericho, all his army being scattered away from him. And when they
had taken him, they brought him to Nabuchodonozor the King of
Babylon to Reblah, where they reasoned with him. And they slew the
sons of Zedekiah before his eyes, and put out the eyes of Zedekiah,
and fettered him, and carried him to Babylon.
And the seventh day of the fifth month which was in the
nineteenth year of King Nabuchodonozor King of Babylon, came
Nabusaradan servant of the King of Babylon and chief Marshal, unto
Jerusalem: and burnt the house of the Lord and the Kings house and
all the houses of Jerusalem, and all the great houses burnt he with
fire. And all the host of the Caldeyes that were with the chief
Marshal brake down the walls of Jerusalem round about. And the rest
of the people that were left in the city, and them that were fled to
the King of Babylon, and the remnant of the common people,
Nabusaradan the chief Marshal carried away, and left of the poor of
the land to dress the vines and to till the ground.
And the pillars of brass that were in the house of the Lord
and the bottoms, and the brazen sea that was in the house of the
Lord the Caldeyes brake, and carried the brass of them to Babylon.
And the lavers, shovels, dressing knives, ladles, and the
ministering vessels of brass, they carried away. And the firepans,
and basins that were either of gold or silver, them took the chief
Marshal away with the two pillars and the sea of brass and the
bottoms which Salomon had made in the house of the Lord. The brass
of all these vessels was without weight. The height of the one
pillar was eighteen cubits, and the head thereon was brass and three
cubits long with a wreath and pomegranates round about upon the
head, all of brass. And of the same fashion was the second pillar
with a wreath.
And the chief Marshal took Saraiah the chief priest, and
Zophoniah the highest priest save one, and three keepers of the
door. And out of the city he took a certain chamberlain that had the
oversight of the men of war, and five men that were ever in the
kings presence, which were found in the city, and Sopher the captain
of the Host that taught the people of the land to make war, and
three score men of the people of the land that were found in the
city also. And Nabusaradan the chief Marshal took them and brought
them to the King of Babylon to Reblah. And the King of Babylon smote
them and slew them at Reblah in the land of Hemath. And so Juda was
carried away out of all their land.
And over the people that remained in the land of Juda, which
Nabuchodonozor King of Babylon left, he set Godoliah the son of
Ahikam the son of Saphan. And when all the captains of the men of
war and the men heard that the King of Babylon had made Godoliah
governor: there came to Godoliah to Mazphah: Ismael the son of
Nathaniah and Johanan the son of Kareah and Saraiah the son of
Thanehumeth the Netophathite and Jezoniah the son of Maachati and
their men. And Godoliah sware to them and to their men, and said to
them: fear not ye the servants of the Caldeyes. But dwell in the
land and serve the King of Babylon and ye shall be in good
condition.
But it chanced the seventh month after, that Ismael the son of
Nathaniah the son of Elisama of the Kings blood came, and ten men
with him and smote Godoliah that he died: and so did he the Jews and
the Caldeyes that were with him at Mazphah. Thereupon all the people
both small and great and the captains of the men of war arose and
went to Egypt: for they were afraid of the Caldeyes.
Notwithstanding yet the thirty seventh year after Jehoacin
King of Juda was carried away, the twenty seventh day of the twelfth
month, did Evilmerodach King of Babylon lift up the head of Jehoacin
king of Juda out of the prison house, and spake kindly to him and
set his seat above the seat of all the Kings that were with him in
Babilon, and changed his prison garments. And he did ever eat bread
before him all the days of his life: And a continual portion was
assigned him of the King, day by day as long as he lived. |
Chapters 1-6
|
7-12 |
13-18 |
19-end
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