The Bible (Old and New Testaments)

Then he turned his face to the wall, and prayed to the Lord, saying,

I beseech thee, O Lord, remember nowe, howe I haue walked before thee in trueth and with a perfite heart, and haue done that which is good in thy sight: and Hezekiah wept sore.

And afore Isaiah was gone out into the middle of the court, the worde of the Lord came to him, saying,

Turne againe, and tell Hezekiah the captaine of my people, Thus saith the Lord God of Dauid thy father, I haue heard thy prayer, and seene thy teares: behold, I haue healed thee, and ye third day thou shalt go vp to ye house of ye Lord,

And I wil adde vnto thy dayes fiftene yere, and wil deliuer thee and this citie out of the hand of the King of Asshur, and will defende this citie for mine owne sake, and for Dauid my seruats sake.

Then Isaiah sayde, Take a lumpe of dry figges. And they tooke it, and layed it on the boyle, and he recouered.

For Hezekiah had saide vnto Isaiah, What shalbe the signe that the Lord will heale me, and that I shall goe vp into the house of the Lord the thirde day?

And Isaiah answered, This signe shalt thou haue of the Lord, that the Lord will doe that he hath spoken, Wilt thou that the shadowe goe forwarde ten degrees, or go backe ten degrees?

And Hezekiah answered, It is a light thing for the shadowe to passe forward ten degrees: not so then, but let ye shadow go backe ten degrees.

And Isaiah the Prophet called vnto the Lord, and he brought againe the shadowe ten degrees backe by the degrees whereby it had gone downe in the diall of Ahaz.

The same season Berodach Baladan the sonne of Baladan King of Babel, sent letters and a present to Hezekiah: for he had heard howe that Hezekiah was sicke.

And Hezekiah heard them, and shewed them all his treasure house, to wit, the siluer, and the golde, and the spices, and the precious oyntment, and all the house of his armour, and al that was founde in his treasures: there was nothing in his house, and in all his realme, that Hezekiah shewed them not.

Then Isaiah the Prophet came vnto King Hezekiah, and saide vnto him, What saide these men? and from whence came they to thee? And Hezekiah said, They be come from a farre countrey, euen from Babel.

Then saide he, What haue they seene in thine house? And Hezekiah answered, All that is in mine house haue they seene: there is nothing among my treasures, that I haue not shewed the.

And Isaiah said vnto Hezekiah, Heare the worde of the Lord.

Beholde, the dayes come, that all that is in thine house, and what so euer thy fathers haue layed vp in store vnto this day, shall be caryed into Babel: Nothing shall be left, saith the Lord.

And of thy sonnes, that shall proceede out of thee, and which thou shalt beget, shall they take away, and they shalbe eunuches in the palace of the King of Babel.

Then Hezekiah said vnto Isaiah, The word of the Lord which thou hast spoken, is good: for saide he, Shall it not be good, if peace and trueth be in my dayes?

Concerning the rest of the actes of Hezekiah, and all his valiant deedes, and howe he made a poole and a cundite, and brought water into the citie, are they not written in the booke of the Chronicles of the Kings of Iudah?

And Hezekiah slept with his fathers: and Manasseh his sonne reigned in his steade.

Manasseh was twelue yeere olde when he began to reigne, and reigned fiftie and fiue yeere in Ierusalem: his mothers name also was Hephzi-bah.

And he did euill in the sight of the Lord after the abomination of the heathen, whom the Lord had cast out before the children of Israel.

For he went backe and built the hie places, which Hezekiah his father had destroyed: and he erected vp altars for Baal, and made a groue, as did Ahab King of Israel, and worshipped all the hoste of heauen and serued them.

Also he built altars in the house of the Lord, of the which the Lord saide, In Ierusalem will I put my Name.

And he built altars for al the hoste of ye heauen in the two courtes of the house of the Lord.

And he caused his sonnes to passe through the fire, and gaue him selfe to witchcraft and sorcerie, and he vsed them that had familiar spirits and were soothsayers, and did much euill in the sight of the Lord to anger him.

And he set the image of the groue, that he had made, in the house, whereof ye Lord had saide to Dauid and to Salomon his sonne, In this house and in Ierusalem, which I haue chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, will I put my Name for euer.

Neither will I make the feete of Israel, mooue any more out of the lande, which I gaue their fathers: so that they will obserue and doe all that I haue commanded them, and according to all the Lawe that my seruant Moses commanded them.

Yet they obeyed not, but Manasseh ledde them out of the way, to doe more wickedly then did the heathen people, whom the Lord destroyed before the children of Israel.

Therefore the Lord spake by his seruants the Prophets, saying,

Because that Manasseh King of Iudah hath done such abominations, and hath wrought more wickedly then al that the Amorites (which were before him) did, and hath made Iudah sinne also with his idoles,

Therefore thus saith the Lord God of Israel, Beholde, I will bring an euill vpon Ierusalem and Iudah, that who so heareth of it, both his eares shall tingle.

And I will stretch ouer Ierusalem the line of Samaria, and the plommet of the house of Ahab: and I will wipe Ierusalem, as a man wipeth a dish, which he wipeth, and turneth it vpside downe.

And I will forsake the remnant of mine inheritance, and deliuer them into the hande of their enemies, and they shalbe robbed and spoyled of all their aduersaries,

Because they haue done euil in my sight, and haue prouoked mee to anger, since the time their fathers came out of Egypt vntill this day.

Moreouer Manasseh shed innocent blood exceeding much, till hee replenished Ierusalem from corner to corner, beside his sinne wherwith he made Iudah to sinne, and to doe euill in the sight of the Lord.

Concerning the rest of the actes of Manasseh, and all that hee did, and his sinne that he sinned, are they not written in the booke of the Chronicles of the Kings of Iudah?

And Manasseh slept with his fathers, and was buried in the garden of his own house, euen in the garden of Vzza: and Amon his sonne reigned in his steade.

Amon was two and twentie yere olde, when he began to reigne, and hee reygned two yeere in Ierusalem: his mothers name also was Meshullemeth the daughter of Haruz of Iotbah.

And he did euill in the sight of the Lord, as his father Manasseh did.

For hee walked in all the way that his father walked in, and serued the idoles that his father serued, and worshipped them.

And he forsooke the Lord God of his fathers, and walked not in the way of the Lord.

And the seruantes of Amon conspired against him, and slewe the King in his owne house.

And the people of the land slewe all them that had conspired against King Amon, and the people made Iosiah his sonne King in his steade.

Concerning the rest of the actes of Amon, which he did, are they not written in the booke of the Chronicles of the Kings of Iudah?

And they buried him in his sepulchre in the garden of Vzza: and Iosiah his sonne reigned in his steade.

Iosiah was eight yeere olde when he beganne to reigne, and hee reigned one and thirtie yeere in Ierusalem. His mothers name also was Iedidah the daughter of Adaiah of Bozcath.

And hee did vprightly in the sight of the Lord, and walked in all the wayes of Dauid his father, and bowed neither to the right hand, nor to the left.

And in the eighteenth yeere of King Iosiah, the King sent Shaphan the sonne of Azaliah the sonne of Meshullam the chanceller to ye house of the Lord, saying,

Goe vp to Hilkiah the high Priest, that hee may summe the siluer which is brought into the house of the Lord, which the keepers of the doore haue gathered of the people.

And let them deliuer it into the hande of them that doe the worke, and haue the ouersight of the house of the Lord: let them giue it to them that worke in the house of the Lord, to repaire the decayed places of the house:

To wit, vnto the artificers and carpenters and masons, and to bye timber, and hewed stone to repaire the house.

Howebeit, let no rekoning bee made with them of the money, that is deliuered into their hand: for they deale faithfully.

And Hilkiah the high Priest sayde vnto Shaphan the chanceller, I haue found the booke of the Lawe in the house of the Lord: and Hilkiah gaue the booke to Shaphan, and hee reade it.

So Shaphan the chanceller came to ye King, and brought him word againe, and saide, Thy seruants haue gathered the money, that was found in the house, and haue deliuered it vnto the hands of them that doe the worke, and haue the ouersight of the house of the Lord.

Also Shaphan the chanceller shewed the King saying, Hilkiah the Priest hath deliuered me a booke. And Shaphan read it before the King.

And when the King had heard the wordes of the booke of the Law, he rent his clothes.

Therefore the King commanded Hilkiah the Priest, and Ahikam the sonne of Shaphan, and Achbor the sonne of Michaiah, and Shaphan the chanceller, and Asahiah the Kings seruant, saying,

Go ye and inquire of the Lord for me, and for the people, and for all Iudah concerning the wordes of this booke that is founde: for great is the wrath of the Lord that is kindled against vs, because our fathers haue not obeyed the wordes of this booke, to doe according vnto all that which is written therein for vs.

So Hilkiah the Priest and Ahikam, and Achbor and Shaphan, and Asahiah went vnto Huldah the Prophetesse the wife of Shallum, ye sonne of Tikuah, the sonne of Harhas keeper of the wardrobe: (and she dwelt in Ierusalem in the colledge) and they communed with her.

And shee answered them, Thus sayth the Lord God of Israel, Tel the man that sent you to mee,

Thus sayth the Lord, Behold, I wil bring euill vpon this place, and on the inhabitants thereof, euen al the words of the booke which ye King of Iudah hath read,

Because they haue forsaken mee, and haue burnt incense vnto other gods, to anger me with all ye works of their hands: my wrath also shalbe kindled against this place and shall not be queched:

But to the King of Iudah, who sent you to inquire of the Lord, so shall ye say vnto him, Thus sayeth the Lord God of Israel, The wordes that thou hast heard, shall come to passe.

But because thine heart did melt, and thou hast humbled thy selfe before the Lord, when thou heardest what I spake against this place, and against the inhabitants of the same, to wit, that it should be destroyed and accursed, and hast rent thy clothes, and wept before me, I haue also heard it, saith the Lord.

Beholde therefore, I wil gather thee to thy fathers, and thou shalt be put in thy graue in peace, and thine eyes shall not see all the euil, which I will bring vpon this place. Thus they brought the King worde againe.

Then the King sent, and there gathered vnto him all the Elders of Iudah and of Ierusalem.

And the King went vp into the house of the Lord, with all the men of Iudah and all the inhabitants of Ierusalem with him, and the Priests and Prophets, and all the people both small and great: and he reade in their eares all the wordes of the booke of the couenant, which was found in the house of the Lord.

And the King stood by the pillar, and made a couenant before the Lord, that they shoulde walke after the Lord, and keepe his commandements, and his testimonies, and his statutes with all their heart, and with all their soule, that they might accomplish the wordes of this couenant written in this booke. And all the people stood to the couenant.

Then the King commanded Hilkiah the hie Priest and the priests of the second order, and the keepers of the doore, to bring out of ye Temple of the Lord all the vessels that were made for Baal, and for the groue, and for all the hoste of heauen, and he burnt them without Ierusalem in the fieldes of Kedron, and caryed the pouder of them into Beth-el.

And he put downe the Chemarims, whom the Kings of Iudah had founded to burne incense in the hie places, and in the cities of Iudah, and about Ierusalem, and also them that burnt incense vnto Baal, to the sunne and to the moone, and to the planets, and to all the hoste of heauen.

And he brought out the groue from the Temple of the Lord without Ierusalem vnto the valley of Kedron, and burnt it in the valley Kedron, and stampt it to pouder, and cast the dust thereof vpon the graues of the children of the people.

And hee brake downe the houses of the Sodomites, that were in the house of the Lord, where the women woue hangings for the groue.

Also he brought all the priests out of the cities of Iudah, and defiled the hie places where the Priests had burnt incense, euen from Geba to Beer-sheba, and destroyed the hie places of the gates, that were in the entring in of the gate of Ioshua the gouernour of the citie, which was at the left hand of the gate of the citie.

Neuerthelesse the Priests of the hie places came not vp to the altar of the Lord in Ierusalem, saue onely they did eate of the vnleauened bread among their brethren.

He defiled also Topheth, which was in the valley of the children of Hinnom, that no man shoulde make his sonne or his daughter passe through the fire to Molech.

He put downe also the horses that the Kings of Iudah had giuen to the sunne at the entring in of the house of the Lord, by the chamber of Nethan-melech the eunuche, which was ruler of the suburbes, and burnt the charets of the sunne with fire.

And the altars that were on the top of the chamber of Ahaz, which the Kings of Iudah had made, and the altars which Manasseh had made in the two courts of the house of the Lord did the King breake downe, and hasted thence, and cast the dust of them in the brooke Kedron.

Moreouer the King defiled the hie places that were before Ierusalem and on the right hand of the mount of corruption (which Salomon the King of Israel had buylt for Ashtoreth the idole of the Zidonians, and for Chemosh the idole of the Moabites, and for Milchom the abomination of the children of Ammon)

And he brake the images in pieces, and cut downe the groues and filled their places with the bones of men.

Furthermore the altar that was at Beth-el, and the hie place made by Ieroboam the sonne of Nebat, which made Israel to sinne, both this altar and also the hie place, brake he downe, and burnt the hie place, and stampt it to powder and burnt the groue.

And as Iosiah turned himselfe, he spied the graues, that were in the mount, and sent and tooke the bones out of the graues, and burnt them vpon the altar and polluted it, according to the word of the Lord, that the man of God proclaimed, which cryed the same wordes.

Then he sayde, What title is that which I see? And the men of the citie sayd vnto him, It is the sepulchre of the man of God, which came from Iudah, and tolde these things that thou hast done to the altar of Beth-el.

Then sayde he, Let him alone: let none remooue his bones. So his bones were saued with the bones of the Prophet that came from Samaria.

Iosiah also tooke away all the houses of the hie places, which were in the cities of Samaria, which the Kings of Israel had made to anger the Lord, and did to them according to all the factes that he had done in Beth-el.

And he sacrificed all the Priests of the hie places, that were there vpon the altars, and burnt mens bones vpon them, and returned to Ierusalem.

Then the king commanded all the people, saying, Keepe the passeouer vnto the Lord your God, as it is written in the booke of this couenant.

And there was no Passeouer holden like that from the dayes of the Iudges that iudged Israel, nor in all the dayes of the Kinges of Israel, and of the Kings of Iudah.

And in the eightenth yere of King Iosiah was this Passeouer celebrated to the Lord in Ierusalem.

Iosiah also tooke away them that had familiar spirits, and the soothsayers, and the images, and the idoles, and al the abominations that were espied in the lande of Iudah and in Ierusalem, to performe the wordes of the Lawe, which were written in the booke that Hilkiah the Priest found in the house of the Lord.

Like vnto him was there no King before him, that turned to the Lord with al his heart, and with all his soule, and with all his might according to all the Lawe of Moses, neither after him arose there anie like him.

Notwithstanding the Lord turned not from the fiercenesse of his great wrath wherewith he was angrie against Iudah, because of all the prouocatios wherwith Manasseh had prouoked him.

Therefore the Lord saide, I will put Iudah also out of my sight, as I haue put away Israel, and will cast off this citie Ierusalem, which I haue chosen, and the house whereof I said, My name shalbe there.

Concerning the rest of the actes of Iosiah, and all that hee did, are they not written in the booke of the Chronicles of the Kings of Iudah?

In his dayes Pharaoh Nechoh King of Egypt went vp against the King of Asshur to the riuer Perath. And King Iosiah went against him, whome when Pharaoh sawe, he slewe him at Megiddo.

Then his seruants caryed him dead from Megiddo, and brought him to Ierusalem, and buried him in his owne sepulchre. And the people of the lande tooke Iehoahaz the sonne of Iosiah, and anointed him, and made him King in his fathers steade.

Iehoahaz was three and twentie yeere olde when he beganne to reigne, and reigned three moneths in Ierusalem. His mothers name also was Hamutal the daughter of Ieremiah of Libnah.

And he did euill in the sight of the Lord, according to all that his fathers had done.

And Pharaoh Nechoh put him in bondes at Riblah in the lande of Hamath, while he reigned in Ierusalem, and put the lande to a tribute of an hundreth talents of siluer, and a talent of golde.

And Pharaoh Nechoh made Eliakim the sonne of Iosiah King in steade of Iosiah his father, and turned his name to Iehoiakim, and tooke Iehoahaz away, which when he came to Egypt, dyed there.