LXX Concordance for βασιλεὺς

In those days King Amraphel of Shinar, King Arioch of Ellasar, King Chedorlaomer of Elam, and King Tidal of Goiim[fn]

Then the king of Sodom, the king of Gomorrah, the king of Admah, the king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela (that is, Zoar) went out and lined up for battle in the Siddim Valley

Now the Siddim Valley contained many asphalt pits, and as the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled, some fell into them,[fn] but the rest fled to the mountains.

After Abram returned from defeating Chedorlaomer and the kings who were with him, the king of Sodom went out to meet him in the Shaveh Valley (that is, the King's Valley).

Then the king of Sodom said to Abram, “Give me the people, but take the possessions for yourself.”

Abraham said about his wife Sarah, “She is my sister.” So King Abimelech of Gerar had Sarah brought to him.

“Listen to us, my lord. You are a prince of God[fn] among us. Bury your dead in our finest burial place.[fn] None of us will withhold from you his burial place for burying your dead.”

When Isaac had been there for some time, Abimelech king of the Philistines looked down from the window and was surprised to see[fn] Isaac caressing his wife Rebekah.

“In the top basket were all sorts of baked goods for Pharaoh, but the birds were eating them out of the basket on my head.”

Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Now that your father and brothers have come to you,

A new king, who did not know about Joseph, came to power in Egypt.

The king of Egypt said to the Hebrew midwives ​— ​the first, whose name was Shiphrah, and the second, whose name was Puah ​— ​

The midwives, however, feared God and did not do as the king of Egypt had told them; they let the boys live.

After a long time, the king of Egypt died. The Israelites groaned because of their difficult labor, they cried out, and their cry for help because of the difficult labor ascended to God.

“However, I know that the king of Egypt will not allow you to go, even under force from a strong hand.

Now in Midian the LORD told Moses, “Return to Egypt, for all the men who wanted to kill you are dead.”

The king of Egypt said to them, “Moses and Aaron, why are you causing the people to neglect their work? Get to your labor! ”

When the Canaanite king of Arad, who lived in the Negev, heard that Israel was coming on the Atharim road, he fought against Israel and captured some prisoners.

Then they turned and went up the road to Bashan, and King Og of Bashan came out against them with his whole army to do battle at Edrei.

So the Moabites said to the elders of Midian, “This horde will devour everything around us like an ox eats up the green plants in the field.”

Since Balak son of Zippor was Moab's king at that time,

Balaam replied to God, “Balak son of Zippor, king of Moab, sent this message to me:

Balaam proclaimed his poem:

Balak brought me from Aram;

the king of Moab, from the eastern mountains:

“Come, put a curse on Jacob for me;

come, denounce Israel! ”

At that time the Canaanite king of Arad, who lived in the Negev in the land of Canaan, heard the Israelites were coming.

“But King Sihon of Heshbon would not let us travel through his land, for the LORD your God had made his spirit stubborn and his heart obstinate in order to hand him over to you, as has now taken place.

“So Sihon and his whole army came out against us for battle at Jahaz.

“Then we turned and went up the road to Bashan, and King Og of Bashan came out against us with his whole army to do battle at Edrei.

“(Only King Og of Bashan was left of the remnant of the Rephaim. His bed[fn] was made of iron. Isn't it in Rabbah of the Ammonites? It is 13½ feet long and 6 feet wide by a standard measure.[fn])

“When you reached this place, King Sihon of Heshbon and King Og of Bashan came out against us in battle, but we defeated them.

Then the king of Jericho sent word to Rahab and said, “Bring out the men who came to you and entered your house, for they came to investigate the entire land.”

When the king of Ai saw the Israelites, the men of the city hurried and went out early in the morning so that he and all his people could engage Israel in battle at a suitable place facing the Arabah. But he did not know there was an ambush waiting for him behind the city.

Now King Adoni-zedek of Jerusalem heard that Joshua had captured Ai and completely destroyed it, treating Ai and its king as he had Jericho and its king, and that the inhabitants of Gibeon had made peace with Israel and were living among them.

Therefore King Adoni-zedek of Jerusalem sent word to King Hoham of Hebron, King Piram of Jarmuth, King Japhia of Lachish, and King Debir of Eglon, saying,

So the five Amorite kings ​— ​the kings of Jerusalem, Hebron, Jarmuth, Lachish, and Eglon ​— ​joined forces, advanced with all their armies, besieged Gibeon, and fought against it.

At that time King Horam of Gezer went to help Lachish, but Joshua struck him down along with his people, leaving no survivors.

When King Jabin of Hazor heard this news, he sent a message to: King Jobab of Madon, the kings of Shimron and Achshaph,

King Og[fn] of Bashan, of the remnant of the Rephaim, lived in Ashtaroth and Edrei.

but the Israelites did not drive out the Geshurites and Maacathites. So Geshur and Maacath still live in Israel today.

However, they did not drive out the Canaanites who lived in Gezer. So the Canaanites still live in Ephraim today, but they are forced laborers.

“Balak son of Zippor, king of Moab, set out to fight against Israel. He sent for Balaam son of Beor to curse you,

The king of the Ammonites said to Jephthah's messengers, “When Israel came from Egypt, they seized my land from the Arnon to the Jabbok and the Jordan. Now restore it peaceably.”

“Israel sent messengers to the king of Edom, saying, ‘Please let us travel through your land,' but the king of Edom would not listen. They also sent messengers to the king of Moab, but he refused. So Israel stayed in Kadesh.

But the king of the Ammonites would not listen to Jephthah's message that he sent him.

In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did whatever seemed right to him.

In those days, there was no king in Israel, and the Danite tribe was looking for territory to occupy. Up to that time no territory had been captured by them among the tribes of Israel.

In those days, when there was no king in Israel, a Levite staying in a remote part of the hill country of Ephraim acquired a woman from Bethlehem in Judah as his concubine.

In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did whatever seemed right to him.

The people refused to listen to Samuel. “No! ” they said. “We must have a king over us.

“Now you can see that the king is leading you. As for me, I'm old and gray, and my sons are here with you. I have led you from my youth until now.

“But when you saw that Nahash king of the Ammonites was coming against you, you said to me, ‘No, we must have a king reign over us' ​— ​even though the LORD your God is your king.

“If you fear the LORD, worship and obey him, and if you don't rebel against the LORD's command, then both you and the king who reigns over you will follow the LORD your God.

“However, if you continue to do what is evil, both you and your king will be swept away.”

Saul then ordered his servants, “Speak to David in private and tell him, ‘Look, the king is pleased with you, and all his servants love you. Therefore, you should become the king's son-in-law.' ”

Then Saul replied, “Say this to David: ‘The king desires no other bride-price except a hundred Philistine foreskins, to take revenge on his enemies.' ” Actually, Saul intended to cause David's death at the hands of the Philistines.

Jonathan spoke well of David to his father, Saul. He said to him, “The king should not sin against his servant David. He hasn't sinned against you; in fact, his actions have been a great advantage to you.

So David hid in the countryside.

At the New Moon, the king sat down to eat the meal.

David answered the priest Ahimelech, “The king gave me a mission, but he told me, ‘Don't let anyone know anything about the mission I'm sending you on or what I have ordered you to do.' I have stationed my young men at a certain place.

But Achish's servants said to him, “Isn't this David, the king of the land? Don't they sing about him during their dances:

Saul has killed his thousands,

but David his tens of thousands? ”

The king sent messengers to summon the priest Ahimelech son of Ahitub, and his father's whole family, who were priests in Nob. All of them came to the king.

“Was today the first time I inquired of God for him? Of course not! Please don't let the king make an accusation against your servant or any of my father's family, for your servant didn't have any idea[fn] about all this.”

“Now, may my lord the king please hear the words of his servant: If it is the LORD who has incited you against me, then may he accept an offering. But if it is people, may they be cursed in the presence of the LORD, for today they have banished me from sharing in the inheritance of the LORD, saying, ‘Go and worship other gods.'

David then ordered Joab and all the people who were with him, “Tear your clothes, put on sackcloth, and mourn over Abner.” And King David walked behind the coffin.[fn]

All the people took note of this, and it pleased them. In fact, everything the king did pleased them.

Then the king said to his soldiers, “You must know that a great leader has fallen in Israel today.

So all the elders of Israel came to the king at Hebron. King David made a covenant with them at Hebron in the LORD's presence, and they anointed David king over Israel.

King Hiram of Tyre sent envoys to David; he also sent cedar logs, carpenters, and stonemasons, and they built a palace for David.

When the Philistines heard that David had been anointed king over Israel, they all went in search of David, but he heard about it and went down to the stronghold.

When David returned home to bless his household, Saul's daughter Michal came out to meet him. “How the king of Israel honored himself today! ” she said. “He exposed himself today in the sight of the slave girls of his subjects like a vulgar person would expose himself.”

When the king had settled into his palace and the LORD had given him rest on every side from all his enemies,

Then King David went in, sat in the LORD's presence, and said,

Who am I, Lord GOD, and what is my house that you have brought me this far?

David took the gold shields of Hadadezer's officers and brought them to Jerusalem.

King David also dedicated these to the LORD, along with the silver and gold he had dedicated from all the nations he had subdued ​— ​

So King David had him brought from the house of Machir son of Ammiel in Lo-debar.

Then the king summoned Saul's attendant Ziba and said to him, “I have given to your master's grandson all that belonged to Saul and his family.

Ziba said to the king, “Your servant will do all my lord the king commands.”

So Mephibosheth ate at David's[fn] table just like one of the king's sons.

Some time later, the king of the Ammonites died, and his son Hanun became king in his place.

So Amnon lay down and pretended to be sick. When the king came to see him, Amnon said to him, “Please let my sister Tamar come and make a couple of cakes in my presence so I can eat from her hand.”

When King David heard about all these things, he was furious.[fn]

Then he went to the king and said, “Your servant has just hired sheepshearers. Will the king and his servants please come with your servant? ”

In response the king stood up, tore his clothes, and lay down on the ground, and all his servants stood by with their clothes torn.

Just as he finished speaking, the king's sons entered and wept loudly. Then the king and all his servants also wept very bitterly.

Then the woman of Tekoa said to the king, “My lord the king, may any blame be on me and my father's family, and may the king and his throne be innocent.”

She replied, “Please, may the king invoke the LORD your God, so that the avenger of blood will not increase the loss, and they will not eliminate my son! ”

“As the LORD lives,” he vowed, “not a hair of your son will fall to the ground.”

“Now therefore, I've come to present this matter to my lord the king because the people have made me afraid. Your servant thought: I must speak to the king. Perhaps the king will grant his servant's request.

Then the king said to Joab, “I hereby grant this request. Go, bring back the young man Absalom.”

Joab went to the king and told him. So David summoned Absalom, who came to the king and paid homage with his face to the ground before him. Then the king kissed Absalom.

Then Absalom sent agents throughout the tribes of Israel with this message: “When you hear the sound of the ram's horn, you are to say, ‘Absalom has become king in Hebron! ' ”

Then the king set out, and his entire household followed him. But he left behind ten concubines to take care of the palace.

The king said to Ittai of Gath, “Why are you also going with us? Go back and stay with the new king since you're both a foreigner and an exile from your homeland.

“March on,” David replied to Ittai. So Ittai of Gath marched past with all his men and the dependents who were with him.

Then the king instructed Zadok, “Return the ark of God to the city. If I find favor with the LORD, he will bring me back and allow me to see both it and its[fn] dwelling place.

The king also said to the priest Zadok, “Look,[fn] return to the city in peace and your two sons with you: your son Ahimaaz and Abiathar's son Jonathan.

“but if you return to the city and tell Absalom, ‘I will be your servant, Your Majesty! Previously, I was your father's servant, but now I will be your servant,' then you can counteract Ahithophel's counsel for me.

The king said to Ziba, “Why do you have these? ”

Ziba answered, “The donkeys are for the king's household to ride, the bread and summer fruit are for the young men to eat, and the wine is for those to drink who become exhausted in the wilderness.”

The king said to Ziba, “All that belongs to Mephibosheth is now yours! ”

“I bow before you,” Ziba said. “May I find favor with you, my lord the king! ”

Finally, the king and all the people with him arrived[fn] exhausted, so they rested there.

“I will do whatever you think is best,” the king replied to them. So he stood beside the city gate while all the troops marched out by hundreds and thousands.

The man replied to Joab, “Even if I had the weight of a thousand pieces of silver[fn] in my hand, I would not raise my hand against the king's son. For we heard the king command you, Abishai, and Ittai, ‘Protect the young man Absalom for me.'[fn]

The king asked the Cushite, “Is the young man Absalom all right? ”

The Cushite replied, “I wish that the enemies of my lord the king, along with all who rise up against you with evil intent, would become like that young man.”

It was reported to Joab, “The king is weeping. He's mourning over Absalom.”

But the king covered his face and cried loudly, “My son Absalom! Absalom, my son, my son! ”

So the king got up and sat in the city gate, and all the people were told, “Look, the king is sitting in the city gate.” Then they all came into the king's presence.

Meanwhile, each Israelite had fled to his tent.

King David sent word to the priests Zadok and Abiathar: “Say to the elders of Judah, ‘Why should you be the last to restore the king to his palace? The talk of all Israel has reached the king at his house.

Then the king returned. When he arrived at the Jordan, Judah came to Gilgal to meet the king and escort him across the Jordan.

and said to him, “My lord, don't hold me guilty, and don't remember your servant's wrongdoing on the day my lord the king left Jerusalem. May the king not take it to heart.

So the king said to Shimei, “You will not die.” Then the king gave him his oath.

“Ziba slandered your servant to my lord the king. But my lord the king is like the angel of God, so do whatever you think best.[fn]

The king said to Barzillai, “Cross over with me, and I'll provide for you[fn] at my side in Jerusalem.”

“Since your servant is only going with the king a little way across the Jordan, why should the king repay me with such a reward?

So all the people crossed the Jordan, and then the king crossed. The king kissed Barzillai and blessed him, and Barzillai returned to his home.

When David came to his palace in Jerusalem, he took the ten concubines he had left to take care of the palace and placed them under guard. He provided for them, but he was not intimate with them. They were confined until the day of their death, living as widows.

The Gibeonites were not Israelites but rather a remnant of the Amorites. The Israelites had taken an oath concerning them, but Saul had tried to kill them in his zeal for the Israelites and Judah. So David summoned the Gibeonites and spoke to them.

David spared Mephibosheth, the son of Saul's son Jonathan, because of the oath of the LORD that was between David and Jonathan, Saul's son.

So the king said to Joab, the commander of his army, “Go through all the tribes of Israel from Dan to Beer-sheba and register the troops so I can know their number.”

Araunah said, “Why has my lord the king come to his servant? ”

David replied, “To buy the threshing floor from you in order to build an altar to the LORD, so the plague on the people may be halted.”

The king answered Araunah, “No, I insist on buying it from you for a price, for I will not offer to the LORD my God burnt offerings that cost me nothing.” David bought the threshing floor and the oxen for twenty ounces[fn] of silver.

Now King David was old and advanced in age. Although they covered him with bedclothes, he could not get warm.

The girl was of unsurpassed beauty, and she became the king's caregiver. She attended to him, but he was not intimate with[fn] her.

So Bathsheba went to the king in his bedroom. Since the king was very old, Abishag the Shunammite was attending to him.

“Otherwise, when my lord the king rests with his ancestors, I and my son Solomon will be regarded as criminals.”

“For today he went down and lavishly sacrificed oxen, fattened cattle, and sheep. He invited all the sons of the king, the commanders of the army, and the priest Abiathar. And look! They're eating and drinking in his presence, and they're saying, ‘Long live King Adonijah! '

The king swore an oath and said, “As the LORD lives, who has redeemed my life from every difficulty,

Bathsheba knelt low with her face to the ground, paying homage to the king, and said, “May my lord King David live forever! ”

The priest Zadok took the horn of oil from the tabernacle and anointed Solomon. Then they blew the ram's horn, and all the people proclaimed, “Long live King Solomon! ”

“Unfortunately not,” Jonathan answered him. “Our lord King David has made Solomon king.

“The king's servants have also gone to congratulate our lord King David, saying, ‘May your God make the name of Solomon more well known than your name, and may he make his throne greater than your throne.' Then the king bowed in worship on his bed.

It was reported to Solomon, “Look, Adonijah fears King Solomon, and he has taken hold of the horns of the altar, saying, ‘Let King Solomon first[fn] swear to me that he will not kill his servant with the sword.' ”

So King Solomon sent for him, and they took him down from the altar. He came and paid homage to King Solomon, and Solomon said to him, “Go to your home.”

So Bathsheba went to King Solomon to speak to him about Adonijah. The king stood up to greet her, bowed to her, sat down on his throne, and had a throne placed for the king's mother. So she sat down at his right hand.

King Solomon answered his mother, “Why are you requesting Abishag the Shunammite for Adonijah? Since he is my elder brother, you might as well ask the kingship for him, for the priest Abiathar, and for Joab son of Zeruiah.”[fn]

Then King Solomon dispatched Benaiah son of Jehoiada, who struck down Adonijah, and he died.

It was reported to King Solomon, “Joab has fled to the LORD's tabernacle and is now beside the altar.”

Then Solomon sent[fn] Benaiah son of Jehoiada and told him, “Go and strike him down! ”

Then the king appointed Benaiah son of Jehoiada in Joab's place over the army, and he appointed the priest Zadok in Abiathar's place.

So the king summoned Shimei and said to him, “Didn't I make you swear by the LORD and warn you, saying, ‘On the day you leave and go anywhere else, know for sure that you will certainly die'? And you said to me, ‘The sentence is fair; I will obey.'

The king also said, “You yourself know all the evil that you did to my father David. Therefore, the LORD has brought back your evil on your head,

The king replied, “This woman says, ‘This is my son who is alive, and your son is dead,' but that woman says, ‘No, your son is dead, and my son is alive.' ”

The king responded, “Give the living baby to the first woman, and don't kill him. She is his mother.”

King Solomon reigned over all Israel,

Emissaries of all peoples, sent by every king on earth who had heard of his wisdom, came to listen to Solomon's wisdom.

King Hiram of Tyre sent his emissaries to Solomon when he heard that he had been anointed king in his father's place, for Hiram had always been friends with David.

Then King Solomon drafted forced laborers from all Israel; the labor force numbered thirty thousand men.

Solomon began to build the temple for the LORD in the four hundred eightieth year after the Israelites came out of the land of Egypt, in the fourth year of his reign over Israel, in the month of Ziv, which is the second month.[fn]

King Solomon had Hiram[fn] brought from Tyre.

The king had them cast in clay molds in the Jordan Valley between Succoth and Zarethan.

Solomon also made all the equipment in the LORD's temple: the gold altar; the gold table that the Bread of the Presence was placed on;

At that time Solomon assembled the elders of Israel, all the tribal heads and the ancestral leaders of the Israelites before him at Jerusalem in order to bring the ark of the LORD's covenant from the city of David, that is Zion.

King Solomon and the entire congregation of Israel, who had gathered around him and were with him in front of the ark, were sacrificing sheep, goats, and cattle that could not be counted or numbered, because there were so many.

The king turned around and blessed the entire congregation of Israel while they were standing.

The king and all Israel with him were offering sacrifices in the LORD's presence.

King Hiram of Tyre having supplied him with cedar and cypress logs and gold for his every wish ​— ​King Solomon gave Hiram twenty towns in the land of Galilee.

This is the account of the forced labor that King Solomon had imposed to build the LORD's temple, his own palace, the supporting terraces, the wall of Jerusalem, and Hazor, Megiddo, and Gezer.

King Solomon put together a fleet of ships at Ezion-geber, which is near Eloth on the shore of the Red Sea in the land of Edom.

The king made the almug wood into steps for the LORD's temple and the king's palace and into lyres and harps for the singers. Never before did such almug wood arrive, and the like has not been seen again.

The king also made a large ivory throne and overlaid it with fine gold.

The king made silver as common in Jerusalem as stones, and he made cedar as abundant as sycamore in the Judean foothills.

King Solomon loved many foreign women in addition to Pharaoh's daughter: Moabite, Ammonite, Edomite, Sidonian, and Hittite women

“I will appoint you, and you will reign as king over all you want, and you will be king over Israel.

Solomon rested with his ancestors and was buried in the city of his father David. His son Rehoboam became king in his place.

Then Rehoboam went to Shechem, for all Israel had gone to Shechem to make him king.

Then King Rehoboam consulted with the elders who had served his father Solomon when he was alive, asking, “How do you advise me to respond to this people? ”

So Jeroboam and all the people came to Rehoboam on the third day, as the king had ordered: “Return to me on the third day.”

The king did not listen to the people, because this turn of events came from the LORD to carry out his word, which the LORD had spoken through Ahijah the Shilonite to Jeroboam son of Nebat.

Then King Rehoboam sent Adoram,[fn] who was in charge of forced labor, but all Israel stoned him to death. King Rehoboam managed to get into the chariot and flee to Jerusalem.

So the king sought advice.

Then he made two golden calves, and he said to the people, “Going to Jerusalem is too difficult for you. Israel, here are your gods[fn] who brought you up from the land of Egypt.”

When the king heard the message that the man of God had cried out against the altar at Bethel, Jeroboam stretched out his hand from the altar and said, “Arrest him! ” But the hand he stretched out against him withered, and he could not pull it back to himself.

Then the king responded to the man of God, “Plead for the favor of the LORD your God and pray for me so that my hand may be restored to me.” So the man of God pleaded for the favor of the LORD, and the king's hand was restored to him and became as it had been at first.

In the fifth year of King Rehoboam, King Shishak of Egypt went to war against Jerusalem.

King Rehoboam made bronze shields to replace them and committed them into the care of the captains of the guards[fn] who protected the entrance to the king's palace.

Israel's King Baasha went to war against Judah. He built Ramah in order to keep anyone from leaving or coming to King Asa of Judah.

Then King Asa gave a command to everyone without exception in Judah, and they carried away the stones of Ramah and the timbers Baasha had built it with. Then King Asa built Geba of Benjamin and Mizpah with them.

Omri rested with his ancestors and was buried in Samaria. His son Ahab became king in his place.

Then the king of Israel answered, “Just as you say, my lord the king: I am yours, along with all that I have.”

Then the king of Israel called for all the elders of the land and said, “Recognize[fn] that this one is only looking for trouble, for he demanded my wives, my children, my silver, and my gold, and I didn't turn him down.”

The king of Israel answered, “Say this: ‘Don't let the one who puts on his armor boast like the one who takes it off.' ”

and each one struck down his opponent. So the Arameans fled and Israel pursued them, but King Ben-hadad of Aram escaped on a horse with the cavalry.

As the king was passing by, he cried out to the king and said, “Your servant marched out into the middle of the battle. Suddenly, a man turned aside and brought someone to me and said, ‘Guard this man! If he is ever missing, it will be your life in place of his life, or you will weigh out seventy-five pounds[fn] of silver.'

The king of Israel left for home resentful and angry, and he entered Samaria.

However, in the third year, King Jehoshaphat of Judah went to visit the king of Israel.

The king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, “There is still one man who can inquire of the LORD, but I hate him because he never prophesies good about me, but only disaster. He is Micaiah son of Imlah.”

“The king shouldn't say that! ” Jehoshaphat replied.

So the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, “Didn't I tell you he never prophesies good about me, but only disaster? ”

Then the king of Israel ordered, “Take Micaiah and return him to Amon, the governor of the city, and to Joash, the king's son,

Then the king of Israel and Judah's King Jehoshaphat went up to Ramoth-gilead.

The battle raged throughout that day, and the king was propped up in his chariot facing the Arameans. He died that evening, and blood from his wound flowed into the bottom of the chariot.

So King Ahaziah sent a captain with his fifty men to Elijah. When the captain went up to him, he was sitting on top of the hill. He announced, “Man of God, the king declares, ‘Come down! ' ”

So the king sent another captain with his fifty men to Elijah. He took in the situation[fn] and announced, “Man of God, this is what the king says: ‘Come down immediately! ' ”

Then the king sent a third captain with his fifty men. The third captain went up and fell on his knees in front of Elijah and begged him, “Man of God, please let my life and the lives of these fifty servants of yours be precious to you.

King Mesha of Moab was a sheep breeder. He used to pay the king of Israel one hundred thousand lambs and the wool of one hundred thousand rams,

So the king of Israel, the king of Judah, and the king of Edom set out. After they had traveled their indirect route for seven days, they had no water for the army or the animals with them.

Jehoshaphat affirmed, “The word of the LORD is with him.” So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat and the king of Edom went to him.

When the king of Moab saw that the battle was too fierce for him, he took seven hundred swordsmen with him to try to break through to the king of Edom, but they could not do it.

Therefore, the king of Aram said, “Go, and I will send a letter with you to the king of Israel.”

So he went and took with him 750 pounds[fn] of silver, 150 pounds[fn] of gold, and ten sets of clothing.

When the king of Israel read the letter, he tore his clothes and asked, “Am I God, killing and giving life, that this man expects me to cure a man of his skin disease? Recognize[fn] that he is only picking a fight with me.”

When the king of Aram was waging war against Israel, he conferred with his servants, “My camp will be at such and such a place.”

Consequently, the king of Israel sent word to the place the man of God had told him about. The man of God repeatedly[fn] warned the king, so the king would be on his guard.

When the king of Israel saw them, he said to Elisha, “Should I kill them, should I kill them, my father? ”

Some time later, King Ben-hadad of Aram brought all his military units together and marched up and laid siege to Samaria.

As the king of Israel was passing by on the wall, a woman cried out to him, “My lord the king, help! ”

When the king heard the woman's words, he tore his clothes. Then, as he was passing by on the wall, the people saw that there was sackcloth under his clothes next to his skin.

Then the captain, the king's right-hand man,[fn] responded to the man of God, “Look, even if the LORD were to make windows in heaven, could this really happen? ”

Elisha announced, “You will in fact see it with your own eyes, but you won't eat any of it.”

for the Lord[fn] had caused the Aramean camp to hear the sound of chariots, horses, and a large army. The Arameans had said to each other, “The king of Israel must have hired the kings of the Hittites and the kings of Egypt to attack us.”

So the king got up in the night and said to his servants, “Let me tell you what the Arameans have done to us. They know we are starving, so they have left the camp to hide in the open country, thinking, ‘When they come out of the city, we will take them alive and go into the city.' ”

The messengers took two chariots with horses, and the king sent them after the Aramean army, saying, “Go and see.”

The king had appointed the captain, his right-hand man, to be in charge of the city gate, but the people trampled him in the gate. He died, just as the man of God had predicted when the king had come to him.

The king had been speaking to Gehazi, the attendant of the man of God, saying, “Tell me all the great things Elisha has done.”

When the king asked the woman, she told him the story. So the king appointed a court official for her, saying, “Restore all that was hers, along with all the income from the field from the day she left the country until now.”

In the fifth year of Israel's King Joram son of Ahab, Jehoram[fn] son of Jehoshaphat became king of Judah, replacing his father.[fn]

So King Joram returned to Jezreel to recover from the wounds that the Arameans had inflicted on him in Ramoth-gilead[fn] when he fought against Aram's King Hazael. Then Judah's King Ahaziah son of Jehoram went down to Jezreel to visit Joram son of Ahab since Joram was ill.

But King Joram had returned to Jezreel to recover from the wounds that the Arameans had inflicted on him when he fought against Aram's King Hazael. Jehu said, “If you commanders wish to make me king,[fn] then don't let anyone escape from the city to go tell about it in Jezreel.”

“Get the chariot ready! ” Joram shouted, and they got it ready. Then King Joram of Israel and King Ahaziah of Judah set out, each in his own chariot, and met Jehu at the plot of land of Naboth the Jezreelite.

When King Ahaziah of Judah saw what was happening, he fled up the road toward Beth-haggan. Jehu pursued him, shouting, “Shoot him too! ” So they shot him in his chariot[fn] at Gur Pass near Ibleam, but he fled to Megiddo and died there.

She looked, and there was the king standing by the pillar according to the custom. The commanders and the trumpeters were by the king, and all the people of the land were rejoicing and blowing trumpets. Athaliah tore her clothes and screamed “Treason! Treason! ”

So King Joash called the priest Jehoiada and the other priests and asked, “Why haven't you repaired the temple's damage? Since you haven't, don't take any silver from your assessors; instead, hand it over for the repair of the temple.”

At that time King Hazael of Aram marched up and fought against Gath and captured it. Then he planned to attack Jerusalem.

Then Jehoahaz sought the LORD's favor, and the LORD heard him, for he saw the oppression the king of Aram inflicted on Israel.

Jehoahaz did not have an army left, except for fifty horsemen, ten chariots, and ten thousand foot soldiers, because the king of Aram had destroyed them, making them like dust at threshing.

When Elisha became sick with the illness from which he died, King Jehoash of Israel went down and wept over him and said, “My father, my father, the chariots and horsemen of Israel! ”

Then Elisha said, “Take the arrows! ” So he took them. Then Elisha said to the king of Israel, “Strike the ground! ” So he struck the ground three times and stopped.

King Hazael of Aram died, and his son Ben-hadad became king in his place.

In the second year of Israel's King Jehoash[fn] son of Jehoahaz,[fn] Amaziah son of Joash became king of Judah.

King Jehoash of Israel sent word to King Amaziah of Judah, saying, “The thistle in Lebanon once sent a message to the cedar in Lebanon, saying, ‘Give your daughter to my son as a wife.' Then a wild animal in Lebanon passed by and trampled the thistle.

But Amaziah would not listen, so King Jehoash of Israel advanced. He and King Amaziah of Judah met face to face at Beth-shemesh that belonged to Judah.

King Jehoash of Israel captured Judah's King Amaziah son of Joash,[fn] son of Ahaziah, at Beth-shemesh. Then Jehoash went to Jerusalem and broke down two hundred yards[fn] of Jerusalem's wall from the Ephraim Gate to the Corner Gate.

Judah's King Amaziah son of Joash lived fifteen years after the death of Israel's King Jehoash son of Jehoahaz.

King Pul[fn] of Assyria invaded the land, so Menahem gave Pul seventy-five thousand pounds[fn] of silver so that Pul would support him to strengthen his grasp on the kingdom.

In the days of King Pekah of Israel, King Tiglath-pileser of Assyria came and captured Ijon, Abel-beth-maacah, Janoah, Kedesh, Hazor, Gilead, and Galilee ​— ​all the land of Naphtali ​— ​and deported the people to Assyria.

Then Aram's King Rezin and Israel's King Pekah son of Remaliah came to wage war against Jerusalem. They besieged Ahaz but were not able to conquer him.

So the king of Assyria listened to him and marched up to Damascus and captured it. He deported its people to Kir but put Rezin to death.

Then King Ahaz commanded the priest Uriah, “Offer on the great altar the morning burnt offering, the evening grain offering, and the king's burnt offering and his grain offering. Also offer the burnt offering of all the people of the land, their grain offering, and their drink offerings. Splatter on the altar all the blood of the burnt offering and all the blood of sacrifice. The bronze altar will be for me to seek guidance.”[fn]

King Shalmaneser of Assyria attacked him, and Hoshea became his vassal and paid him tribute.

Then the king of Assyria brought people from Babylon, Cuthah, Avva, Hamath, and Sepharvaim and settled them in place of the Israelites in the cities of Samaria. The settlers took possession of Samaria and lived in its cities.

Then the king of Assyria issued a command: “Send back one of the priests you deported. Have him go and live there so he can teach them the requirements of the god of the land.”

In the fourth year of King Hezekiah, which was the seventh year of Israel's King Hoshea son of Elah, Assyria's King Shalmaneser marched against Samaria and besieged it.

The king of Assyria deported the Israelites to Assyria and put them in Halah, along the Habor (Gozan's river), and in the cities of the Medes,

In the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah, Assyria's King Sennacherib attacked all the fortified cities of Judah and captured them.

At that time Hezekiah stripped the gold from the doors of the LORD's sanctuary and from the doorposts he had overlaid and gave it to the king of Assyria.

Then the royal spokesman said to them, “Tell Hezekiah this is what the great king, the king of Assyria, says: ‘What are you relying on?[fn]

“Now look, you are relying on Egypt, that splintered reed of a staff that will pierce the hand of anyone who grabs it and leans on it. This is what Pharaoh king of Egypt is to all who rely on him.

“Don't listen to Hezekiah, for this is what the king of Assyria says: ‘Make peace[fn] with me and surrender to me. Then each of you may eat from his own vine and his own fig tree, and each may drink water from his own cistern

When King Hezekiah heard their report, he tore his clothes, covered himself with sackcloth, and went into the LORD's temple.

“Perhaps the LORD your God will hear all the words of the royal spokesman, whom his master the king of Assyria sent to mock the living God, and will rebuke him for the words that the LORD your God has heard. Therefore, offer a prayer for the surviving remnant.' ”

“Where is the king of Hamath, the king of Arpad, the king of the city of[fn] Sepharvaim, Hena, or Ivvah? ' ”

So King Sennacherib of Assyria broke camp and left. He returned home and lived in Nineveh.

At that time Merodach-baladan[fn] son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent letters and a gift to Hezekiah since he heard that he had been sick.

He rebuilt the high places that his father Hezekiah had destroyed and reestablished the altars for Baal. He made an Asherah, as King Ahab of Israel had done; he also bowed in worship to all the stars in the sky and served them.

“Since King Manasseh of Judah has committed all these detestable acts ​— ​worse evil than the Amorites who preceded him had done ​— ​and by means of his idols has also caused Judah to sin,

In the eighteenth year of King Josiah, the king sent the court secretary Shaphan son of Azaliah, son of Meshullam, to the LORD's temple, saying,

When the king heard the words of the book of the law, he tore his clothes.

“‘This is what the LORD says: I am about to bring disaster on this place and on its inhabitants, fulfilling[fn] all the words of the book that the king of Judah has read,

So the king sent messengers, and they gathered all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem to him.

The king tore down the altars that the kings of Judah had made on the roof of Ahaz's upper chamber. He also tore down the altars that Manasseh had made in the two courtyards of the LORD's temple. Then he smashed them[fn] there and threw their dust into the Kidron Valley.

The king commanded all the people, “Observe the Passover of the LORD your God as written in the book of the covenant.”

In addition, Josiah eradicated the mediums, the spiritists, household idols, images, and all the abhorrent things that were seen in the land of Judah and in Jerusalem. He did this in order to carry out the words of the law that were written in the book that the priest Hilkiah found in the LORD's temple.

During his reign, Pharaoh Neco king of Egypt marched up to help the king of Assyria at the Euphrates River. King Josiah went to confront him, and at Megiddo when Neco saw him he killed him.

During Jehoiakim's reign, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon attacked. Jehoiakim became his vassal for three years, and then he turned and rebelled against him.

Now the king of Egypt did not march out of his land again, for the king of Babylon took everything that had belonged to the king of Egypt, from the Brook of Egypt to the Euphrates River.

At that time the servants of King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon marched up to Jerusalem, and the city came under siege.

The king of Babylon brought captive into Babylon all seven thousand of the best soldiers and one thousand craftsmen and metalsmiths ​— ​all strong and fit for war.

In the ninth year of Zedekiah's reign, on the tenth day of the tenth month, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon advanced against Jerusalem with his entire army. They laid siege to the city and built a siege wall against it all around.

The king of Babylon put them to death at Riblah in the land of Hamath. So Judah went into exile from its land.

On the twenty-seventh day of the twelfth month of the thirty-seventh year of the exile of Judah's King Jehoiachin, in the year Evil-merodach became king of Babylon, he pardoned King Jehoiachin of Judah and released him[fn] from prison.

and his son Beerah.

Beerah was a leader of the Reubenites, and King Tiglath-pileser[fn] of Assyria took him into exile.

So all the elders of Israel came to the king at Hebron. David made a covenant with them at Hebron in the LORD's presence, and they anointed David king over Israel, in keeping with the LORD's word through Samuel.

King Hiram of Tyre sent envoys to David, along with cedar logs, stonemasons, and carpenters to build a palace for him.

When the Philistines heard that David had been anointed king over all Israel, they all went in search of David; when David heard of this, he went out to face them.

Then King David went in, sat in the LORD's presence, and said,

Who am I, LORD God, and what is my house that you have brought me this far?

When King Tou of Hamath heard that David had defeated the entire army of King Hadadezer of Zobah,

Some time later, King Nahash of the Ammonites died, and his son became king in his place.

So David said to Joab and the commanders of the troops, “Go and count Israel from Beer-sheba to Dan and bring a report to me so I can know their number.”

Ornan said to David, “Take it! My lord the king may do whatever he wants.[fn] See, I give the oxen for the burnt offerings, the threshing sledges for the wood, and the wheat for the grain offering ​— ​I give it all.”

David and the officers of the army also set apart some of the sons of Asaph, Heman, and Jeduthun, who were to prophesy accompanied by lyres, harps, and cymbals. This is the list of the men who performed their service:

This Shelomith and his relatives were in charge of all the treasuries of what had been dedicated by King David, by the family heads who were the commanders of thousands and of hundreds, and by the army commanders.

There were among Jerijah's relatives 2,700 capable men who were family heads. King David appointed them over the Reubenites, the Gadites, and half the tribe of Manasseh as overseers in every matter relating to God and the king.

Then King David said to all the assembly, “My son Solomon ​— ​God has chosen him alone ​— ​is young and inexperienced. The task is great because the building will not be built for a human but for the LORD God.

Then the people rejoiced because of their leaders' willingness to give, for they had given to the LORD wholeheartedly. King David also rejoiced greatly.

The king made silver and gold as common in Jerusalem as stones, and he made cedar as abundant as sycamore in the Judean foothills.

Then King Hiram of Tyre wrote a letter[fn] and sent it to Solomon:

Because the LORD loves his people, he set you over them as king.

The king had them cast in clay molds in the Jordan Valley between Succoth and Zeredah.

King Solomon and the entire congregation of Israel who had gathered around him were in front of the ark sacrificing sheep, goats, and cattle that could not be counted or numbered because there were so many.

Then the king turned and blessed the entire congregation of Israel while they were standing.

The king and all the people were offering sacrifices in the LORD's presence.

The king made the algum wood into walkways for the LORD's temple and for the king's palace and into lyres and harps for the singers. Never before had anything like them been seen in the land of Judah.

King Solomon made two hundred large shields of hammered gold; 15 pounds[fn] of hammered gold went into each shield.

The king made silver as common in Jerusalem as stones, and he made cedar as abundant as sycamore in the Judean foothills.

Solomon reigned in Jerusalem over all Israel for forty years.

Then King Rehoboam consulted with the elders who had attended his father Solomon when he was alive, asking, “How do you advise me to respond to this people? ”

So Jeroboam and all the people came to Rehoboam on the third day, just as the king had ordered, saying, “Return to me on the third day.”

The king did not listen to the people because the turn of events came from God, in order that the LORD might carry out his word that he had spoken through Ahijah the Shilonite to Jeroboam son of Nebat.

Then King Rehoboam sent Hadoram,[fn] who was in charge of the forced labor, but the Israelites stoned him to death. However, King Rehoboam managed to get into his chariot to flee to Jerusalem.

Because they were unfaithful to the LORD, in the fifth year of King Rehoboam, King Shishak of Egypt went to war against Jerusalem

So the leaders of Israel and the king humbled themselves and said, “The LORD is righteous.”

So King Shishak of Egypt went to war against Jerusalem. He seized the treasuries of the LORD's temple and the treasuries of the royal palace. He took everything. He took the gold shields that Solomon had made.

In the thirty-sixth year of Asa, Israel's King Baasha went to war against Judah. He built Ramah in order to keep anyone from leaving or coming to King Asa of Judah.

Then King Asa brought all Judah, and they carried away the stones of Ramah and the timbers Baasha had built it with. Then he built Geba and Mizpah with them.

These were the ones who served the king, besides those he stationed in the fortified cities throughout all Judah.

for Israel's King Ahab asked Judah's King Jehoshaphat, “Will you go with me to Ramoth-gilead? ”

He replied to him, “I am as you are, my people as your people; we will be with you in the battle.”

So the king of Israel gathered the prophets, four hundred men, and asked them, “Should we go to Ramoth-gilead for war or should I refrain? ”

They replied, “March up, and God will hand it over to the king.”

The king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, “There is still one man who can inquire of the LORD, but I hate him because he never prophesies good about me, but only disaster. He is Micaiah son of Imlah.”

“The king shouldn't say that,” Jehoshaphat replied.

So the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, “Didn't I tell you he never prophesies good about me, but only disaster? ”

Then the king of Israel ordered, “Take Micaiah and return him to Amon, the governor of the city, and to Joash, the king's son,

Then the king of Israel and Judah's King Jehoshaphat went up to Ramoth-gilead.

When the chariot commanders saw that he was not the king of Israel, they turned back from pursuing him.

The battle raged throughout that day, and the king of Israel propped himself up in his chariot facing the Arameans until evening. Then he died at sunset.

King Jehoshaphat of Judah returned to his home in Jerusalem in peace.

and he said, “Listen carefully, all Judah and you inhabitants of Jerusalem, and King Jehoshaphat. This is what the LORD says: ‘Do not be afraid or discouraged because of this vast number, for the battle is not yours, but God's.

After this, Judah's King Jehoshaphat made an alliance with Israel's King Ahaziah, who was guilty of wrongdoing.

so he returned to Jezreel to recover from the wounds they inflicted on him in Ramoth-gilead[fn] when he fought against King Hazael of Aram. Then Judah's King Ahaziah[fn] son of Jehoram went down to Jezreel to visit Joram son of Ahab since Joram was ill.

As she looked, there was the king standing by his pillar[fn] at the entrance. The commanders and the trumpeters were by the king, and all the people of the land were rejoicing and blowing trumpets while the singers with musical instruments were leading the praise. Athaliah tore her clothes and screamed, “Treason! Treason! ”

So the king called Jehoiada the high priest and said, “Why haven't you required the Levites to bring from Judah and Jerusalem the tax imposed by the LORD's servant Moses and the assembly of Israel for the tent of the testimony?

Then the king and Jehoiada gave it to those in charge of the labor on the LORD's temple, who were hiring stonecutters and carpenters to renovate the LORD's temple, also blacksmiths and coppersmiths to repair the LORD's temple.

King Jehoash of Israel sent word to King Amaziah of Judah, saying, “The thistle in Lebanon sent a message to the cedar in Lebanon, saying, ‘Give your daughter to my son as a wife.' Then a wild animal in Lebanon passed by and trampled the thistle.

So King Jehoash of Israel advanced. He and King Amaziah of Judah met face to face at Beth-shemesh that belonged to Judah.

King Jehoash of Israel captured Judah's King Amaziah son of Joash, son of Jehoahaz,[fn] at Beth-shemesh. Then Jehoash took him to Jerusalem and broke down two hundred yards[fn] of Jerusalem's wall from the Ephraim Gate to the Corner Gate.[fn]

Judah's King Amaziah son of Joash lived fifteen years after the death of Israel's King Jehoash son of Jehoahaz.

So King Uzziah was diseased to the time of his death. He lived in quarantine[fn] with a serious skin disease and was excluded from access to the LORD's temple, while his son Jotham was over the king's household governing the people of the land.

He waged war against the king of the Ammonites. He overpowered the Ammonites, and that year they gave him 7,500 pounds[fn] of silver, 60,000 bushels[fn] of wheat, and 60,000 bushels of barley. They paid him the same in the second and third years.

Pekah son of Remaliah killed one hundred twenty thousand in Judah in one day ​— ​all brave men ​— ​because they had abandoned the LORD God of their ancestors.

Then King Tiglath-pileser[fn] of Assyria came against Ahaz; he oppressed him and did not give him support.

“We have set up and consecrated all the utensils that King Ahaz rejected during his reign when he became unfaithful. They are in front of the altar of the LORD.”

When the burnt offerings were completed, the king and all those present with him bowed down and worshiped.

For the king and his officials and the entire congregation in Jerusalem decided to observe the Passover of the LORD in the second month,

Jehiel, Azaziah, Nahath, Asahel, Jerimoth, Jozabad, Eliel, Ismachiah, Mahath, and Benaiah were deputies under the authority of Conaniah and his brother Shimei by appointment of King Hezekiah and of Azariah the chief official of God's temple.

After Hezekiah's faithful deeds, King Sennacherib of Assyria came and entered Judah. He laid siege to the fortified cities and intended[fn] to break into them.

Many people gathered and stopped up all the springs and the stream that flowed through the land; they said, “Why should the kings of Assyria come and find abundant water? ”

After this, while King Sennacherib of Assyria with all his armed forces besieged[fn] Lachish, he sent his servants to Jerusalem against King Hezekiah of Judah and against all those of Judah who were in Jerusalem, saying,

King Hezekiah and the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz prayed about this and cried out to heaven,

When the king heard the words of the law, he tore his clothes.

So Hilkiah and those the king had designated[fn] went to the prophetess Huldah, the wife of Shallum son of Tokhath, son of Hasrah, keeper of the wardrobe. She lived in Jerusalem in the Second District. They spoke with her about this.

So the king sent messengers and gathered all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem.

In the eighteenth year of Josiah's reign, this Passover was observed.

The archers shot King Josiah, and he said to his servants, “Take me away, for I am severely wounded! ”

The king of Egypt deposed him in Jerusalem and fined the land seventy-five hundred pounds[fn] of silver and seventy-five pounds[fn] of gold.

Jehoiakim was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. He did what was evil in the sight of the LORD his God.

In the spring[fn] Nebuchadnezzar sent for him and brought him to Babylon along with the valuable articles of the LORD's temple. Then he made Jehoiachin's brother Zedekiah king over Judah and Jerusalem.

This is what King Cyrus of Persia says: The LORD, the God of the heavens, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth and has appointed me to build him a temple at Jerusalem in Judah. Any of his people among you may go up, and may the LORD his God be with him.

This is what King Cyrus of Persia says: “The LORD, the God of the heavens, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth and has appointed me to build him a house at Jerusalem in Judah.

King Cyrus also brought out the articles of the LORD's house that Nebuchadnezzar had taken from Jerusalem and had placed in the house of his gods.

These now are the people of the province who came from those captive exiles King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon[fn] had deported to Babylon. They returned to Jerusalem and Judah, each to his own town.

But Zerubbabel, Jeshua, and the other heads of Israel's families answered them, “You may have no part with us in building a house for our God, since we alone will build it for the LORD, the God of Israel, as King Cyrus, the king of Persia has commanded us.”

The king sent a reply to his chief deputy Rehum, Shimshai the scribe, and the rest of their colleagues living in Samaria and elsewhere in the region west of the Euphrates River:

Greetings.

This is the reply they gave us:

We are the servants of the God of the heavens and earth, and we are rebuilding the temple that was built many years ago, which a great king of Israel built and finished.

However, in the first year of King Cyrus of Babylon, he issued a decree to rebuild the house of God.

So if it pleases the king, let a search of the royal archives[fn] in Babylon be conducted to see if it is true that a decree was issued by King Cyrus to rebuild the house of God in Jerusalem. Let the king's decision regarding this matter be sent to us.

King Darius gave the order, and they searched in the library of Babylon in the archives.[fn]

In the first year of King Cyrus, he issued a decree concerning the house of God in Jerusalem:

Let the house be rebuilt as a place for offering sacrifices, and let its original foundations be retained.[fn] Its height is to be ninety feet[fn] and its width ninety feet,

Then Tattenai governor of the region west of the Euphrates River, Shethar-bozenai, and their colleagues diligently carried out what King Darius had decreed.

Artaxerxes, king of kings, to Ezra the priest, an expert in the law of the God of the heavens:

Greetings.

You are also to bring the silver and gold the king and his counselors have willingly given to the God of Israel, whose dwelling is in Jerusalem,

I weighed out to them the silver, the gold, and the articles ​— ​the contribution for the house of our God that the king, his counselors, his leaders, and all the Israelites who were present had offered.

The king, with the queen seated beside him, asked me, “How long will your journey take, and when will you return? ” So I gave him a definite time, and it pleased the king to send me.

“And let me have a letter written to Asaph, keeper of the king's forest, so that he will give me timber to rebuild the gates of the temple's fortress, the city wall, and the home where I will live.”[fn] The king granted my requests, for the gracious hand of my God was on me.

These are the people of the province who went up among the captive exiles deported by King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon. Each of them returned to Jerusalem and Judah, to his own town.

“Didn't King Solomon of Israel sin in matters like this? There was not a king like him among many nations. He was loved by his God, and God made him king over all Israel, yet foreign women drew him into sin.

In those days King Ahasuerus reigned from his royal throne in the fortress at Susa.

At the end of this time, the king held a week-long banquet in the garden courtyard of the royal palace for all the people, from the greatest to the least, who were present in the fortress of Susa.

Drinks were served in an array of gold goblets, each with a different design. Royal wine flowed freely, according to the king's bounty.

But Queen Vashti refused to come at the king's command that was delivered by his eunuchs. The king became furious and his anger burned within him.

“If it meets the king's approval, he should personally issue a royal decree. Let it be recorded in the laws of the Persians and the Medes, so that it cannot be revoked: Vashti is not to enter King Ahasuerus's presence, and her royal position is to be given to another woman who is more worthy than she.

The king and his counselors approved the proposal, and he followed Memucan's advice.

Some time later, when King Ahasuerus's rage had cooled down, he remembered Vashti, what she had done, and what was decided against her.

“Let the king appoint commissioners in each province of his kingdom, so that they may gather all the beautiful young virgins to the harem at the fortress of Susa. Put them under the supervision of Hegai, the king's eunuch, keeper of the women, and give them the required beauty treatments.

Kish[fn] had been taken into exile from Jerusalem with the other captives when King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon took King Jeconiah of Judah into exile.

The king loved Esther more than all the other women. She won more favor and approval from him than did any of the other virgins. He placed the royal crown on her head and made her queen in place of Vashti.

When the report was investigated and verified, both men were hanged on the gallows. This event was recorded in the Historical Record in the king's presence.

After all this took place, King Ahasuerus honored Haman, son of Hammedatha the Agagite. He promoted him in rank and gave him a higher position than all the other officials.

The king removed his signet ring from his hand and gave it to Haman son of Hammedatha the Agagite, the enemy of the Jews.

The couriers left, spurred on by royal command, and the law was issued in the fortress of Susa. The king and Haman sat down to drink, while the city of Susa was in confusion.

“All the royal officials and the people of the royal provinces know that one law applies to every man or woman who approaches the king in the inner courtyard and who has not been summoned ​— ​the death penalty ​— ​ unless the king extends the gold scepter, allowing that person to live. I have not been summoned to appear before the king for the last[fn] thirty days.”

As soon as the king saw Queen Esther standing in the courtyard, she gained favor with him. The king extended the gold scepter in his hand toward Esther, and she approached and touched the tip of the scepter.

While drinking the[fn] wine, the king asked Esther, “Whatever you ask will be given to you. Whatever you want, even to half the kingdom, will be done.”

“If I have found favor in the eyes of the king, and if it pleases the king to grant my petition and perform my request, may the king and Haman come to the banquet I will prepare for them. Tomorrow I will do what the king has asked.”

Then Haman described for them his glorious wealth and his many sons. He told them all how the king had honored him and promoted him in rank over the other officials and the royal staff.

Haman entered, and the king asked him, “What should be done for the man the king wants to honor? ”

Haman thought to himself, “Who is it the king would want to honor more than me? ”

The king and Haman came to feast[fn] with Esther the queen.

The king arose in anger and went from where they were drinking wine to the palace garden.[fn] Haman remained to beg Queen Esther for his life because he realized the king was planning something terrible for him.

They hanged Haman on the gallows he had prepared for Mordecai. Then the king's anger subsided.

That same day King Ahasuerus awarded Queen Esther the estate of Haman, the enemy of the Jews. Mordecai entered the king's presence because Esther had revealed her relationship to Mordecai.