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Chapter 1 - verses 1-17 have been omitted from the Mass readings.

[1] And Solomon the son of David was strengthened in his kingdom, and the Lord his God was with him, and magnified him to a high degree. [2] And Solomon gave orders to all Israel, to the captains of thousands, and of hundreds, and to the rulers, and to the judges of all Israel, and the heads of the families: [3] And he went with all the multitude to the high place of Gabaon, where was the tabernacle of the covenant of the Lord, which Moses the servant of God made, in the wilderness. [4] For David had brought the ark of God from Cariathiarim to the place, which he had prepared for it, and where he had pitched a tabernacle for it, that is, in Jerusalem. [5] And the altar of brass, which Beseleel the son of Uri the son of Hur had made, was there before the tabernacle of the Lord: and Solomon and all the assembly sought it: [6] And Solomon went up thither to the brazen altar, before the tabernacle of the covenant of the Lord, and offered up on it a thousand victims.

[7] And behold that night God appeared to him, saying:

Ask what thou wilt that I should give thee.

[8] And Solomon said to God:

Thou hast shewn great kindness to my father David: and hast made me king in his stead. [9] Now therefore, O Lord God, let thy word be fulfilled, which thou hast promised to David my father: for thou hast made me king over thy great people, which is as innumerable as the dust of the earth. [10] Give me wisdom and knowledge that I may come in and go out before thy people: for who can worthily judge this thy people, which is so great?

[11] And God said to Solomon:

Because this choice hath pleased thy heart, and thou hast not asked riches, and wealth, and glory, nor the lives of them that hate thee, nor many days of life: but hast asked wisdom and knowledge, to be able to judge my people, over which I have made thee king, [12] Wisdom and knowledge are granted to thee: and I will give thee riches, and wealth, and glory, so that none of the kings before thee, nor after thee, shall be like thee.

[13] Then Solomon came from the high place of Gabaon to Jerusalem before the tabernacle of the covenant, and reigned over Israel.

[14] And he gathered to himself chariots and horsemen, and he had a thousand four hundred chariots, and twelve thousand horsemen: and he placed them in the cities of the chariots, and with the king in Jerusalem. [15] And the king made silver and gold to be in Jerusalem as stones, and cedar trees as sycamores, which grow in the plains in great multitude. [16] And there were horses brought him from Egypt, and from Coa by the king's merchants, who went, and bought at a price, [17] A chariot of four horses for six hundred pieces of silver, and a horse for a hundred and fifty: in like manner market was made in all the kingdoms of the Hethites, and of the kings of Syria.

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Chapter 2 - verses 1-18 have been omitted from the Mass readings.

[1] And Solomon determined to build a house to the name of the Lord, and a palace for himself.

[2] And he numbered out seventy thousand men to bear burdens, and eighty thousand to hew stones in the mountains, and three thousand six hundred to oversee them.

[3] He sent also to Hiram king of Tyre, saying:

As thou didst with David my father, and didst send him cedars, to build him a house, in which he dwelt: [4] So do with me that I may build a house to the name of the Lord my God, to dedicate it to burn incense before him, and to perfume with aromatical spices, and for the continual setting forth of bread, and for the holocausts, morning and evening, and on the sabbaths, and on the new moons, and the solemnities of the Lord our God for ever, which are commanded for Israel. [5] For the house which I desire to build, is great: for our God is great above all gods. [6] Who then can be able to build him a worthy house? if heaven, and the heavens of heavens cannot contain him: who am I that I should be able to build him a house? but to this end only, that incense may be burnt before him. [7] Send me therefore a skillful man, that knoweth how to work in gold, and in silver, in brass, and in iron, in purple, in scarlet and in blue, and that hath skill in engraving, with the artificers, which I have with me in Judea and Jerusalem, whom David my father provided. [8] Send me also cedars, and fir trees, and pine trees from Libanus: for I know that thy servants are skillful in cutting timber in Libanus, and my servants shall be with thy servants, [9] To provide me timber in abundance. For the house which I desire to build, is to be exceeding great, and glorious. [10] And I will give thy servants the workmen that are to cut down the trees, for their food twenty thousand cores of wheat, and as many cores of barley, and twenty thousand measures of wine, and twenty thousand measures of oil.

[11] And Hiram king of Tyre sent a letter to Solomon, saying: Because the Lord hath loved his people, therefore he hath made thee king over them. [12] And he added, saying: Blessed be the Lord the God of Israel, who made heaven and earth, who hath given to king David a wise and knowing son, endued with understanding and prudence, to build a house to the Lord, and a palace for himself. [13] I therefore have sent thee my father Hiram, a wise and most skillful man, [14] The son of a woman of the daughters of Dan, whose father was a Tyrian, who knoweth how to work in gold, and in silver, in brass, and in iron, and in marble, and in timber, in purple also, and violet, and silk and scarlet: and who knoweth to grave all sort of graving, and to devise ingeniously all that there may be need of in the work with thy artificers, and with the artificers of my lord David thy father. [15] The wheat therefore, and the barley and the oil, and the wine, which thou, my lord, hast promised, send to thy servants. [16] And we will cut down as many trees out of Libanus, as thou shalt want, and will convey them in floats by sea to Joppe: and it will be thy part to bring them thence to Jerusalem.

[17] And Solomon numbered all the proselytes in the land of Israel, after the numbering which David his father had made, and they were found a hundred and fifty-three thousand and six hundred. [18] And he set seventy thousand of them to carry burdens on their shoulders, and eighty thousand to hew stones in the mountains: and three thousand and six hundred to be overseers of the work of the people.

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Chapter 3 - verses 1-17 have been omitted from the Mass readings.

[1] And Solomon began to build the house of the Lord in Jerusalem, in mount Moria, which had been shewn to David his father, in the place which David had prepared in the threshingfloor of Ornan the Jebusite. [2] And he began to build in the second month, in the fourth year of his reign. [3] Now these are the foundations, which Solomon laid, to build the house of God, the length by the first measure sixty cubits, the breadth twenty cubits. [4] And the porch in the front, which was extended in length according to the measure of the breadth of the house, twenty cubits: and the height was a hundred and twenty cubits: and he overlaid it within with pure gold. [5] And the greater house he ceiled with deal boards, and overlaid them with plates of fine gold throughout: and he graved in them palm trees, and like little chains interlaced with one another. [6] He paved also the floor of the temple with most precious marble, of great beauty. [7] And the gold of the plates with which he overlaid the house, and the beams thereof, and the posts, and the walls, and the doors was of the finest: and he graved cherubims on the walls.

[8] He made also the house of the holy of holies: the length of it according to the breadth of the temple, twenty cubits, and the breadth of it in like manner twenty cubits: and he overlaid it with plates of gold, amounting to about six hundred talents. [9] He made also nails of gold, and the weight of every nail was fifty sicles: the upper chambers also he overlaid with gold. [10] He made also in the house of the holy of holies two cherubims of image work: and he overlaid them with gold. [11] The wings of the cherubims were extended twenty cubits, so that one wing was five cubits long, and reached to the wall of the house: and the other was also five cubits long, and reached to the wing of the other cherub. [12] In like manner the wing of the other cherub, was five cubits long, and reached to the wall: and his other wing was five cubits long, and touched the wing of the other cherub. [13] So the wings of the two cherubims were spread forth, and were extended twenty cubits: and they stood upright on their feet, and their faces were turned toward the house without. [14] He made also a veil of violet, purple, scarlet, and silk: and wrought in it cherubims.

[15] He made also before the doors of the temple two pillars, which were five and thirty cubits high: and their chapiters were five cubits. [16] He made also as it were little chains in the oracle, and he put them on the heads of the pillars: and a hundred pomegranates, which he put between the little chains. [17] These pillars he put at the entrance of the temple, one on the right hand, and the other on the left: that which was on the right hand, he called Jachin: and that on the left hand, Boot.

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Chapter 4 - verses 1-22 have been omitted from the Mass readings.

[1] He made also an altar of brass twenty cubits long, and twenty cubits broad, and ten cubits high. [2] Also a molten sea of ten cubits from brim to brim, round in compass: it was five cubits high, and a line of thirty cubits compassed it round about. [3] And under it there was the likeness of oxen, and certain engravings on the outside of ten cubits compassed the belly of the sea, as it were with two rows. [4] And the oxen were cast: and the sea itself was set upon the twelve oxen, three of which looked toward the north, and other three toward the west: and other three toward the south, and the other three that remained toward the east, and the sea stood upon them: and the hinder parts of the oxen were inward under the sea. [5] Now the thickness of it was a handbreadth, and the brim of it was like the brim of a cup, or of a crisped lily: and it held three thousand measures.

[6] He made also ten lavers: and he see five on the right hand, and five on the left, to wash in them all such things as they mere to offer for holocausts: but the sea was for the priests to wash in. [7] And he made ten golden candlesticks, according to the form which they were commanded to be made by: and he set them in the temple, five on the right hand, and five on the left. [8] Moreover also ten tables: and he set them in the temple, five on the right side, and five on the left. Also a hundred bowls of gold.

[9] He made also the court of the priests, and a great hall, and doors in the hall, which he covered with brass. [10] And he set the sea on the right side over against the east toward the south.

[11] And Hiram made caldrons, and fleshhooks, and bowls: and finished all the king's work in the house of God: [12] That is to say, the two pillars, and the pommels, and the chapiters, and the network, to cover the chapiters over the pommels. [13] And four hundred pomegranates, and two wreaths of network, so that two rows of pomegranates were joined to each wreath, to cover the pommels, and the chapiters of the pillars. [14] He made also bases, and lavers, which he set upon the bases: [15] One sea, and twelve oxen under the sea; [16] And the caldrons, and fleshhooks, and bowls. All the vessels did Hiram his father make for Solomon in the house of the Lord of the finest brass. [17] In the country near the Jordan did the king cast them, in a clay ground between Sochot and Saredatha.

[18] And the multitude of vessels was innumerable, so that the weight of the brass was not known. [19] And Solomon made all the vessels for the house of God, and the golden altar, and the tables, upon which were the leaves of proposition, [20] The candlesticks also of most pure gold with their lamps to give light before the oracle, according to the manner. [21] And certain flowers, and lamps, and golden tongs: all were made of the finest gold. [22] The vessels also for the perfumes, and the censers, and the bowls, and the mortars, of pure gold. And he graved the doors of the inner temple, that is, for the holy of holies: and the doors of the temple without were of gold. And thus all the work was finished which Solomon made in the house of the Lord.

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Chapter 5 - verses 1-5, 11-12 have been omitted from the Mass readings.

[1] Then Solomon brought in all the things that David his father had vowed, the silver, and the gold, and all the vessels he put among the treasures of the house of God. [2] And after this he gathered together the ancients of Israel, and all the princes of the tribes, and the heads of the families, of the children of Israel to Jerusalem, to bring the ark of the covenant of the Lord out of the city of David, which is Sion. [3] And all the men of Israel came to the king in the solemn day of the seventh month. [4] And when all the ancients of Israel were come, the Levites took up the ark, [5] And brought it in, together with all the furniture of the tabernacle. And the priests with the Levites carried the vessels of the sanctuary, which were in the tabernacle.

[11] Now when the priests were come out of the sanctuary, (for all the priests that could be found there, mere sanctified: and as yet at that time the courses and orders of the ministries were not divided among them,) [12] Both the Levites and the singing men, that is, both they that were under Asaph, and they that were under Heman, and they that were under Idithun, with their sons, and their brethren, clothed with fine linen, sounded with cymbals, and psalteries, and harps, standing on the east side of the altar, and with them a hundred and twenty priests, sounding with trumpets.

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Chapter 6 - verses 3-42 have been omitted from the Mass readings.

[3] And the king turned his face, and blessed all the multitude of Israel (for all the multitude stood attentive) and he said:

[4] Blessed be the Lord the God of Israel, who hath accomplished in deed that which he spoke to David my father, saying: [5] From the day that I brought my people out of the land of Egypt, I chose no city among all the tribes of Israel, for a house to be built in it to my name: neither chose I any other man, to be the ruler of my people Israel. [6] But I chose Jerusalem, that my name might be there: and I chose David to set him over my people Israel. [7] And whereas David my father had a mind to build a house to the name of the Lord the God of Israel, [8] The Lord said to him: Forasmuch as it was thy will to build a house to my name, thou hast done well indeed in having such a will: [9] But thou shalt not build the house, but thy son, who shall come out of thy loins, he shall build a house to my name. [10] The Lord therefore hath accomplished his word which he spoke: and I am risen up in the place of David my father, and sit upon the throne of Israel, as the Lord promised: and have built a house to the name of the Lord God of Israel. [11] And I have put in it the ark, wherein is the covenant of the Lord, which he made with the children of Israel.

[12] And he stood before the altar of the I Lord, in presence of all the multitude of Israel, and stretched forth his hands. [13] For Solomon had made a brazen scaffold, and had set it in the midst of the temple, which was five cubits long, and five cubits broad, and three cubits high: and he stood upon it: then kneeling down in the presence of all the multitude of Israel, and lifting up his hands towards heaven, [14] He said:

O Lord God of Israel, there is no God like thee in heaven nor in earth: who keepest covenant and mercy with thy servants, that walk before thee with all their hearts: [15] Who hast performed to thy servant David my father all that thou hast promised him: and hast accomplished in fact, what thou hast spoken with thy mouth, as also the present time proveth. [16] Now then, O Lord God of Israel, fulfill to thy servant David my father, whatsoever thou hast promised him, saying: There shall not fail thee a man in my sight, to sit upon the throne of Israel: yet so that thy children take heed to their ways, and walk in my law, as thou hast walked before me. [17] And now, Lord God of Israel, let thy word be established which thou hast spoken to thy servant David. [18] Is it credible then that God should dwell with men on the earth? If heaven and the heavens of heavens do not contain thee, how much less this house, which I have built?

[19] But to this end only it is made, that thou mayest regard the prayer of thy servant and his supplication, O Lord my God: and mayest hear the prayers which thy servant poureth out before thee. [20] That thou mayest open thy eyes upon this house day and night, upon the place wherein thou hast promised that thy name should be called upon, [21] And that thou wouldst hear the prayer which thy servant prayeth in it: hearken then to the prayers of thy servant, and of thy people Israel. Whosoever shall pray in this place, hear thou from thy dwelling place, that is, from heaven, and shew mercy.

[22] If any man sin against his neighbour, and come to swear against him, and bind himself with a curse before the altar in this house: [23] Then hear thou from heaven, and do justice to thy servants, so as to requite the wicked by making his wickedness fall upon his own head, and to revenge the just, rewarding him according to his justice.

[24] If thy people Israel be overcome by their enemies, (for they will sin against thee,) and being converted shall do penance, and call upon thy name, and pray to thee in this place, [25] Then hear thou from heaven, and forgive the sin of thy people Israel, and bring them back into the land, which thou gavest to them, and their fathers.

[26] If the heavens be shut up, and there fall no rain by reason of the sins of the people, and they shall pray to thee in this place, and confess to thy name, and be converted from their sins, when thou dost afflict them, [27] Then hear thou from heaven, O Lord, and forgive the sins of thy servants and of thy people Israel, and teach them the good way, in which they may walk: and give rain to thy land which thou hast given to thy people to possess.

[28] If a famine arise in the land, or a pestilence or blasting, or mildew, or locusts, or caterpillars: or if their enemies waste the country, and besiege the cities, whatsoever scourge or infirmity shall be upon them: [29] Then if any of thy people Israel, knowing his own scourge and infirmity shall pray, and shall spread forth his hands in this house, [30] Hear thou from heaven, from thy high dwelling place, and forgive, and render to every one according to his ways, which thou knowest him to have in his heart: (for thou only knowest the hearts of the children of men:) [31] That they may fear thee, and walk in thy ways all the days that they live upon the face of the land, which thou hast given to our fathers.

[32] If the stranger also, who is not of thy people Israel, come from a far country, for the sake of thy great name, and thy strong hand, and thy stretched out arm, and adore in this place: [33] Hear thou from heaven thy firm dwelling place, and do all that which that stranger shall call upon thee for: that all the people of the earth may know thy name, and may fear thee, as thy people Israel, and may know, that thy name is invoked upon this house, which I have built.

[34] If thy people go out to war against their enemies, by the way that thou shalt send them, and adore thee towards the way of this city, which thou hast chosen, and the house which I have built to thy name: [35] Then hear thou from heaven their prayers, and their supplications, and revenge them.

[36] And if they sin against thee (for there is no man that sinneth not) and thou be angry with them, and deliver them up to their enemies, and they lead them away captive to a land either afar off, or near at hand, [37] And if they be converted in their heart in the land to which they were led captive, and do penance, and pray to thee in the land of their captivity, saying: We have sinned, we have done wickedly, we have dealt unjustly: [38] And return to thee with all their heart, and with all their soul, in the land of their captivity, to which they were led away, and adore thee towards the way of their own land which thou gavest their fathers, and of the city, which thou hast chosen, and the house which I have built to thy name: [39] Then hear thou from heaven, that is, from thy firm dwelling place, their prayers, and do judgment, and forgive thy people, although they have sinned: [40] For thou art my God: let thy eyes, I beseech thee, be open, and let thy ears be attentive to the prayer, that is made in this place.

[41] Now therefore arise, O Lord God, into thy resting place, thou and the ark of thy strength: let thy priests, O Lord God, put on salvation, and thy saints rejoice in good things. [42] O Lord God, turn not away the face of thy anointed: remember the mercies of David thy servant.

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Chapter 7 - verses 1-22 have been omitted from the Mass readings.

[1] And when Solomon had made an end of his prayer, fire came down from heaven, and consumed the holocausts and the victims: and the majesty of the Lord tilled the house. [2] Neither could the priests enter into the temple of the Lord, because the majesty of the Lord had filled the temple of the Lord. [3] Moreover all the children of Israel saw the fire coming down, and the glory of the Lord upon the house: and falling down with their faces to the ground, upon the stone pavement, they adored and praised the Lord: because he is good, because his mercy endureth for ever.

[4] And the king and all the people sacrificed victims before the Lord. [5] And king Solomon offered a sacrifice of twenty-two thousand oxen, and one hundred and twenty thousand rams: and the king and all the people dedicated the house of God. [6] And the priests stood in their offices: and the Levites with the instruments of music of the Lord, which king David made to praise the Lord: because his mercy endureth for ever, singing the hymns of David by their ministry: and the priests sounded with trumpets before them, and all Israel stood.

[7] Solomon also sanctified the middle of the court before the temple of the Lord: for he offered there the holocausts, and the fat of the peace offerings: because the brazen altar, which he had made, could not hold the holocausts and the sacrifices and the fat: [8] And Solomon kept the solemnity at that time seven days, and all Israel with him, a very great congregation, from the entrance of Emath to the torrent of Egypt. [9] And he made on the eighth day a solemn assembly, because he had kept the dedication of the altar seven days, and had celebrated the solemnity seven days. [10] So on the three and twentieth day of the seventh month he sent away the people to their dwellings, joyful and glad for the good that the Lord had done to David, and to Solomon, and to all Israel his people.

[11] And Solomon finished the house of the Lord, and the king's house, and all that he had designed in his heart to do, in the house of the Lord, and in his own house, and he prospered. [12] And the Lord appeared to him by night, and said: I have heard thy prayer, and I have chosen this place to myself for a house of sacrifice. [13] If I shut up heaven, and there fall no rain, or if I give orders, and command the locust to devour the land, or if I send pestilence among my people: [14] And my people, upon whom my name is called, being converted, shall make supplication to me, and seek out my face, and do penance for their most wicked ways: then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sins and will heal their land. [15] My eyes also shall be open, and my ears attentive to the prayer of him that shall pray in this place. [16] For I have chosen, and have sanctified this place, that my name may be there for ever, and my eyes and my heart may remain there perpetually. [17] And as for thee, if thou walk before me, as David thy father walked, and do according to all that I have commanded thee, and keep my justices and my judgments: [18] I will raise up the throne of thy kingdom, as I promised to David thy father, saying: There shall not fail thee a man of thy stock to be ruler in Israel. [19] But if you turn away, and forsake my justices, and my commandments which I have set before you, and shall go and serve strange gods, and adore them, [20] I will pluck you up by the root out of my land which I have given you: and this house which I have sanctified to my name, I will cast away from before my face, and will make it a byword, and an example among all nations. [21] And this house shall be for a proverb to all that pass by, and they shall be astonished and say: Why hath the Lord done thus to this land, and to this house? [22] And they shall answer: Because they forsook the Lord the God of their fathers, who brought them out of the land of Egypt, and laid hold on strange gods, and adored them, and worshipped them: therefore all these evils are come upon them.

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Chapter 8 - verses 1-18 have been omitted from the Mass readings.

[1] And at the end of twenty years after Solomon had built the house of the Lord and his own house: [2] He built the cities which Hiram had given to Solomon, and caused the children of Israel to dwell there. [3] He went also into Emath Suba, and possessed it. [4] And he built Palmira in the desert, and he built other strong cities in Emath. [5] And he built Beth-horon the upper, and Beth-horon the nether, walled cities with Rates and bars and locks. [6] Balaath also and all the strong cities that were Solomon's, and all the cities of the chariots, and the cities of the horsemen. All that Solomon had a mind, and designed, he built in Jerusalem and in Libanus, and in all the land of his dominion.

[7] All the people that were left of the Hethites, and the Amorrhites, and the Pherezites, and the Hevites, and the Jebusites, that were not of the stock of Israel: [8] Of their children, and of the posterity, whom the children of Israel had not slain, Solomon made to be the tributaries, unto this day. [9] But of the children of Israel he set none to serve in the king's works: for they were men of war, and chief captains, and rulers of his chariots and horsemen. [10] And all the chief captains of king Solomon's army were two hundred and fifty, who taught the people.

[11] And he removed the daughter of Pharao from the city of David, to the house which he had built for her. For the king said: My wife shall not dwell in the house of David king of Israel, for it is sanctified: because the ark of the Lord came into it.

[12] Then Solomon offered holocausts to the Lord upon the altar of the Lord which he had built before the porch, [13] That every day an offering might be made on it according to the ordinance of Moses, in the sabbaths, and on the new moons, and on the festival days three times a year, that is to say, in the feast of unleavened bread, and in the feast of weeks, and in the feast of tabernacles. [14] And he appointed according to the order of David his father the offices of the priests in their ministries: and the Levites in their order to give praise, and minister before the priests according to the duty of every day: and the porters in their divisions by gate and gate: for so David the man of God had commanded. [15] And the priests and Levites departed not from the king's commandments, as to any thing that he had commanded, and as to the keeping of the treasures. [16] Solomon had all charges prepared, from the day that he founded the house of the Lord, until the day wherein he finished it.

[17] Then Solomon went to Asiongaber, and to Ailath, on the coast of the Red Sea, which is in the land of Edom. [18] And Hiram sent him ships by the hands of his servants, and skillful mariners, and they went with Solomon's servants to Ophir, and they took thence four hundred and fifty talents of gold, and brought it to king Solomon.

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Chapter 9 - verses 1-31 have been omitted from the Mass readings.

[1] And when the queen of Saba heard of the fame of Solomon, she came to try him with hard questions at Jerusalem, with great riches, and camels, which carried spices, and abundance of gold, and precious stones. And when she was come to Solomon, she proposed to him all that was in her heart. [2] And Solomon explained to her all that she proposed: and there was not any thing that he did not make clear unto her.

[3] And when she had seen these things, to wit, the wisdom of Solomon, and the house which he had built, [4] And the meats of his table, and the dwelling places of his servants, and the attendance of his officers, and their apparel, his cupbearers also, and their garments, and the victims which he offered in the house of the Lord: there was no more spirit in her, she was so astonished. [5] And she said to the king:

The word is true which I heard in my country of thy virtues and wisdom. [6] I did not believe them that told it, until I came, and my eyes had seen, and I had proved that scarce one half of thy wisdom had been told me: thou hast exceeded the same with thy virtues. [7] Happy are thy men, and happy are thy servants, who stand always before thee, and hear thy wisdom. [8] Blessed be the Lord thy God, who hath been pleased to set thee on his throne, king of the Lord thy God. Because God loveth Israel, and will preserve them for ever: therefore hath he made thee king over them, to do judgment and justice.

[9] And she gave to the king a hundred and twenty talents of gold, and spices in great abundance, and most precious stones: there were no such spices as these which the queen of Saba gave to king Solomon.

[10] And the servants also of Hiram, with the servants of Solomon, brought gold from Ophir, and thyine trees, and most precious stones:

[11] And the king made of the thyine trees stairs in the house of the Lord, and in the king's house, and harps and psalteries for the singing men: never were there seen such trees in the land of Juda.

[12] And king Solomon gave to the queen of Saba all that she desired, and that she asked, and many more things than she brought to him: so she returned, and went to her own country with her servants.

[13] And the weight of the gold, that was brought to Solomon every year, was six hundred and sixty-six talents of gold: [14] Beside the sum which the deputies of divers nations, and the merchants were accustomed to bring, and all the kings of Arabia, and the lords of the lands, who I brought gold and silver to Solomon.

[15] And king Solomon made two hundred golden spears, of the sum of six hundred pieces of gold, which went to every spear: [16] And three hundred golden shields of three hundred pieces of gold, which went to the covering of every shield: and the king put them in the armoury, which was compassed with a wood. [17] The king also made a great throne of ivory, and overlaid it with pure gold. [18] And six steps to go up to the throne, and a footstool of gold, and two arms one on either side, and two lions standing by the arms: [19] Moreover twelve other little lions standing upon the steps on both sides: there was not such a throne in any kingdom.

[20] And all the vessels of the king's table were of gold, and the vessels of the house of the forest of Libanus were of the purest gold. For no account was made of silver in those days. [21] For the king's ships went to Tharsis with the servants of Hiram, once in three years: and they brought thence gold and silver, and ivory, and apes, and peacocks.

[22] And Solomon was magnified above all the kings of the earth for riches and glory. [23] And all the kings of the earth desired to see the face of Solomon, that they might hear the wisdom which God had given in his heart. [24] And every year they brought him presents, vessels of silver and of gold, and garments, and armour, and spices, and horses, and mules.

[25] And Solomon had forty thousand horses in the stables, and twelve thousand chariots, and horsemen, and he placed them in the cities of the chariots, and where the king was in Jerusalem. [26] And he exercised authority over all the kings from the river Euphrates to the land of the Philistines, and to the borders of Egypt. [27] And he made silver as plentiful in Jerusalem as stones: and cedars as common as the sycamores, which grow in the plains. [28] And horses were brought to him out of Egypt, and out of all countries.

[29] Now the rest of the acts of Solomon first and last are written in the words of Nathan the prophet, and in the boobs of Ahias the Silonite, and in the vision of Addo the seer, against Jeroboam the son of Nabat. [30] And Solomon reigned in Jerusalem over all Israel forty years. [31] And he slept with his fathers: and they buried him in the city of David: and Roboam his son reigned in his stead.

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Chapter 10 - verses 1-19 have been omitted from the Mass readings.

[1] And Roboam went to Sichem: for thither all Israel were assembled, to make him king. [2] And when Jeroboam the son of Nabat, who was in Egypt, (for he was fled thither from Solomon,) heard it, forthwith he returned. [3] And they sent for him, and he came with all Israel, and they spoke to Roboam, saying:

[4] Thy father oppressed us with a most grievous yoke, do thou govern us with a lighter hand than thy father, who laid upon us a heavy servitude, and ease some thing of the burden, that we may serve thee.

[5] And he said to them:

Come to me again after three days. And when the people were gone, [6] He took counsel with the ancients, who had stood before his father Solomon, while he yet lived, saying:

What counsel give you to me, that I may answer the people?

[7] And they said to him:

If thou please this people, and soothe them with kind words, they will be thy servants for ever.

[8] But he forsook the counsel of the ancients, and began to treat with the young men, that had been brought up with him, and were in his train. [9] And he said to them:

What seemeth good to you? or what shall I answer this people, who have said to me: Ease the yoke which thy father laid upon us?

[10] But they answered as young men, and brought up with him in pleasures, and said:

Thus shalt thou speak to the people, that said to thee: Thy father made our yoke heavy, do thou ease it: thus shalt thou answer them: My little finger is thicker than the loins of my father. [11] My father laid upon you a heavy yoke, and I will add more weight to it: my father beat you with scourges, but I will beat you with scorpions.

[12] So Jeroboam, and all the people came to Roboam the third day, as he commanded them. [13] And the king answered roughly, leaving the counsel of the ancients. [14] And he spoke according to the advice of the young men:

My father laid upon you a heavy yoke, which I will make heavier: my father beat you with scourges, but I will beat you with scorpions.

[15] And he condescended not to the people's requests: for it was the will of God, that his word might be fulfilled which he had spoken by the hand of Ahias the Silonite to Jeroboam the son of Nabat.

[16] And all the people upon the king's speaking roughly, said thus unto him:

We have no part in David, nor inheritance in the son of Isai.

Return to thy dwellings, O Israel, and do thou, O David, feed thy own house.

And Israel went away to their dwellings. [17] But Roboam reigned over the children of Israel that dwelt in the cities of Juda. [18] And king Roboam sent Aduram, who was over the tributes, and the children of Israel stoned him, and he died: and king Roboam made haste to gee up into his chariot, and fled into Jerusalem.

[19] And Israel revolted from the house of David unto this day.

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Chapter 11 - verses 1-23 have been omitted from the Mass readings.

[1] And Roboam came to Jerusalem, and called together all the house of Juda and of Benjamin, a hundred and fourscore thousand chosen men and warriors, to fight against Israel, and to bring back his kingdom to him. [2] And the word of the Lord came to Semeias the man of God, saying:

[3] Speak to Roboam the son of Solomon the king of Juda, and to all Israel, in Juda and Benjamin: [4] Thus saith the Lord: You shall not go up, nor fight against your brethren: let every man return to his own house, for by my will this thing has been done.

And when they heard the word of the Lord, they returned, and did not go against Jeroboam,

[5] And Roboam dwelt in Jerusalem, and built walled cities in Juda. [6] And he built Bethlehem, and Etam, and Thecue, [7] And Bethsur, and Socho, and Odollam, [8] And Geth, and Maresa, and Ziph, [9] And Aduram, and Lachis, and Azecha, [10] Saraa also, and Aialon, and Hebron, which are in Juda and Benjamin, well fenced cities. [11] And when he had enclosed them with walls, he put in them governors and storehouses of provisions, that is, of oil and of wine. [12] Moreover in every city he made an armoury of shields and spears, and he fortified them with great diligence, and he reigned over Juda, and Benjamin,

[13] And the priests and Levites, that were in all Israel, came to him out of all their seats, [14] Leaving their suburbs, and their possessions, and passing over to Juda, and Jerusalem, because Jeroboam and his sons had cast them off, from executing the priestly office to the Lord. [15] And he made to himself priests for the high places, and for the devils, and for the calves which he had made. [16] Moreover out of all the tribes of Israel, whosoever gave their heart to seek the Lord the God of Israel, came into Jerusalem to sacrifice their victims before the Lord the God of their fathers. [17] And they strengthened the kingdom of Juda, and established Roboam the son of Solomon for three years: for they walked in the ways of David and of Solomon, only three years.

[18] And Roboam took to wife Mahalath, the daughter of Jerimoth the son of David: and Abihail the daughter of Eliab the son of Isai. [19] And they bore him sons Jehus, and Somorias, and Zoom. [20] And after her he married Maacha the daughter of Absalom, who bore him Abia and Ethai, and Ziza, and Salomith. [21] And Roboam loved Maacha the daughter of Absalom above all his wives, and concubines: for he had married eighteen wives, and threescore concubines: and he beget eight and twenty sons, and threescore daughters.

[22] But he put at the head of them Abia the son of Maacha to be the chief ruler over all his brethren: for he meant to make him king, [23] Because he was wiser and mightier than all his sons, and in all the countries of Juda, and of Benjamin, and in all the walled cities: and he gave them provisions in abundance, and he sought many wives.

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Chapter 12 - verses 1-16 have been omitted from the Mass readings.

[1] And when the kingdom of Roboam was strengthened and fortified, he forsook the law of the Lord, and all Israel with him. [2] And in the fifth year of the reign of Roboam, Sesac king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem (because they had sinned against the Lord) [3] With twelve hundred chariots and threescore thousand horsemen: and the people were without number that came with him out of Egypt, to wit, Libyans, and Troglodites, and Ethiopians. [4] And he took the strongest cities in Juda, and came to Jerusalem. [5] And Semeias the prophet came to Roboam, and to the princes of Juda, that were gathered together in Jerusalem, fleeing from Sesac, and he said to them:

Thus saith the Lord: You have left me, and I have left you in the hand of Sesac.

[6] And the princes of Israel, and the king, being in a consternation, said:

The Lord is just.

[7] And when the Lord saw that they were humbled, the word of the Lord came to Semeias, saying:

Because they are humbled, I will not destroy them, and I will give them a little help, and my wrath shall not fall upon Jerusalem by the hand of Sesac. [8] But yet they shall serve him, that they may know the difference between my service, and the service of a kingdom of the earth.

[9] So Sesac king of Egypt departed from Jerusalem, taking away the treasures of the house of the Lord, and of the king's house, and he took all with him, and the golden shields that Solomon had made, [10] Instead of which the king made brazen ones, and delivered them to the captains of the shieldbearers, who guarded the entrance of the palace. [11] And when the king entered into the house of the Lord, the shieldbearers came and took them, and brought them back again to their armoury. [12] But yet because they were humbled, the wrath of the Lord turned away from them, and they were not utterly destroyed: for even in Juda there were found good works.

[13] King Roboam therefore was strengthened in Jerusalem, and reigned: he was one and forty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city which the Lord chose out of all the tribes of Israel, to establish his name there: and the name of his mother was Naama an Ammonitess. [14] But he did evil, and did not prepare his heart to seek the Lord.

[15] Now the acts of Roboam first and last are written in the books of Semeias the prophet, and of Addo the seer, and diligently recorded: and there was war between Roboam and Jeroboam all their days. [16] And Roboam slept with his fathers, and was buried in the city of David. And Abia his son reigned in his stead.

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Chapter 13 - verses 1-22 have been omitted from the Mass readings.

[1] In the eighteenth year of king Jeroboam, Abia reigned over Juda. [2] Three years he reigned in Jerusalem, and his mother's name was Michaia, the daughter of Uriel of Gabaa: and there was war between Abia and Jeroboam. [3] And when Abia had begun battle, and had with him four hundred thousand most valiant and chosen men, Jeroboam put his army in array against him, eight hundred thousand men, who were also chosen and most valiant for war. [4] And Abia stood upon mount Semeron, which was in Ephraim, and said:

Hear me, O Jeroboam, and all Israel: [5] Do you not know that the Lord God of Israel gave to David the kingdom over Israel for ever, to him and to his sons by a covenant of salt? [6] And Jeroboam the son of Nabat, the servant of Solomon the son of David, rose up: and rebelled against his lord. [7] And there were gathered to him vain men, and children of Belial: and they prevailed against Roboam the son of Solomon: for Roboam was unexperienced, and of a fearful heart, and could not resist them. [8] And now you say that you are able to withstand the kingdom of the Lord, which he possesseth by the sons of David, and you have a great multitude of people, and golden calves, which Jeroboam hath made you for gods. [9] And you have cast out the priests of the Lord, the sons of Aaron, and the Levites: and you have made you priests, like all the nations of the earth: whosoever cometh and consecrateth his hand with a bullock of the herd, and with seven rams, is made a priest of those who are no gods. [10] But the Lord is our God, whom we forsake not, and the priests who minister to the Lord are the sons of Aaron, and the Levites are in their order. [11] And they offer holocausts to the Lord, every day, morning and evening, and incense made according to the ordinance of the law, and the leaves are set forth on a most clean table, and there is with us the golden candlestick, and the lamps thereof, to be lighted always in the evening: for we keep the precepts of the Lord our God, whom you have forsaken. [12] Therefore God is the leader in our army, and his priests who sound with trumpets, and resound against you: O children of Israel, fight not against the Lord the God of your fathers, for it is not good for you.

[13] While he spoke these things, Jeroboam caused an ambushment to come about behind him. And while he stood facing the enemies, he encompassed Juda. who perceived it not, with his army. [14] And when Juda looked back, they saw the battle coming upon them both before and behind, and they cried to the Lord: and the priests began to sound with the trumpets. [15] And all the men of Juda shouted: and behold when they shouted, God terrified Jeroboam, and all Israel that stood against Abia and Juda. [16] And the children of Israel fled before Juda, and the Lord delivered them into their hand. [17] And Abia and his people slew them with a great slaughter, and there fell wounded of Israel five hundred thousand valiant men. [18] And the children of Israel were brought down, at that time, and the children of Juda were exceedingly strengthened, because they had trusted in the Lord the God of their fathers.

[19] And Abia pursued after Jeroboam, and took cities from him, Bethel and her daughters, and Jesana with her daughters, Ephron also and her daughters. [20] And Jeroboam was not able to resist any more, in the days of Abia: and the Lord struck him, and he died. [21] But Abia, being strengthened in his kingdom, took fourteen wives: and begot two and twenty sons, and sixteen daughters.

[22] And the rest of the acts of Abia, and of his ways and works, are written diligently in the book of Addo the prophet.

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Chapter 14 - verses 1-15 have been omitted from the Mass readings.

[1] And Abia slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the city of David: and Asa his son reigned in his stead: in his days the land was quiet ten years. [2] And Asa did that which was good and pleasing in the sight of his God, and he destroyed the altars of foreign worship, and the high places. [3] And broke the statues, and cut down the groves. [4] And he commanded Juda to seek the Lord the God of their fathers, and to do the law, and all the commandments. [5] And he took away out of all the cities of Juda the altars, and temples, and reigned in peace. [6] He built also strong cities in Juda, for he was quiet, and there had no wars risen in his time, the Lord giving peace. [7] And he said to Juda:

Let us build these cities, and compass them with walls, and fortify them with towers, and gates, and bars, while all is quiet from wars, because we have sought the Lord the God of our fathers, and he hath given us peace round about.

So they built, and there was no hinderance in building.

[8] And Asa had in his army of men that bore shields and spears of Juda three hundred thousand, and of Benjamin that bore shields and drew bows, two hundred and eighty thousand, all these were most valiant men.

[9] And Zara the Ethiopian came out against them with his army of ten hundred thousand men, and with three hundred chariots: and he came as far as Maresa.[10] And Asa went out to meet him, and set his army in array for battle in the vale of Sephata, which is near Maresa:

[11] And he called upon the Lord God, and said:

O Lord, there is no difference with thee, whether thou help with few, or with many: help us, O Lord our God: for with confidence in thee, and in thy name, we are come against this multitude. O Lord thou art our God, let not man prevail against thee.

[12] And the Lord terrified the Ethiopians before Asa and Juda: and the Ethiopians fled. [13] And Asa and the people that were with him pursued them to Gerara: and the Ethiopians fell even to utter destruction, for the Lord slew them, and his army fought against them, and they were destroyed. And they took abundance of spoils, [14] And they took all the cities round about Gerara: for a great fear was come upon all men: and they pillaged the cities, and carried off much booty. [15] And they destroyed the sheepcotes, and took an infinite number of cattle, and of camels: and returned to Jerusalem.

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Chapter 15 - verses 1-19 have been omitted from the Mass readings.

[1] And the spirit of God came upon Azarias the son of Oded, [2] And he went out to meet Asa, and said to him:

Hear ye me, Asa, and all Juda and Benjamin: The Lord is with you, because you have been with him. If you seek him, you shall find: but if you forsake him, he will forsake you. [3] And many days shall pass in Israel without the true God, and without a priest a teacher, and without the law. [4] And when in their distress they shall return to the Lord the God of Israel, and shall seek him, they shall find him. [5] At that time there shall be no peace to him that goeth out and cometh in, but terrors on every side among all the inhabitants of the earth. [6] For nation shall fight against nation, and city against city, for the Lord will trouble them with all distress. [7] Do you therefore take courage, and let not your hands he weakened: for there shall be a reward for your work.

[8] And when Asa had heard the words, and the prophecy of Azarias the son of Oded the prophet, he took courage, and took away the idols out of all the land of Juda, and out of Benjamin, and out of the cities of mount Ephraim, which he had taken, and he dedicated the altar of the Lord, which was before the porch of the Lord. [9] And he gathered together all Juda and Benjamin, and the strangers with them of Ephraim, and Manasses, and Simeon: for many were come over to him out of Israel, seeing that the Lord his God was with him. [10] And when they were come to Jerusalem in the third month, in the fifteenth year of the reign of Asa, [11] They sacrificed to the Lord in that day of the spoils, and of the prey, that they had brought, seven hundred oxen, and seven thousand rams. [12] And he went in to confirm as usual the covenant, that they should seek the Lord the God of their fathers with all their heart, and with all their soul. [13] And if any one, said he, seek not the Lord the God of Israel, let him die, whether little or great, man or woman. [14] And they swore to the Lord with a loud voice with joyful shouting, and with sound of trumpet, and sound of comets, [15] All that mere in Juda with a curse: for with all their heart they swore, and with all their will they sought him, and they found him, and the Lord gave them rest round about.

[16] Moreover Maacha the mother of king Asa he deposed from the royal authority, because she had made in a grove an idol of Priapus: and he entirely destroyed it, and breaking it into pieces, burnt it at the torrent Cedron. [17] But high places were left in Israel: nevertheless the heart of Asa was perfect all his days. [18] And the things which his father had vowed, and he himself had vowed, he brought into the house of the Lord, gold and silver, and vessels of divers uses.

[19] And there was no war unto the five and thirtieth year of the kingdom of Asa.

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Chapter 16 - verses 1-14 have been omitted from the Mass readings.

[1] And in the six and thirtieth year of his kingdom, Baasa the king of Israel came up against Juda, and built a wall about Rama, that no one might safely go out or come in of the kingdom of Asa. [2] Then Asa brought out silver and gold out of the treasures of the house of the Lord, and of the king's treasures, and sent to Benadad king of Syria, who dwelt in Damascus, saying: [3] There is a league between me and thee, as there was between my father and thy father, wherefore I have sent thee silver and gold, that thou mayst break thy league with Baasa king of Israel, and make him depart from me. [4] And then Benadad heard this, he sent the captains of his armies against the cities of Israel: and they took Ahion, and Dan, and Abelmaim, and all the walled cities of Nephtali. [5] And when Baasa heard of it, he left off the building of Rama, and interrupted his work. [6] Then king Asa took all Juda, and they carried away from Rama the stones, and the timber that Baasa had prepared for the building: and he built with them Gabaa, and Maspha.

[7] At that time Hanani the prophet came to Asa king of Juda, and said to him:

Because thou hast had confidence in the king of Syria, and not in the Lord thy God, therefore hath the army of the king of Syria escaped out of thy hand. [8] Were not the Ethiopians, and the Libyans much more numerous in chariots, and horsemen, and an exceeding great multitude: yet because thou trustedst in the Lord, he delivered them into thy hand? [9] For the eyes of the Lord behold all the earth, and give strength to those who with a perfect heart trust in him. Wherefore thou hast done foolishly, and for this cause from this time wars shall arise against thee.

[10] And Asa was angry with the seer, and commanded him to be put in prison: for he was greatly enraged because of this thing: and he put to death many of the people at that time.

[11] But the works of Asa the first and last are written in the book of the kings of Juda and Israel.

[12] And Asa fell sick in the nine and thirtieth year of his reign, of a most violent pain in his feet, and yet in his illness he did not seek the Lord, but rather trusted in the skill of physicians. [13] And he slept with his fathers: and he died in the one and fortieth year of his reign. [14] And they buried him in his own sepulchre, which he had made for himself in the city of David: and they laid him on his bed full of spices and odoriferous ointments, which were made by the art of the perfumers, and they burnt them over him with very great pomp.

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Chapter 17 - verses 1-19 have been omitted from the Mass readings.

[1] And Josaphat his son reigned in his stead, and grew strong against Israel. [2] And he placed numbers of soldiers in all the fortified cities of Juda. And he put garrisons in the land of Juda, and in the cities of Ephraim, which Asa his father had taken.

[3] And the Lord was with Josaphat, because he walked in the first ways of David his father: and trusted not in Baalim, [4] But in the God of his father, and walk in his commandments, and not according to the sins of Israel. [5] And the Lord established the kingdom in his hand, and all Juda brought presents to Josaphat: and he acquired immense riches, and much glory. [6] And when his heart had taken courage for the ways of the Lord, he took away also the high places and the groves out of Juda.

[7] And in the third year of his reign, he sent of his princes Benhail, and Abdias, and Zacharias, and Nathanael, and Micheas, to teach in the cities of Juda: [8] And with them the Levites, Semeias, and Nathanias, and Zabadias, and Asael, and Semiramoth, and Jonathan, and Adonias, and Tobias, and Thobadonias Levites, and with them Elisama, and Joram priests. [9] And they taught the people in Juda, having with them the book of the law of the Lord: and they went about all the cities of Juda, and instructed the people.

[10] And the fear of the Lord came upon all the kingdoms of the lands that were round about Juda, and they durst not make war against Josaphat. [11] The Philistines also brought presents to Josaphat, and tribute in silver, and the Arabians brought him cattle, seven thousand seven hundred rams, and as many he goats. [12] And Josaphat grew, and became exceeding great: and he built in Juda houses like towers, and walled cities. [13] And he prepared many works in the cities of Juda: and he had warriors, and valiant men in Jerusalem.

[14] Of whom this is the number of the houses and families of every one: in Juda captains of the army, Ednas the chief, and with him three hundred thousand most valiant men. [15] After him Johanan the captain, and with him two hundred and eighty thousand. [16] And after him was Amasias the son of Zechri, consecrated to the Lord, and with him were two hundred thousand valiant men.

[17] After him was Eliada valiant in battle, and with him two hundred thousand armed with bow and shield. [18] After him also was Jozabad, and with him a hundred and eighty thousand ready for war. [19] All these were at the hand of the king, beside others, whom he had put in the walled cities, in all Juda.

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Chapter 18 - verses 1-34 have been omitted from the Mass readings.

[1] Now Josaphat was rich and very glorious, and was joined by affinity to Achab. [2] And he went down to him after some years to Samaria: and Achab at his coming killed sheep and oxen in abundance for him and the people that came with him: and he persuaded him to go up to Ramoth Galaad. [3] And Achab king of Israel said to Josaphat king of Juda:

Come with me to Ramoth Galaad.

And he answered him:

Thou art as I am, and my people as thy people, and we will be with thee in the war.

[4] And Josaphat said to the king of Israel:

Inquire, I beseech thee, at present the word of the Lord.

[5] So the king of Israel gathered together of the prophets four hundred men, and he said to them:

Shall we go to Ramoth Galaad to fight, or shall we forbear?

But they said:

Go up, and God will deliver it into the king's hand.

[6] And Josaphat said:

Is there not here a prophet of the Lord, that we may inquire also of him?

[7] And the king of Israel said to Josaphat:

There is one man, of whom we may ask the will of the Lord: but I hate him, for he never prophesieth good to me, but always evil: and it is Micheas the son of Jemla.

And Josaphat said:

Speak not thus, O king.

[8] And the king of Israel called one of the eunuchs, and said to him:

Call quickly Micheas the son of Jemla.

[9] Now the king of Israel, and Josaphat king of Juda, both sat on their thrones, clothed in royal robes, and they sat in the open court by the gate of Samaria, and all the prophets prophesied before them. [10] And Sedecias the son of Chanaana made him horns of iron, and said:

Thus saith the Lord: With these shalt thou push Syria, till thou destroy it.

[11] And all the prophets prophesied in like manner, and said:

Go up to Ramoth Galaad, and thou shalt prosper, and the Lord will deliver them into the king's hand.

[12] And the messenger that went to call Micheas, said to him:

Behold the words of all the prophets with one mouth declare good to the king: I beseech thee therefore let not thy word disagree with them, and speak thou also good success.

[13] And Micheas answered him:

As the Lord liveth, whatsoever my God shall say to me, that will I speak.

[14] So he came to the king: and the king said to him:

Micheas, shall we go to Ramoth Galaad to fight, or forbear?

And he answered him:

Go up, for all shall succeed prosperously, and the enemies shall be delivered into your hands.

[15] And the king said:

I adjure thee again and again to say nothing but the truth to me, in the name of the Lord.

[16] Then he said:

I saw all Israel scattered in the mountains, like sheep without a shepherd: and the Lord said: These have no masters: let every man return to his own house in peace.

[17] And the king of Israel said to Josaphat:

Did I not tell thee that this man would not prophesy me any good, but evil?

[18] Then he said:

Hear ye therefore the word of the Lord: I saw the Lord sitting on his throne, and all the army of heaven standing by him on the right hand and on the left. [19] And the Lord said: Who shall deceive Achab king of Israel, that he may go up and fall in Ramoth Galaad? And when one spoke in this manner, and another otherwise: [20] There came forth a spirit, and stood before the Lord, and said: I will deceive him. And the Lord said to him: By what means wilt thou deceive him? [21] And he answered: I will go out, and be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets. And the Lord said: Thou shalt deceive, and shalt prevail: go out, and do so. [22] Now therefore behold the Lord hath put a spirit of lying in the mouth of all thy prophets, and the Lord hath spoken evil against thee.

[23] And Sedecias the son of Chanaana came, and struck Micheas on the cheek and said:

Which way went the spirit of the Lord from me, to speak to thee?

[24] And Micheas said:

Thou thyself shalt see in that day, when thou shalt go in from chamber to chamber, to hide thyself.

[25] And the king of Israel commanded, saying:

Take Micheas, and carry him to Amen the governor of the city, and to Joas the son of Amelech, [26] And say: Thus saith the king: Put this fellow in prison, and give him bread and water in a small quantity till I return in peace.

[27] And Micheas said:

If thou return in peace, the Lord hath not spoken by me. And he said: Hear, all ye people.

[28] So the king of Israel and Josaphat king of Juda went up to Ramoth Galaad. [29] And the king of Israel said to Josaphat:

I will change my dress, and so I will go to the battle, but put thou on thy own garments.

And the king of Israel having changed his dress, went to the battle.

[30] Now the king of Syria had commanded the captains of his cavalry, saying: Fight ye not with small, or great, but with the king of Israel only. [31] So when the captains of the cavalry saw Josaphat, they said:

This is the king of Israel.

And they surrounded him to attack him: but he cried to the Lord, and he helped him, and turned them away from him. [32] For when the captains of the cavalry saw, that he was not the king of Israel, they left him. [33] And it happened that one of the people shot an arrow at a venture, and struck the king of Israel between the neck and the shoulders, and he said to his chariot man:

Turn thy hand, and carry me out of the battle, for I am wounded.

[34] And the fight was ended that day: but the king of Israel stood in his chariot against the Syrians until the evening, and died at the sunset.

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Chapter 19 - verses 1-11 have been omitted from the Mass readings.

[1] And Josaphat king of Juda returned to his house in peace to Jerusalem. [2] And Jehu the son of Hanani the seer met him, and said to him:

Thou helpest the ungodly, and thou art joined in friendship with them that hate the Lord, and therefore thou didst deserve indeed the wrath of the Lord: [3] But good works are found in thee, because thou hast taken away the groves out of the land of Juda, and hast prepared thy heart to seek the Lord the God of thy fathers.

[4] And Josaphat dwelt at Jerusalem: and he went out again to the people from Bersabee to mount Ephraim, and brought them back to the Lord the God of their fathers. [5] And he set judges of the land in all the fenced cities of Juda, in every place. [6] And charging the judges, he said:

Take heed what you do: for you exercise not the judgment of man, but of the Lord: and whatsoever you judge, it shall redound to you. [7] Let the fear of the Lord be with you, and do all things with diligence: for there is no iniquity with the Lord our God, nor respect of persons, nor desire of gifts.

[8] In Jerusalem also Josaphat appointed Levites, and priests and chiefs of the families of Israel, to judge the judgment and the cause of the Lord for the inhabitants thereof. [9] And he charged them, saying:

Thus shall you do in the fear of the Lord faithfully, and with a perfect heart. [10] Every cause that shall come to you of your brethren, that dwell in their cities, between kindred and kindred, wheresoever there is question concerning the law, the commandment, the ceremonies, the justifications: shew it them, that they may not sin against the Lord, and that wrath may not come upon you and your brethren: and so doing you shall not sin. [11] And Amarias the priest your high priest shall be chief in the things which regard God: and Zabadias the son of Ismahel, who is ruler in the house of Juda, shall be over those matters which belong to the king's office: and you have before you the Levites for masters, take courage and do diligently, and the Lord will be with you in good things.

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Chapter 20 - verses 1-37 have been omitted from the Mass readings.

[1] After this the children of Moab, and the children of Ammon, and with them of the Ammonites, were gathered together to fight against Josaphat. [2] And there came messengers, and told Josaphat, saying:

There cometh a great multitude against thee from beyond the sea, and out of Syria, and behold they are in Asasonthamar, which is Engaddi.

[3] And Josaphat being seized with fear betook himself wholly to pray to the Lord, and he proclaimed a fast for all Juda. [4] And Juda gathered themselves together to pray to the Lord: and all came out of their cities to make supplication to him. [5] And Josaphat stood in the midst of the assembly of Juda, and Jerusalem, in the house of the Lord before the new court, [6] And said:

O Lord God of our fathers, thou art God in heaven, and rulest over all the kingdoms and nations, in thy hand is strength and power, and no one can resist thee. [7] Didst not thou our God kill all the inhabitants of this land before thy people Israel, and gavest it to the seed of Abraham thy friend for ever? [8] And they dwelt in it, and built in it a sanctuary to thy name, saying: [9] If evils fall upon us, the sword of judgment, or pestilence, or famine, we will stand in thy presence before this house, in which thy name is called upon: and we will cry to thee in our afflictions, and thou wilt hear, and save us. [10] Now therefore behold the children of Ammon, and of Moab, and mount Seir, through whose lands thou didst not allow Israel to pass, when they came out of Egypt, but they turned aside from them, and slew them not, [11] Do the contrary, and endeavour to cast us out of the possession which thou hast delivered to us. [12] O our God, wilt thou not then judge them? as for us we have not strength enough, to be able to resist this multitude, which cometh violently upon us. But as we know not what to do, we can only turn our eyes to thee.

[13] And all Juda stood before the Lord with their little ones, and their wives, and their children. [14] And Jahaziel the son of Zacharias, the son of Banaias, the son of Jehiel, the son of Mathanias, a Levite of the sons of Asaph, was there, upon whom the spirit of the Lord came in the midst of the multitude, [15] And he said:

Attend ye, all Juda, and you that dwell in Jerusalem, and thou king Josaphat: Thus saith the Lord to you: Fear ye not, and be not dismayed at this multitude: for the battle is not yours, but God's. [16] Tomorrow you shall go down against them: for they will come up by the ascent named Sis, and you shall find them at the head of the torrent, which is over against the wilderness of Jeruel. [17] It shall not be you that shall fight, but only stand with confidence, and you shall see the help of the Lord over you, O Juda, and Jerusalem: fear ye not, nor be you dismayed: tomorrow you shall go out against them, and the Lord will be with you.

[18] Then Josaphat, and Juda, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem fell hat on the ground before the Lord, and adored him. [19] And the Levites of the sons of Caath, and of the sons of Core praised the Lord the God of Israel with a loud voice, on high.

[20] And they rose early in the morning, and went out through the desert of Thecua: and as they were marching, Josaphat standing in the midst of them, said:

Hear me, ye men of Juda, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem: believe in the Lord your God, and you shall be secure: believe his prophets, and all things shall succeed well.

[21] And he gave counsel to the people, and appointed the singing men of the Lord, to praise him by their companies, and to go before the army, and with one voice to say: Give glory to the Lord, for his mercy endureth for ever.

[22] And when they began to sing praises, the Lord turned their ambushments upon themselves, that is to say, of the children of Ammon, and of Moab, and of mount Seir, who were come out to fight against Juda, and they were slain. [23] For the children of Ammon, and of Moab, rose up against the inhabitants of mount Seir, to kill and destroy them: and when they had made an end of them, they turned also against one another, and destroyed one another. [24] And when Juda came to the watch tower, that looketh toward the desert, they saw afar off all the country, for a great space, full of dead bodies, and that no one was left that could escape death. [25] Then Josaphat came, and all the people with him to take away the spoils of the dead, and they found among the dead bodies, stuff of various kinds, and garments, and most precious vessels: and they took them for themselves, insomuch that they could not carry all, nor in three days take away the spoils, the booty was so great. [26] And on the fourth day they were assembled in the valley of Blessing: for there they blessed the Lord, and therefore they called that place the valley of Blessing until this day. [27] And every man of Juda, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem returned, and Josaphat at their head, into Jerusalem with great joy, because the Lord had made them rejoice over their enemies. [28] And they came into Jerusalem with psalteries, and harps, and trumpets into the house of the Lord.

[29] And the fear of the Lord fell upon all the kingdoms of the lands when they heard that the Lord had fought against the enemies of Israel. [30] And the kingdom of Josaphat was quiet, and God gave him peace round about.

[31] And Josaphat reigned over Juda, and he was five and thirty years old when he began to reign: and he reigned five and twenty years in Jerusalem: and the name of his mother was Azuba the daughter of Selahi. [32] And he walked in the way of his father Asa, and departed not from it, doing the things that were pleasing before the Lord. [33] But yet he took not away the high places, and the people had not yet turned their heart to the Lord the God of their fathers.

[34] But the rest of the acts of Josaphat, first and last, are written in the words of Jehu the son of Hanani, which he digested into the books of the kings of Israel. [35] After these things Josaphat king of Juda made friendship with Ochozias king of Israel, whose works were very wicked. [36] And he was partner with him in making ships, to go to Tharsis: and they made the ships in Asiongaber. [37] And Eliezer the son of Dodau of Maresa prophesied to Josaphat, saying:

Because thou hast made a league with Ochozias, the Lord hath destroyed thy works, and the ships are broken, and they could not go to Tharsis.

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Chapter 21 - verses 1-20 have been omitted from the Mass readings.

[1] And Josaphat slept with his fathers, and was buried with them in the city of David: and Joram his son reigned in his stead. [2] And he had brethren the sons of Josaphat, Azarias, and Jahiel, and Zacharias, and Azaria, and Michael, and Saphatias, all these were the sons of Josaphat king of Juda. [3] And their father gave them great gifts of silver, and of gold, and pensions, with strong cities in Juda: but the kingdom he gave to Joram, because he was the eldest. [4] So Joram rose up over the kingdom of his father: and when he had established himself, he slew all his brethren with the sword, and some of the princes of Israel.

[5] Joram was two and thirty years old when he began to reign: and he reigned eight years in Jerusalem. [6] And he walked in the ways of the kings of Israel, as the house of Achab had done: for his wife was a daughter of Achab, and he did evil in the sight of the Lord. [7] But the Lord would not destroy the house of David: because of the covenant which he had made with him: and because he had promised to give a lamp to him, and to his sons for ever.

[8] In those days Edom revolted, from being subject to Juda, and made themselves a king. [9] And Joram went over with his princes, and all his cavalry with him, and rose in the night, and defeated the Edomites who had surrounded him, and all the captains of his cavalry. [10] However Edom revolted, from being under the dominion of Juda unto this day: at that time Lobna also revolted, from being under his hand. For he had forsaken the Lord the God of his fathers:

[11] Moreover he built also high places in the cities of Juda, and he made the inhabitants of Jerusalem to commit fornication, and Juda to transgress. [12] And there was a letter brought him from Elias the prophet, in which it was written: Thus saith the Lord the God of David thy father: Because thou hast not walked in the ways of Josaphat thy father nor in the ways of Asa king of Juda, [13] But hast walked in the ways of the kings of Israel, and hast made Juda and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to commit fornication, imitating the fornication of the house of Achab, moreover also thou hast killed thy brethren, the house of thy father, better men than thyself, [14] Behold the Lord will strike thee with a great plague, with all thy people, and thy children, and thy wives, and all thy substance. [15] And thou shalt be sick of a very grievous disease of thy bowels, till thy vital parts come out by little and little every day.

[16] And the Lord stirred up against Joram the spirit of the Philistines, and of the Arabians, who border on the Ethiopians. [17] And they came up into the land of Juda, and wasted it, and they carried away all the substance that was found in the king's house, his sons also, and his wives: so that there was no son left him but Joachaz, who was the youngest. [18] And besides all this the Lord struck him with an incurable disease in his bowels. [19] And as day came after day, and time rolled on, two whole years passed: then after being wasted with a long consumption, so as to void his very bowels, his disease ended with his life. And he died of a most wretched illness, and the people did not make a funeral for him according to the manner of burning, as they had done for his ancestors.

[20] He was two and thirty years old when he began his reign, and he reigned eight years in Jerusalem. And he walked not rightly, and they buried him in the city of David: but not in the sepulchres of the kings.

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Chapter 22 - verses 1-12 have been omitted from the Mass readings.

[1] And the inhabitants of Jerusalem made Ochozias his youngest son king in his place: for the rovers of the Arabians, who had broke in upon the camp, had killed all that were his elder brothers. So Ochozias the son of Joram king of Juda reigned.

[2] Ochozias was forty-two years old when he began to reign, and he reigned one year in Jerusalem, and the name of his mother was Athalia the daughter of Amri. [3] He also walked in the ways of the house of Achab: for his mother pushed him on to do wickedly. [4] So he did evil in the sight of the Lord, as the house of Achab did: for they were his counsellors after the death of his father, to his destruction. [5] And he walked after their counsels. And he went with Joram the son of Achab king of Israel, to fight against Hazael king of Syria, at Ramoth Galaad: and the Syrians wounded Joram. [6] And he returned to be healed in Jezrahel: for he received many wounds in the foresaid battle. And Ochozias the son of Joram king of Juda, went down to visit Joram the son of Achab in Jezrahel where he lay sick. [7] For it was the will of God against Ochozias that he should come to Joram: and when he was come should go out also against Jehu the son of Namsi, whom the Lord had anointed to destroy the house of Achab. [8] So when Jehu was rooting out the house of Achab, he found the princes of Juda, and the sons of the brethren of Ochozias, who served him, and he slew them. [9] And he sought for Ochozias himself, and took him lying hid in Samaria: and when he was brought to him, he killed him, and they buried him: because he was the son of Josaphat, who had sought the Lord with all his heart.

And there was no more hope that any one should reign of the race of Ochozias.

[10] For Athalia his mother, seeing that her son was dead, rose up, and killed all the royal family of the house of Joram. [11] But Josabeth the king's daughter took Joas the son of Ochozias, and stole him from among the king's sons that were slain. And she hid him with his nurse in a bedchamber: now Josabeth that hid him, was daughter of king Joram, wife of Joiada the high priest, and sister of Ochozias, and therefore Athalia did not kill him. [12] And he was with them hid in the house of God six years, during which Athalia reigned over the land.

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Chapter 23 - verses 1-21 have been omitted from the Mass readings.

[1] And in the seventh year Joiada being encouraged, took the captains of hundreds, to wit, Azarias the son of Jeroham, and Ismahel the son of Johanan, and Azarias the son of Obed, and Maasias the son of Adaias, and Elisaphat the son of Zechri: and made a covenant with them. [2] And they went about Juda, and gathered together the Levites out of all the cities of Juda, and the chiefs of the families of Israel, and they came to Jerusalem. [3] And all the multitude made a covenant with the king in the house of God: and Joiada said to them:

Behold the king's son shall reign, as the Lord hath said of the sons of David. [4] And this is the thing that you shall do: [5] A third part of you that come to the sabbath, of the priests, and of the Levites, and of the porters, shall be at the gates: and a third part at the king's house: and a third at the gate that is called the Foundation: but let all the rest of the people be in the courts of the house of the Lord. [6] And let no one come into the house of the Lord, but the priests, and they that minister of the Levites: let them only come in, because they are sanctified: and let all the rest of the people keep the watches of the Lord. [7] And let the Levites be round about the king, every man with his arms; (and if any other come into the temple, let him be slain;) and let them be with the king, both coming in, and going out.

[8] So the Levites, and all Juda did according to all that Joiada the high priest bad commanded: and they took every one his men that were under him, and that came in by the course of the sabbath, with those who had fulfilled the sabbath, and were to go out. For Joiada the high priest permitted not the companies to depart, which were accustomed to succeed one another every week. [9] And Joiada the priest gave to the captains the spears, and the shields, and targets of king David, which he had dedicated in the house of the Lord. [10] And he set all the people with swords in their hands from the right side of the temple, to the left side of the temple, before the altar, and the temple, round about the king. [11] And they brought out the king's son, and put the crown upon him, and the testimony, and gave him the law to hold in his hand, and they made him king: and Joiada the high priest and his sons anointed him: and they prayed for him, and said:

God save the king.

[12] Now when Athalia heard the noise of the people running and praising the king, she came in to the people, into the temple of the Lord. [13] And when she saw the king standing upon the step in the entrance, and the princes, and the companies about him, and all the people of the land rejoicing, and sounding with trumpets, and playing on instruments of divers kinds, and the voice of those that praised, she rent her garments, and said:

Treason, treason.

[14] And Joiada the high priest going out to the captains, and the chiefs of the army, said to them:

Take her forth without the precinct of the temple, and when she is without let her be killed with the sword.

For the priest commanded that she should not be killed in the house of the Lord.

[15] And they laid hold on her by the neck: and when she was come within the horse gate of the palace, they killed her there.

[16] And Joiada made a covenant between himself and all the people, and the king, that they should be the people of the Lord. [17] And all the people went into the house of Baal, and destroyed it: and they broke down his altars and his idols: and they slew Mathan the priest of Baal before the altars.

[18] And Joiada appointed overseers in the house of the Lord, under the hands of the priests, and the Levites, whom David had distributed in the house of the Lord: to offer holocausts to the Lord, as it is written in the law of Moses, with joy and singing, according to the disposition of David. [19] He appointed also porters in the gates of the house of the Lord, that none who was unclean in any thing should enter in. [20] And he took the captains of hundreds, and the most valiant men, and the chiefs of the people, and all the people of the land, and they brought down the king from the house of the Lord, and brought him through the upper gate into the king's house, and set him on the royal throne. [21] And all the people of the land rejoiced, and the city was quiet: but Athalia was slain with the sword.

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Chapter 24 - verses 1-16, 26-27 have been omitted from the Mass readings.

[1] Joas was seven years old when he began to reign: and he reigned forty years in Jerusalem: the name of his mother was Sebia of Bersabee. [2] And he did that which is good before the Lord all the days of Joiada the priest. [3] And Joiada took for him two wives, by whom he had sons and daughters. [4] After this Joas had a mind to repair the house of the Lord. [5] And he assembled the priests, and the Levites, and said to them:

Go out to the cities of Juda, and gather of all Israel money to repair the temple of your God, from year to year: and do this with speed:

but the Levites were negligent. [6] And the king called Joiada the chief, and said to him:

Why hast thou not taken care to oblige the Levites to bring in out of Juda and Jerusalem the money that was appointed by Moses the servant of the Lord for all the multitude of Israel to bring into the tabernacle of the testimony? [7] For that wicked woman Athalia, and her children have destroyed the house of God, and adorned the temple of Baal with all the things that had been dedicated in the temple of the Lord.

[8] And the king commanded, and they made a chest: and set it by the gate of the house of the Lord on the outside. [9] And they made a proclamation in Juda and Jerusalem, that every man should bring to the Lord the money which Moses the servant of God appointed for all Israel, in the desert. [10] And all the princes, and all the people rejoiced: and going In they contributed and cast so much into the chest of the Lord, that it was filled. [11] And when it was time to bring the chest before the king by the hands of the Levites, (for they saw there was much money,) the king's scribe, and he whom the high priest had appointed went in: and they poured out the money that was in the chest: and they carried back the chest to its place: and thus they did from day to day, and there was gathered an immense sum of money.

[12] And the king and Joiada gave it to those who were over the works of the house of the Lord: but they hired with it stonecutters, and artificers of every kind of work to repair the house of the Lord: and such as wrought in iron and brass, to uphold what began to be falling.

[13] And the workmen were diligent, and the breach of the walls was closed up by their hands, and they set up the house of the Lord in its former state, and made it stand firm. [14] And when they had finished all the works, they brought the rest of the money before the king and Joiada: and with it were made vessels for the temple for the ministry, and for holocausts and bowls, and other vessels of gold and silver: and holocausts were offered in the house of the Lord continually all the days of Joiada. [15] But Joiada grew old and was full of days, and died when he was a hundred and thirty years old. [16] And they buried him in the city of David among the kings, because he had done good to Israel, and to his house.

[26] Now the men that conspired against him were Zabad the son of Semmaath an Ammonitess, and Jozabad the son of Semarith a Moabitess.

[27] And concerning his sons, and the sum of money which was gathered under him, and the repairing the house of God; they are written more diligently in the book of kings: and Amasias his son reigned in his stead.

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Chapter 25 - verses 1-28 have been omitted from the Mass readings.

[1] Amasias was five and twenty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned nine and twenty years in Jerusalem, the name of his mother was Joadan of Jerusalem. [2] And he did what was good in the sight of the Lord: but yet not with a perfect heart. [3] And when he saw himself strengthened in his kingdom, he put to death the servants that had slain the king his father. [4] But he slew not their children, as it is written in the book of the law of Moses, where the Lord commanded, saying: The fathers shall not be slain for the children, nor the children for their fathers, but every man shall die for his own sin.

[5] Amasias therefore gathered Juda together, and appointed them by families, and captains of thousands and of hundreds in all Juda, and Benjamin: and he numbered them from twenty years old and upwards, and found three hundred thousand young men that could go out to battle, and could hold the spear and shield. [6] He hired also of Israel a hundred thousand valiant men, for a hundred talents of silver. [7] But a man of God came to him, and said:

O king, let not the army of Israel go out with thee, for the Lord is not with Israel, and all the children of Ephraim: [8] And if thou think that battles consist in the strength of the army, God will make thee to be overcome by the enemies: for it belongeth to God both to help, and to put to flight.

[9] And Amasias said to the man of God:

What will then become of the hundred talents which I have given to the soldiers of Israeli

and the man of God answered him:

The Lord is rich enough to be able to give thee much more than this.

[10] Then Amasias separated the army, that came to him out of Ephraim, to go home again: but they being much enraged against Juda, returned to their own country. [11] And Amasias taking courage led forth his people, and went to the vale of saltpits, and slew of the children of Seir ten thousand. [12] And other ten thousand men the sons of Juda took, and brought to the steep of a certain rock, and cast them down headlong from the top, and they all were broken to pieces.

[13] But that army which Amasias had sent back, that they should not go with him to battle, spread themselves among the cities of Juda, from Samaria to Beth-horon, and having killed three thousand took away much spoil. [14] But Amasias after he had slain the Edomites, set up the gods of the children of Seir, which he had brought thence, to be his gods, and adored them, and burnt incense to them. [15] Wherefore the Lord being angry against Amasias, sent a prophet to him, to say to him:

Why hast thou adored gods that have not delivered their own people out of thy hand?

[16] And when he spoke these things, he answered him:

Art thou the king's counsellor? be quiet, lest I kill thee.

And the prophet departing, said:

I know that God is minded to kill thee, because thou hast done this evil, and moreover hast not hearkened to my counsel.

[17] Then Amasias king of Juda taking very bad counsel, sent to Joas the son of Joachaz the son of Jehu, king of Israel, saying:

Come, let us see one another.

[18] But he sent back the messengers, saying:

The thistle that is in Libanus, sent to the cedar in Libanus, saying: Give thy daughter to my son to wife: and behold the beasts that were in the wood of Libanus passed by, and trod down the thistle. [19] Thou hast said: I have overthrown Edom, and therefore thy heart is lifted up with pride: stay at home, why dost thou provoke evil against thee, that both thou shouldst fall and Juda with thee.

[20] Amasias would not hearken to him, because it was the Lord's will that he should be delivered into the hands of enemies, because of the gods of Edom. [21] So Joas king of Israel went up, and they presented themselves to be seen by one another: and Amasias king of Juda was in Bethsames of Juda: [22] And Juda fell before Israel and they fled to their dwellings. [23] And Joas king of Israel took Amasias king of Juda, the son of Joas, the son Joachaz, in Bethsames, and brought him to Jerusalem: and broke down the walls thereof from the gate of Ephraim, to the gate of the corner, four hundred cubits. [24] And he took all the gold, and silver, and all the vessels, that he found in the house of God, and with Obededom, and in the treasures of the king's house, moreover also the sons of the hostages, he brought back to Samaria. [25] And Amasias the son of Joas king of Juda lived, after the death of Joas the son of Joachaz king of Israel, fifteen years.

[26] Now the rest of the acts of Amasias, the first and last, are written in the book of the kings of Juda and Israel. [27] And after he revolted from the Lord, they made a conspiracy against him in Jerusalem. And he fled into Lachis, and they sent, and killed him there. [28] And they brought him back upon horses, and buried him with his fathers in the city of David.

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Chapter 26 - verses 1-23 have been omitted from the Mass readings.

[1] And all the people of Juda took his son Ozias, who was sixteen years old, and made him king in the room of Amasias his father. [2] He built Ailath, and restored it to the dominion of Juda, after that the king slept with his fathers. [3] Ozias was sixteen years old when he began to reign, and he reigned two and fifty years in Jerusalem: the name of his mother was Jechelia of Jerusalem. [4] And he did that which was right in the eyes of the Lord, according to all that Amasias his father had done. [5] And he sought the Lord in the days of Zacharias that understood and saw God: and as long as he sought the Lord, he directed him in all things.

[6] Moreover he went forth and fought against the Philistines, and broke down the wall of Geth, and the wall of Jabnia, and the wall of Azotus: and he built towns in Azotus, and among the Philistines. [7] And God helped him against the Philistines, and against the Arabians, that dwelt in Gurbaal, and against the Ammonites. [8] And the ammonites gave gifts to Ozias: and his name was spread abroad even to the entrance of Egypt for his frequent victories.

[9] And Ozias built towers in Jerusalem over the gate of the corner, and over the gate of the valley, and the rest, in the same side of the wall, and fortified them. [10] And he built towers in the wilderness, and dug many cisterns, for he had much cattle both in the plains, and in the waste of the desert: he had also vineyards and dressers of vines in the mountains, and in Carmel: for he was a man that loved husbandry.

[11] And the army of his fighting men, that went out to war, was under the hand of Jehiel the scribe, and Maasias the doctor, and under the hand of Henanias, who was one of the king's captains. [12] And the whole number of the chiefs by the families of valiant men were two thousand six hundred. [13] And the whole army under them three hundred and seven thousand five hundred: who were fit for war, and fought for the king against the enemy. [14] And Ozias prepared for them, that is, for the whole army, shields, and spears, and helmets, and coats of mail, and bows, and slings to cast stones. [15] And he made in Jerusalem engines of diverse kinds, which he placed in the towers, and in the corners of the walls, to shoot arrows, and great stones: and his name went forth far abroad, for the Lord helped him, and had strengthened him. [16] But when he was made strong, his heart was lifted up to his destruction, and he neglected the Lord his God: and going into the temple of the Lord, he had a mind to burn incense upon the altar of incense. [17] And immediately Azarias the priest going in after him, and with him fourscore priests of the Lord, most valiant men, [18] Withstood the king and said:

It doth not belong to thee, Ozias, to burn incense to the Lord, but to the priests, that is, to the sons of Aaron, who are consecrated for this ministry: go out of the sanctuary, do not despise: for this thing shall not be accounted to thy glory by the Lord God.

[19] And Ozias was angry, and holding in his hand the censer to burn incense, threatened the priests. And presently there rose a leprosy in his forehead before the priests, in the house of the Lord at the altar of incense. [20] And Azarias the high priest, and all the rest of the priests looked upon him, and saw the leprosy in his forehead, and they made haste to thrust him out. Yea himself also being frightened, hasted to go out, because he had quickly felt the stroke of the Lord.

[21] And Ozias the king was a leper unto the day of his death, and he dwelt in a house apart being full of the leprosy, for which he had been cast out of the house of the Lord. And Joatham his son governed the king's house, and judged the people of the land.

[22] But the rest of the acts of Ozias first and last were written by Isaias the son of Amos, the prophet. [23] And Ozias slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the field of the royal sepulchres, because he was a leper: and Joatham his son reigned in his stead.

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Chapter 27 - verses 1-9 have been omitted from the Mass readings.

[1] Joatham was five and twenty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem: the name of his mother was Jerusa the daughter of Sadoc. [2] And he did that which was right before the Lord, according to all that Ozias his father had done, only that he entered not into the temple of the Lord, and the people still transgressed. [3] He built the high gate of the house of the Lord, and on the wall of Ophel he built much. [4] Moreover he built cities in the mountains of Juda, and castles and towers in the forests. [5] Ho fought against the king of the children of Ammon, and overcame them, and the children of Ammon gave him at that time a hundred talents of silver, and ten thousand measures of wheat, and as many measures of barley: so much did the children of Ammon give him in the second and third year. [6] And Joatham was strengthened, because he had his way directed before the Lord his God.

[7] Now the rest of the acts of Joatham, and all his wars, and his works, are written in the book of the kings of Israel and Juda. [8] He was five and twenty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem. [9] And Joatham slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the city of David: and Achaz his son reigned in his stead.

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Chapter 28 - verses 1-27 have been omitted from the Mass readings.

[1] Achaz was twenty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem: he did not that which was right in the sight of the Lord as David his father had done, [2] But walked in the ways of the kings of Israel; moreover also he cast statues for Baalim. [3] It was he that burnt incense in the valley of Benennom, and consecrated his sons in the fire according to the manner of the nations, which the Lord slew at the coming of the children of Israel. [4] He sacrificed also, and burnt incense in the high places, and on the hills, and under every green tree. [5] And the Lord his God delivered him into the hands of the king of Syria, who defeated him, and took a great booty out of his kingdom, and carried it to Damascus: he was also delivered into the hands of the king of Israel, who overthrew him with a great slaughter.

[6] For Phacee the son of Romelia slew of Juda a hundred and twenty thousand in one day, all valiant men: because they had forsaken the Lord the God of their fathers. [7] At the same time Zechri a powerful man of Ephraim, slew Maasias the king's son, and Ezricam the governor of his house, and Elcana who was next to the king. [8] And the children of Israel carried away of their brethren two hundred thousand women, boys, and girls, and an immense booty: and they brought it to Samaria.

[9] At that time there was a prophet of the Lord there, whose name was Oded: and he went out to meet the army that came to Samaria, and said to them:

Behold the Lord the God of your fathers being angry with Juda, hath delivered them into your hands, and you have butchered them cruelly, so that your cruelty hath reached up to heaven. [10] Moreover you have a mind to keep under the children of Juda and Jerusalem for your bondmen and bondwomen, which ought not to be done: for you have sinned in this against the Lord your God. [11] But hear ye my counsel, and release the captives that you have brought of your brethren, because a great indignation of the Lord hangeth over you.

[12] Then some of the chief men of the sons of Ephraim, Azarias the son of Johanan, Barachias the son of Mosollamoth, Ezechias the son of Sellum, and Amasa the son of Adali, stood up against them that came from the war. [13] And they said to them:

You shall not bring in the captives hither, lest we sin against the Lord. Why will you add to our sins, and heap up upon our former offences? for the sin is great, and the fierce anger of the Lord hangeth over Israel.

[14] So the soldiers left the spoils, and all that they had taken, before the princes and all the multitude. [15] And the men, whom we mentioned above, rose up and took the captives, and with the spoils clothed all them that were naked: and when they had clothed and shed them, and refreshed them with meat and drink, and anointed them because of their labour, and had taken care of them, they set such of them as could not walk, and were feeble, upon beasts, and brought them to Jericho the city of palm trees to their brethren, and they returned to Samaria.

[16] At that time king Achaz sent to the king of the Assyrians asking help. [17] And the Edomites came and slew many of Juda, and took a great booty. [18] The Philistines also spread themselves among the cities of the plains, and to the south of Juda: and they took Bethsames, and Aialon, and Gaderoth, and Socho, and Thamnan, and Gamzo, with their villages, and they dwelt in them. [19] For the Lord had humbled Juda because of Achaz the king of Juda, for he had stripped it of help, and had contemned the Lord. [20] And he brought, against him Thelgathphalnasar king of the Assyrians, who also afflicted him, and plundered him without any resistance. [21] And Achaz stripped the house of the Lord, and the house of the kings, and of the princes, and gave gifts to the king of the Assyrians, and yet it availed him nothing. [22] Moreover also in the time of his distress he increased contempt against the Lord: king Achaz himself by himself, [23] Sacrificed victims to the gods of Damascus that struck him, and he said: The gods of the kings of Syria help them, and I will appease them with victims, and they will help me; whereas on the contrary they were the ruin of him, and of all Israel.

[24] Then Achaz having taken away all the vessels of the house of God, and broken them, shut up the doors of the temple of God, and made himself altars in all the corners of Jerusalem. [25] And in all the cities of Juda he built altars to burn frankincense, and he provoked the Lord the God of his fathers to wrath.

[26] But the rest of his acts, and all his works first and last are written in the book of the kings of Juda and Israel. [27] And Achaz slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the city of Jerusalem: for they received him not into the sepulchres of the kings of Israel. And Ezechias his son reigned in his stead.

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Chapter 29 - verses 1-36 have been omitted from the Mass readings.

[1] Now Ezechias began to reign, when he was five and twenty years old, and he reigned nine and twenty years in Jerusalem: the name of his mother was Abia, the daughter of Zacharias. [2] And he did that which was pleasing in the sight of the Lord, according to all that David his father had done.

[3] In the first year and month of his reign he opened the doors of the house of the Lord, and repaired them. [4] And he brought the priests and the Levites, and assembled them in the east street. [5] And he said to them:

Hear me, ye Levites, and be sanctified, purify the house of the Lord the God of your fathers, and take away all filth out of the sanctuary. [6] Our fathers have sinned and done evil in the sight of the Lord God, forsaking him: they have turned away their faces from the tabernacle of the Lord, and turned their backs. [7] They have shut up the doors that were in tile porch, and put out the lamps. and have not burnt incense, nor offered holocausts in the sanctuary of the God of Israel. [8] Therefore the wrath of the Lord hath been stirred up against Juda and Jerusalem, and he hath delivered them to trouble, and to destruction, and to be hissed at, as you see with your eyes. [9] Behold, our fathers are fallen by the sword, our sons, and our daughters, and wives are led away captives for this wickedness. [10] Now therefore I have a mind that we make a covenant with the Lord the God of Israel, and he will turn away the wrath of his indignation from us. [11] My sons, be not negligent: the Lord hath chosen you to stand before him, and to minister to him, and to worship him, and to burn incense to him.

[12] Then the Levites arose, Mahath the son of Amasai, and Joel the son of Azarias, of the sons of Caath: and of the sons of Merari, Cis the son of Abdi, and Azarias the son of Jalaleel. And of the sons of Gerson, Joah the son of Zemma, and Eden the son of Joah. [13] And of the sons of Elisaphan, Samri, and Jahiel. Also of the sons of Asaph, Zacharias, and Mathanias. [14] And of the sons of Heman, Jahiel, and Semei: and of the sons of Idithun, Semeias, and Oziel. [15] And they gathered together their brethren, and sanctified themselves, and went in according to the commandment of the king, and the precept of the Lord, to purify the house of God. [16] And the priests went into the temple of the Lord to sanctify it, and brought out all the uncleanness that they found within to the entrance of the house of the Lord, and the Levites took it away, and carried it out abroad to the torrent Cedron. [17] And they began to cleanse on the first day of the first month, and on the eighth day of the same month they came into the porch of the temple of the Lord, and they purified the temple in eight days, and on the sixteenth day of the same month they finished what they had begun. [18] And they went is to king Ezechias, and said to him:

We have sanctified all the house of the Lord, and the altar of holocaust, and the vessels thereof, and the table of proposition with all its vessels, [19] And all the furniture of the temple, which king Achaz in his reign had defiled, after his transgression; and behold they are all set forth before the altar of the Lord.

[20] And king Ezechias rising early, assembled all the rulers of the city, and went up into the house of the Lord: [21] And they offered together seven bullocks, and seven rams, and seven lambs, and seven he goats for sin, for the kingdom, for the sanctuary, for Juda: and he spoke to the priests the sons of Aaron, to offer them upon the altar of the Lord. [22] Therefore they killed the bullocks, and the priests took the blood, and poured it upon the altar; they killed also the rams, and their blood they poured also upon the altar, and they killed the lambs, and poured the blood upon the altar. [23] And they brought the he goats for sin before the king, and the whole multitude, and they laid their hand upon them: [24] And the priests immolated them, and sprinkled their blood before the altar for an expiation of all Israel: for the king had commanded that the holocaust and the sin offering should be made for all Israel. [25] And he set the Levites in the house of the Lord with cymbals, and psalteries, and harps according to the regulation of David the king, and of Gad the seer, and of Nathan the prophet: for it was the commandment of the Lord by the hand of his prophets. [26] And the Levites stood, with the instruments of David, and the priests with trumpets.

[27] And Ezechias commanded that they should offer holocausts upon the altar: and when the holocausts were offered, they began to sing praises to the Lord, and to sound with trumpets, and divers instruments which David the king of Israel had prepared. [28] And all the multitude adored, and the singers, and the trumpeters, were in their office till the holocaust was finished. [29] And when the oblation was ended, the king, and all that were with him bowed down and adored. [30] And Ezechias and the princes commanded the Levites to praise the Lord with the words of David, and Asaph the seer: and they praised him with great joy, and bowing the knee adored. [31] And Ezechias added, and said:

You have filled your hands to the Lord, come and offer victims, and praises in the house of the Lord.

And all the multitude offered victims, and praises, and holocausts with a devout mind.

[32] And the number of the holocausts which the multitude offered, was seventy bullocks, a hundred rams, and two hundred lambs. [33] And they consecrated to the Lord six hundred oxen, and three thousand sheep. [34] But the priests were few, and were not enough to flay the holocausts: wherefore the Levites their brethren helped them, till the work was ended, and priests were sanctified, for the Levites are sanctified with an easier rite than the priests. [35] So there were many holocausts, and the fat of peace offerings, and the libations of holocausts: and the service of the house of the Lord was completed.

[36] And Ezechias, and all the people rejoiced because the ministry of the Lord was accomplished. For the resolution of doing this thing was taken suddenly.

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Chapter 30 - verses 1-27 have been omitted from the Mass readings.

[1] And Ezechias sent to all Israel and Juda: and he wrote letters to Ephraim and Manasses, that they should come to the house of the Lord in Jerusalem, and keep the phase to the Lord the God of Israel. [2] For the king, taking counsel, and the princes, and all the assembly of Jerusalem, decreed to keep the phase the second month. [3] For they could not keep it in its time; because there were not priests enough sanctified, and the people was not as yet gathered together to Jerusalem. [4] And the thing pleased the king, and all the people. [5] And they decreed to send messengers to all Israel from Bersabee even to Dan, that they should come, and keep the phase to the Lord the God of Israel in Jerusalem: for many had not kept it as it is prescribed by the law. [6] And the posts went with letters by commandment of the king, and his princes, to all Israel and Juda, proclaiming according to the king's orders:

Ye children of Israel, turn again to the Lord the God of Abraham, and of Isaac, and of Israel: and he will return to the remnant of you that have escaped the hand of the king of the Assyrians. [7] Be not like your fathers, and brethren, who departed from the Lord the God of their fathers, and he hath given them up to destruction, as you see. [8] Harden not your necks, as your fathers did: yield yourselves to the Lord, and come to his sanctuary, which he hath sanctified for ever: serve the Lord the God of your fathers, and the wrath of his indignation shall be turned away from you. [9] For if you turn again to the Lord: your brethren, and children shall find mercy before their masters, that have led them away captive, and they shall return into this land: for the Lord your God is merciful, and will not turn away his face from you, if you return to him.

[10] So the posts went speedily from city to city, through the land of Ephraim, and of Manasses, even to Zabulon, whilst they laughed at them and mocked them. [11] Nevertheless some men of Aser, and of Manasses, and of Zabulon, yielding to the counsel, came to Jerusalem. [12] But the hand of God was in Juda, to give them one heart to do the word of the Lord, according to the commandment of the king, and of the princes.

[13] And much people were assembled to Jerusalem to celebrate the solemnity of the unleavened bread in the second month: [14] And they arose and destroyed the altars that were in Jerusalem, and took sway all things in which incense was burnt to idols, and cast them into the torrent Cedron.

[15] And they immolated the phase on the fourteenth day of the second month. And the priests and the Levites being at length sanctified offered holocausts in the house of the Lord. [16] And they stood in their order according to the disposition, and law of Moses the man of God: but the priests received the blood which was to be poured out, from the hands of the Levites, [17] Because a great number was not sanctified: and therefore the Levites immolated the phase for them that came not in time to be sanctified to the Lord. [18] For a great part of the people from Ephraim, and Manasses, and Issachar, and Zabulon, that had not been sanctified, ate the phase otherwise than it is written:

and Ezechias prayed for them, saying:

The Lord who is good will shew mercy, [19] To all them, who with their whole heart, seek the Lord the God of their fathers: and will not impute it to them that they are not sanctified.

[20] And the Lord heard him, and was merciful to the people.

[21] And the children of Israel, that were found at Jerusalem, kept the feast of unleavened bread seven days with great joy, praising the Lord every day: the Levites also, and the priests, with instruments that agreed to their office.

[22] And Ezechias spoke to the heart of all the Levites, that had good understanding concerning the Lord: and they ate during the seven days of the solemnity, immolating victims of peace offerings, and praising the Lord the God of their fathers. [23] And it pleased the whole multitude to keep other seven days: which they did with great joy. [24] For Ezechias the king of Juda had given to the multitude a thousand bullocks, and seven thousand sheep: and the princes had given the people a thousand bullocks, and ten thousand sheep: and a great number of priests was sanctified. [25] And all the multitude of Juda with the priests and Levites, and all the assembly, that came out of Israel; and the proselytes of the land of Israel, and that dwelt in Juda were full of joy. [26] And there was a great solemnity in Jerusalem, such as had not been in that city since the time of Solomon the son of David king of Israel.

[27] And the priests and the Levites rose up and blessed the people: and their voice was heard: and their prayer came to the holy dwelling place of heaven.

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Chapter 31 - verses 1-21 have been omitted from the Mass readings.

[1] And when these things had been duly celebrated, all Israel that were found in the cities of Juda, went out, and they broke the idols, and cut down the groves. demolished the high places, and destroyed the altars, not only out of all Juda and Benjamin, but out of Ephraim also and Manasses, till they had utterly destroyed them: then all the children of Israel returned to their possessions and cities.

[2] And Ezechias appointed companies of the priests, and the Levites, by their courses, every man in his own office, to wit, both of the priests, and of the Levites, for holocausts, and for peace offerings, to minister, and to praise, and to sing in the gates of the camp of the Lord. [3] And the king's part was, that of his proper substance the holocaust should be offered always morning and evening, and on the sabbaths, and the new moons and the other solemnities, as it is written in the law of Moses. [4] He commanded also the people that dwelt in Jerusalem, to give to the priests, and the Levites their portion, that they might attend to the law of the Lord. [5] Which when it was noised abroad in the ears of the people, the children of Israel offered in abundance the firstfruits of corn, wine, and oil, and honey: and brought the tithe of all things which the ground bringeth forth. [6] Moreover the children of Israel and Juda, that dwelt in the cities of Juda, brought in the tithes of oxen, and sheep, and the tithes of holy things, which they had vowed to the Lord their God: and carrying them all, made many heaps. [7] In the third month they began to lay the foundations of the heaps, and in the seventh month, they finished them. [8] And when Ezechias and his princes came in, they saw the heaps, and they blessed the Lord and the people of Israel. [9] And Ezechias asked the priests and the Levites, why the heaps lay so. [10] Azarias the chief priest of the race of Sadoc answered him, saying:

Since the firstfruits began to be offered in the house of the Lord, we have eaten, and have been filled, and abundance is left, because the Lord hath blessed his people: and of that which is left is this great store which thou seest.

[11] Then Ezechias commanded to prepare storehouses in the house of the Lord. And when they had done so, [12] They brought in faithfully both the firstfruits, and the tithes, and all they had vowed. And the overseer of them was Chonenias the Levite, and Semei his brother was the second, [13] And after him Jehiel, and Azarias, and Nahath, and Asael, and Jerimoth, and Jozabad, and Eliel, and Jesmachias, and Mahath, and Banaias, overseers under the hand of Chonenias, and Semei his brother, by the commandment of Ezechias the king, and Azarias the high priest of the house of God, to whom all things appertained. [14] But Core the son of Jemna the Levite, the porter of the east gate, was overseer of the things which were freely offered to the Lord, and of the firstfruits and the things dedicated for the holy of holies. [15] And under his charge were Eden, and Benjamin, Jesue, and Semeias, and Amarias, and Sechenias, in the cities of the priests, to distribute faithfully portions to their brethren, both little and great: [16] Besides the males from three years old and upward, to all that went into the temple of the Lord, and whatsoever there was need of in the ministry, and their offices according to their courses, day by day.

[17] To the priests by their families, and to the Levites from the twentieth year and upward, by their classes and companies. [18] And to all the multitude, both to their wives, and to their children of both sexes, victuals were given faithfully out of the things that had been sanctified. [19] Also of the sons of Aaron who were in the fields and in the suburbs of each city, there were men appointed, to distribute portions to all the males, among the priests and the Levites.

[20] So Ezechias did all things, which we have said in all Juda, and wrought that which was good; and right, and truth, before the Lord his God, [21] In all the service of the ministry of the house of the Lord according to the law and the ceremonies, desiring to seek his God with all his heart, and he did it and prospered,

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Chapter 32 - verses 1-33 have been omitted from the Mass readings.

[1] After these things, and this truth, Sennacherib king of the Assyrians came and entered into Juda, and besieged the fenced cities, desiring to take them. [2] And when Ezechias saw that Sennacherib was come, and that the whole force of the war was turning against Jerusalem, [3] He took counsel with the princes, and the most valiant men, to stop up the heads of the springs, that were without the city: and as they were all of this mind, [4] He gathered together a very great multitude, and they stopped up all the springs, and the brook, that ran through the midst of the land, saying: Lest the kings of the Assyrians should come, and And abundance of water. [5] He built up also with great diligence all the wall that had been broken down, and built towers upon it, and another wall without: and he repaired Mello in the city of David, and made all sorts of arms and shields: [6] And he appointed captains of the soldiers of the army: and he called them all together in the street of the gate of the city, and spoke to their heart, saying:

[7] Behave like men, and take courage: be not afraid nor dismayed for the king of the Assyrians, nor for all the multitude that is with him: for there are many more with us than with him. [8] For with him is an arm of flesh: with us the Lord our God, who is our helper, and fighteth for us.

And the people were encouraged with these words of Ezechias king of Juda.

[9] After this, Sennacherib king of the Assyrians sent his servants to Jerusalem, (for he with all his army was besieging Lachis,) to Ezechias king of Juda, and to all the people that were in the city, saying:

[10] Thus saith Sennacherib king of the Assyrians: In whom do you trust, that you sit still besieged in Jerusalem? [11] Doth not Ezechias deceive you, to give you up to die by hunger and thirst, affirming that the Lord your God shall deliver you from the hand of the king of the Assyrians? [12] Is it not this same Ezechias, that hath destroyed his high places, and his altars, and commanded Juda and Jerusalem, saying: You shall worship before one altar, and upon it you shall burn incense? [13] Know you not what I and my fathers have done to all the people of the lands? have the gods of any nations and lands been able to deliver their country out of my hand? [14] Who is there among all the gods of the nations, which my fathers have destroyed, that could deliver his people out of my hand, that your God should be able to deliver you out of this hand? [15] Therefore let not Ezechias deceive you, nor delude you with a vain persuasion, and do not believe him. For if no god of all the nations and kingdoms, could deliver his people out of my hand, and out of the hand of my fathers, consequently neither shall your God be able to deliver you out of my hand.

[16] And many other things did his servants speak against the Lord God, and against Ezechias his servant. [17] He wrote also letters full of blasphemy against the Lord the God of Israel, and he spoke against him: As the gods of other nations could not deliver their people out of my hand, so neither can the God of Ezechias deliver his people out of this hand. [18] Moreover he cried out with a loud voice, in the Jews' tongue, to the people that sat on the walls of Jerusalem, that he might frighten them, and take the city. [19] And he spoke against the God of Jerusalem, as against the gods of the people of the earth, the works of the hands of men.

[20] And Ezechias the king, and Isaias the prophet the son of Amos, prayed against this blasphemy, and cried out to heaven. [21] And the Lord sent an angel who cut off all the stout men and the warriors, and the captains of the army of the king of the Assyrians: and he returned with disgrace into his own country. And when he was come into the house of his god, his sons that came out of his bowels, slew him with the sword.

[22] And the Lord saved Ezechias and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, out of the hand of Sennacherib king of the Assyrians, and out of the hand of all, and gave them treasures on every side. [23] Many also brought victims, and sacrifices to the Lord to Jerusalem, and presents to Ezechias king of Juda: and he was magnified thenceforth in the sight of all nations.

[24] In those days Ezechias was sick even to death, and he prayed to the Lord: and he heard him, and gave him a sign. [25] But he did not render again according to the benefits which he had received, for his heart was lifted up: and wrath was enkindled against him, and against Juda and Jerusalem. [26] And he humbled himself afterwards, because his heart had been lifted up, both he and the inhabitants of Jerusalem: and therefore the wrath of the Lord came not upon them in the days of Ezechias. [27] And Ezechias was rich, and very glorious, and he gathered himself great treasures of silver and of gold, and of precious stones, of spices, and of arms, of all kinds, and of vessels of great price. [28] Storehouses also of corn, of wine, and of oil, and stalls for all beasts, and folds for cattle. [29] And he built himself cities: for he had flocks of sheep, and herds without number, for the Lord had given him very much substance.

[30] This same Ezechias was, he that stopped the upper source of the waters of Gihon, and turned them away underneath toward the west of the city of David: in ail his works he did prosperously what he would. [31] But yet in the embassy of the princes of Babylon, that were sent to him, to inquire of the wonder that had happened upon the earth, God left him that he might be tempted, and all things might be made known that were in his heart.

[32] Now the rest of the acts of Ezechias, and of his mercies are written in the book of the kings of Juda and Israel. [33] And Ezechias slept with his fathers, and they buried him above the sepulchres of the sons of David: and all Juda, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem celebrated his funeral: and Manasses his son reigned in his stead.

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Chapter 33 - verses 1-25 have been omitted from the Mass readings.

[1] Manasses was twelve years old when he began to reign, and he reigned fifty-five years in Jerusalem. [2] And he did evil before the Lord, according to all the abominations of the nations, which the Lord cast out before the children of Israel: [3] And he turned, and built again the high places which Ezechias his father had destroyed: and he built altars to Baalim, and made groves, and he adored all the host of heaven, and worshipped them. [4] He built also altars in the house of the Lord, whereof the Lord had said: In Jerusalem shall my name be for ever. [5] And he built them for all the host of heaven in the two courts of the house of the Lord. [6] And he made his sons to pass through the fire in the valley of Benennom: he observed dreams, followed divinations, gave himself up to magic arts, had with him magicians, and enchanters: and he wrought many evils before the Lord, to provoke him to anger. [7] He set also a graven, and a molten statue in the house of God, of which God had said to David, and to Solomon his son: In this house, and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, will I put my name for ever. [8] And I will not make the foot of Israel to be removed out of the land which I have delivered to their fathers: yet so if they will take heed to do what I hare commanded them, and all the law, and the ceremonies, and judgments by the hand of Moses.

[9] So Manasses seduced Juda, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, to do evil beyond all the nations, which the Lord had destroyed before the face of the children of Israel.

[10] And the Lord spoke to him, and to his people, and they would not hearken. [11] Therefore he brought upon them the captains of the army of the king of the Assyrians: and they took Manasses, and carried him bound with chains and fetters to Babylon. [12] And after that he was in distress he prayed to the Lord his God: and did penance exceedingly before the God of his fathers. [13] And he entreated him, and besought him earnestly: and he heard his prayer, and brought him again to Jerusalem into his kingdom, and Manasses knew that the Lord was God.

[14] After this he built a wall without the city of David, on the west side of Gihon in the valley, from the entering in of the fish gate round about to Ophel, and raised it up to a great height: and he appointed captains of the army in all the fenced cities of Juda:

[15] And he took away the strange gods, and the idol out of the house of the Lord: the altars also which he had made in the mount of the house of the Lord, and in Jerusalem, and he cast them all out of the city. [16] And he repaired the altar of the Lord, and sacrificed upon it victims, and peace offerings, and praise: and he commanded Juda to serve the Lord the God of Israel. [17] Nevertheless the people still sacrificed in the high places to the Lord their God.

[18] But the rest of the acts of Manasses, and his prayer to his God, and the words of the seers that spoke to him in the name of the Lord the God of Israel, are contained in the words of the kings of Israel. [19] His prayer also, and his being heard, and all his sins, and contempt, and places wherein he built high places, and set up groves, and statues before he did penance, are written in the words of Hozai. [20] And Manasses slept with his fathers. and they buried him in his house: and his son Amen reigned in his stead.

[21] Amen was two and twenty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned two years in Jerusalem. [22] And he did evil in the sight of the Lord, as Manasses his father had done: and he sacrificed to all the idols which Manasses his father had made, and served them. [23] And he did not humble himself before the Lord, as Manasses his father had humbled himself, but committed far greater sins. [24] And his servants conspired against him, and slew him in his own house. [25] But the rest of the multitude of the people slew them that had killed Amen, and made Josias his son king in his stead.

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Chapter 34 - verses 1-33 have been omitted from the Mass readings.

[1] Josias was eight years old when he began to reign, and he reigned one and thirty years in Jerusalem. [2] And he did that which was right in the sight of the Lord, and walked in the ways of David his father: he declined not, neither to the right hand, nor to the left. [3] And in the eighth year of his reign, when he was yet a boy, he began to seek the God of his father David: and in the twelfth year after he began to reign, he cleansed Juda and Jerusalem from the high places, and the groves, and the idols, and the graven things. [4] And they broke down before him the altars of Baalim, and demolished the idols that had been set upon them: and be cut down the groves and the graven things, and broke them in pieces: and strewed the fragments upon the graves of them that had sacrificed to them. [5] And he burnt the bones of the priests on the altars of the idols, and he cleansed Juda and Jerusalem. [6] And in the cities of Manasses, and of Ephraim, and of Simeon, even to Nephtali he demolished all. [7] And when he had destroyed the altars, and the groves, and had broken the idols in pieces, and had demolished all profane temples throughout all the land of Israel, he returned to Jerusalem.

[8] Now in the eighteenth year of his reign, when he had cleansed the land, and the temple of the Lord, he sent Saphan the son of Eselias, and Maasias the governor of the city, Joha the son of Joachaz the recorder, to repair the house of the Lord his God. [9] And they came to Helcias the high priest: and received of him the money which had been brought into the house of the Lord, and which the Levites and porters had gathered together from Manasses, and Ephraim, and all the remnant of Israel, and from all Juda, and Benjamin, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, [10] Which they delivered into the hands of them that were over the workmen in the house of the Lord, to repair the temple, and mend all that was weak. [11] But they gave it to the artificers, and to the masons, to buy stones out of the quarries, and timber for the couplings of the building, and to rafter the houses, which the kings of Juda had destroyed. [12] And they did all faithfully. Now the overseers of the workmen were Jahath and Abdias of the sons of Merari, Zacharias and Mosollam of the sons of Caath, who hastened the work: all Levites skillful to play on instruments. [13] But over them that carried burdens for divers uses, were scribes, and masters of the number of the Levites, and porters.

[14] Now when they carried out the money that had been brought into the temple of the Lord, Helcias the priest found the book of the law of the Lord, by the hand of Moses. [15] And he said to Saphan the scribe:

I have found the book of the law in the house of the Lord: and he delivered it to him.

[16] But he carried the book to the king, and told him, saying:

Lo, all that thou hast committed to thy servants, is accomplished. [17] They have gathered together the silver that was found in the house of the Lord: and it is given to the overseers of the artificers, and of the workmen, for divers works.

[18] Moreover Helcias the priest gave me this book. And he read it before the king.

[19] And when he had heard the words of the law, he rent his garments: [20] And he commanded Helcias, and Ahicam the son of Saphan, and Abdon the son of Micha, and Saphan the scribe, and Asaa the king's servant, saying:

[21] Go, and pray to the Lord for me, and for the remnant of Israel, and Juda, concerning all the words of this book, which is found: for the great wrath of the Lord hath fallen upon us, because our fathers have not kept the words of the Lord, to do all things that are written in this book.

[22] And Helcias and they that were sent with him by the king, went to Olda the prophetess, the wife of Sellum the son of Thecuath, the son of Hasra keeper of the wardrobe: who dwelt in Jerusalem in the Second part: and they spoke to her the words above mentioned. [23] And she answered them:

Thus saith the Lord the God of Israel: Tell the man that sent you to me: [24] Thus saith the Lord: Behold I will bring evils upon this place, and upon the inhabitants thereof, and all the curses that are written in this book which they read before the king of Juda. [25] Because they have forsaken me, and have sacrificed to strange gods, to provoke me to wrath with all the works of their hands, therefore my wrath shall fall upon this place, and shall not be quenched. [26] But as to the king of Juda that sent you to beseech the Lord, thus shall you say to him: Thus saith the Lord the God of Israel: Because thou hast heard the words of this book, [27] And thy heart was softened. and thou hast humbled thyself in the sight of God for the things that are spoken against this place, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and reverencing my face, hast rent thy garments, and wept before me: I also have heard thee, saith the Lord. [28] For now I will gather thee to thy fathers, and thou shalt be brought to thy tomb in peace: and thy eyes shall not see all the evil that I will bring upon this place, and the inhabitants thereof.

They therefore reported to the king all that she had said. [29] And he called together all the ancients of Juda and Jerusalem. [30] And went up to the house of the Lord, and all the men of Juda, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the priests and the Levites, and all the people from the least to the greatest. And the king read in their hearing, in the house of the Lord, all the words of the book. [31] And standing up in his tribunal, he made a covenant before the Lord to walk after him, and keep his commandments, and testimonies, and justifications with all his heart, and with all his soul, and to do the things that were written in that book which he had read. [32] And he adjured all that were found in Jerusalem and Benjamin to do the same: and the inhabitants of Jerusalem did according to the covenant of the Lord the God of their fathers.

[33] And Josias took away all the abominations out of all the countries of the children of Israel: and made all that were left in Israel, to serve the Lord their God. As long as he lived they departed not from the Lord the God of their fathers.

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Chapter 35 - verses 1-27 have been omitted from the Mass readings.

[1] And Josias kept a phase to the Lord in Jerusalem, and it was sacrificed on the fourteenth day of the first month. [2] And he set the priests in their offices, and exhorted them to minister in the house of the Lord. [3] And he spoke to the Levites, by whose instruction all Israel was sanctified to the Lord, saying:

Put the ark in the sanctuary of the temple, which Solomon the son of David king of Israel built: for you shall carry it no more: but minister now to the Lord your God, and to his people Israel. [4] And prepare yourselves by your houses, and families according to your courses, as David king of Israel commanded, and Solomon his son hath written. [5] And serve ye in the sanctuary by the families and companies of Levi. [6] And being sanctified kill the phase, and prepare your brethren, that they may do according to the words which the Lord spoke by the hand of Moses.

[7] And Josias gave to all the people that were found there in the solemnity of the phase, of lambs and of kids of the flocks, and of other small cattle thirty thousand, and of oxen three thousand, all these were of the king's substance. [8] And his princes willingly offered what they had vowed, both to the people and to the priests and the Levites. Moreover Helcias, and Zacharias, and Jahiel rulers of the house of the Lord, gave to the priests to keep the phase two thousand six hundred small cattle, and three hundred oxen. [9] And Chonenias, and Semeias and Nathanael, his brethren, and Hasabias, and Jehiel, and Jozabad princes of the Levites, gave to the rest of the Levites to celebrate the phase five thousand small cattle, and five hundred oxen.

[10] And the ministry was prepared, and the priests stood in their office: the Levites also in their companies, according to the king's commandment. [11] And the phase was immolated: and the priests sprinkled the blood with their hand, and the Levites flayed the holocausts: [12] And they separated them to give them by the houses and families of every one, and to be offered to the Lord, as it is written in the book of Moses, and with the oxen they did in like manner. [13] And they roasted the phase with fire, according to that which is written in the law: but the victims of peace offerings they boiled in caldrons, and kettles, and pots, and they distributed them speedily among all the people. [14] And afterwards they made ready for themselves, and for the priests: for the priests were busied in offering of holocausts and the fat until night: wherefore the Levites prepared for themselves, and for the priests the sons of Aaron last.

[15] And the singers the sons of Asaph stood in their order, according to the commandment of David, and Asaph, and Heman, and Idithun the prophets of the king: and the porters kept guard at every gate, so as not to depart one moment from their service: and therefore their brethren the Levites prepared meats for them. [16] So all the service of the Lord was duly accomplished that day, both in keeping the phase, and offering holocausts upon the altar of the Lord, according to the commandment of king Josias. [17] And the children of Israel that were found there, kept the phase at that time, and the feast of unleavened bread seven days.

[18] There was no phase like to this in Israel, from the days of Samuel the prophet: neither did any of all the kings of Israel keep such a phase as Josias kept, with the priests, and the Levites, and all Juda, and Israel that were found, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem. [19] In the eighteenth year of the reign of Josias was this phase celebrated.

[20] After that Josias had repaired the temple, Nechao king of Egypt came up to fight in Charcamis by the Euphrates: and Josias went out to meet him. [21] But he sent messengers to him, saying:

What have I to do with thee, O king of Juda? I come not against thee this day, but I fight against another house, to which God hath commanded me to go in haste: forbear to do against God, who is with me, lest he kill thee.

[22] Josias would not return, but prepared to fight against him, and hearkened not to the words of Nechao from the mouth of God, I but went to fight in the field of Mageddo. [23] And there he was wounded by the archers, and he said to his servants:

Carry me out of the battle, for I am grievously wounded.

[24] And they removed him from the chariot into another, that followed him after the manner of kings, and they carried him away to Jerusalem, and he died, and was buried in the monument of his fathers, and all Juda and Jerusalem mourned for him, [25] Particularly Jeremias: whose lamentations for Josias all the singing men and singing women repeat unto this day, and it became like a law in Israel: Behold it is found written in the Lamentations.

[26] Now the rest of the acts of Josias and of his mercies, according to what was commanded by the law of the Lord: [27] And his works first and last, are written in the book of the kings of Juda and Israel.

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Chapter 36 - verses 1-13, 17-18 have been omitted from the Mass readings.

[1] Then the people of the land took Joachaz the son of Josias, and made him king instead of his father in Jerusalem. [2] Joachaz was three and twenty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned three months in Jerusalem. [3] And the king of Egypt came to Jerusalem, and deposed him, and condemned the land in a hundred talents of silver, and a talent of gold. [4] And he made Eliakim his brother king in his stead, over Juda and Jerusalem: and he turned his name to Joakim: but he took Joachaz with him, and carried him away into Egypt.

[5] Joakim was five and twenty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem: and he did evil before the Lord his God. [6] Against him came up Nabuchodonosor king of the Chaldeans, and led him bound in chains into Babylon. [7] And he carried also thither the vessels of the Lord, and put them in his temple.

[8] But the rest of the acts of Joakim, and his abominations, which he wrought, and the things that were found in him, are contained in the book of the kings of Juda and Israel. And Joachin his son reigned in his stead.

[9] Joachin was eight years old when he began to reign, and he reigned three months and ten days in Jerusalem, and he did evil in the sight of the Lord. [10] And at the return of the year, king Nabuchodonosor sent, and brought him to Babylon, carrying away at the same time the most precious vessels of the house of the Lord: and he made Sedecias his uncle king over Juda and Jerusalem.

[11] Sedecias was one and twenty years old when he began to reign: and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. [12] And he did evil in the eyes of the Lord his God, and did not reverence the face of Jeremias the prophet speaking to him from the mouth of the Lord. [13] He also revolted from king Nabuchodonosor, who had made him swear by God: and he hardened his neck and his heart, from returning to the Lord the God of Israel.

[17] For he brought upon them the king of the Chaldeans, and he slew their young men with the sword in the house of his sanctuary, he had no compassion on young man, or maiden, old man or even him that stooped for age, but he delivered them all into his hands. [18] And all the vessels of the house of the Lord, great and small, and the treasures of the temple and of the king, and of the princes he carried away to Babylon.

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Texts Researched and Digitally Processed by Mrs. R.M., Puerto Rico

Published on May 2015
Format improved in July 2022

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