Delphi Septuagint, page 93
[31] And Josaphat reigned over Juda, being thirty-five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned twenty-five years in Jerusalem: and his mother’s name was Azuba, daughter of Sali. [32] And he walked in the ways of his father Asa, and turned not aside from doing that which was right in the sight of the Lord. [33] nevertheless the high places yet remained; and as yet the people did not direct their heart to the Lord God of their fathers.
[34] And the rest of the acts of Josaphat, the first and the last, behold, they are written in the history of Jeu the son of Anani, who wrote the book of the kings of Israel.
[35] And afterwards Josaphat king of Juda entered into an alliance with Ochozias king of Israel, (now this was an unrighteous man,) [36] by acting with and going to him, to build ships to go to Tharsis: and he built ships in Gasion Gaber. [37] And Eliezer thee son of Dodia of Marisa prophesied against Josaphat, saying, Forasmuch as thou hast allied thyself with Ochozias, the Lord has broken thy work, and thy vessels have been wrecked. And they could not go to Tharsis.
Chapter 21
[1] And Josaphat slept with his fathers, and was buried in the city of David: and Joran his son reigned in his stead. [2] And he had brothers, the six sons of Josaphat, Azarias, and Jeiel, and Zacharias, and Azarias, and Michael, and Zaphatias: all these were the sons of Josaphat king of Juda. [3] And their father gave them many gifts, silver, and gold, and arms, together with fortified cities in Juda: but he gave the kingdom to Joram, for he was the first-born. [4] And Joram entered upon his kingdom, and strengthened himself, and slew all his brothers with the sword, and some of the princes of Israel.
[5] When he was thirty and two years old, Joram succeeded to his kingdom, and he reigned eight years in Jerusalem. [6] And he walked in the way of the kings of Israel, as did the house of Achaab; for a daughter of Achaab was his wife: and he did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord: [7] nevertheless the Lord would not utterly destroy the house of David, because of the covenant which he made with David, and as he said to him that he would give a light to him and his sons for ever.
[8] In those days Edom revolted from Juda, and they made a king over themselves. [9] And Joram went with the princes, and all the cavalry with him: and it came to pass that he arose by night, and smote Edom that compassed him about, and the captains of the chariots, and the people fled to their tents. [10] And Edom revolted from Juda until this day. Then Lomna at that time revolted from under his hand, because he forsook the Lord God of his fathers. [11] For he built high places in the cities of Juda, and caused the dwellers in Jerusalem to go a-whoring, and led Juda astray.
[12] And there came to him a message in writing from Eliu the prophet, saying, Thus saith the Lord God of thy father David, Because thou hast not walked in the way of thy father Josaphat, nor in the ways of Asa king of Juda, [13] but hast walked in the ways of the kings of Israel, and hast caused Juda and the dwellers in Jerusalem to go a-whoring, as the house of Achaab caused Israel to go a-whoring, and thou hast slain thy brethren, the sons of thy father, who were better than thyself; [14] behold, the Lord shall smite thee with a great plague among thy people, and thy sons, and thy wives, and all thy store: [15] and thou shalt be afflicted with a grievous disease, with a disease of the bowels, until thy bowels shall fall out day by day with the sickness.
[16] So the Lord stirred up the Philistines against Joram, and the Arabians, and those who bordered on the Æthiopians: [17] and they went up against Juda, and prevailed against them, and took away all the store which they found in the house of the king, and his sons, and his daughters; and there was no son left to him but Ochozias the youngest of his sons. [18] And after all these things the Lord smote him in the bowels with an incurable disease. [19] And it continued from day to day: and when the time of the days came to two years, his bowels fell out with the disease, and he died by a grievous distemper: and his people performed no funeral, like the funeral of his fathers. [20] He was thirty and two years old when he began to reign, and he reigned eight years in Jerusalem. And he departed without honour, and was buried in the city of David, but not in the tombs of the kings.
Chapter 22
[1] And the inhabitants of Jerusalem made Ochozias his youngest son king in his stead: for the band of robbers that came against them, even the Arabians and the Alimazonians, had slain all the elder ones. So Ochozias son of Joram king of Juda reigned.
[2] Ochozias began to reign when he was twenty years old, and he reigned one year in Jerusalem: and his mother’s name was Gotholia, the daughter of Ambri. [3] And he walked in the way of the house of Achaab; for his mother was his counsellor to do evil. [4] And he did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord as the house of Achaab had done: for they were his counselors after the death of his father to his destruction. [5] And he walked in their counsels, and he went with Joram son of Achaab king of Israel to war against Azael king of Syria to Ramoth Galaad: and the archers smote Joram. [6] And Joram returned to Jezrael to be healed of the wounds wherewith the Syrians smote him in Ramoth, when he fought against Azael king of Syria.
And Ochozias son of Joram, king of Juda, went down to see Joram the son of Achaab at Jezrael because he was sick. [7] And destruction from God came upon Ochozias in his coming to Joram; for when he had come, Joram went out with him against Jeu the son of Namessei, the anointed of the Lord against the house of Achaab.
[8] And it came to pass, when Jeu was taking vengeance on the house of Achaab, that he found the princes of Juda and the brethren of Ochozias ministering to Ochozias, and he slew them. [9] And he gave orders to seek Ochozias: and they took him while he was healing his wounds in Samaria, and they brought him to Jeu, and he slew him; and they buried him, for they said, He is the son of Josaphat, who sought the Lord with all his heart.
So there was none in the house of Ochozias to secure their power in the kingdom. [10] And Gotholia the mother of Ochozias saw that her son was dead, and she arose and destroyed all the seed royal in the house of Juda. [11] But Josabeeth, the daughter of the king, took Joas the son of Ochozias and rescued him secretly out of the midst of the sons of the king that were put to death, and she placed him and his nurse in a bedchamber. So Josabeeth daughter of king Joram, sister of Ochozias, wife of Jodae the priest, hid him, and she even hid him from Gotholia, and she did not slay him. [12] And he was with him hid in the house of God six years; and Gotholia reigned over the land.
Chapter 23
[1] And in the eighth year Jodae strengthened himself, and took the captains of hundreds, Azarias the son of Joram, and Ismael the son of Joanan, and Azarias the son of Obed, and Maasaeas the son of Adia, and Elisaphan the son of Zacharias, with him unto the house of the Lord. [2] And they went round about Juda, and gathered the Levites out of all the cities of Juda, and heads of the families of Israel, and they came to Jerusalem. [3] and all the congregation of Juda made a covenant with the king in the house of God. And he shewed them the king’s son, and said to them, Lo, let the king’s son reign, as the Lord said concerning the house of David. [4] Now this is the thing which ye shall do. Let a third part of you, even of the priests and of the Levites, enter in on the sabbath, even into the gates of the entrances; [5] and let a third part be in the house of the king; and another third at the middle gate: and all the people in the courts of the Lord’s house. [6] And let not any one enter into the house of the Lord, except the priests and the Levites, and the servants of the Levites; they shall enter in, because they are holy: and let all the people keep the watch of the Lord. [7] And the Levites shall compass the king round about, every man’s weapon in his hand; and whoever else goes into the house shall die: but they shall be with the king when he goes out, and when he comes in.
[8] And the Levites and all Juda did according to all that the priest Jodae commanded them, and they took each his men from the beginning of the sabbath to the end of the sabbath, for Jodae the priest did not dismiss the courses. [9] And Jodae gave to the men the swords, and the shields, and the arms, which had belonged to King David, in the house of God. [10] And he set the whole people, every man with his arms, from the right side of the house to the left side of the altar and the house, over against the king round about. [11] And he brought out the king’s son, and put on him the crown and the testimony, and Jodae the priest and his sons proclaimed him king, and anointed him, and said, Long live the king!
[12] And Gotholia heard the sound of the people running, and acknowledging and praising the king: and she went in to the king into the house of the Lord. [13] And she looked, and, behold, the king stood in his place, and the princes and trumpets were at the entrance, and the princes were round the king: and all the people of the land rejoiced, and sounded the trumpets, and there were the singers singing with instruments, and singing hymns of praise. and Gotholia rent her robe, and cried, ye surely are plotting against me. [14] And Jodae the priest went forth, and Jodae the priest charged the captains of hundreds, even the captains of the host, and said to them, Thrust her forth outside the house, and follow her, and let her be slain with the sword. For the priest said, Let her not be slain in the house of the Lord. [15] So they let her go out; and she went through the horsemen’s gate of the house of the king, and they slew her there.
[16] And Jodae made a covenant between himself, and the people, and the king, that the people should be the Lord’s. [17] And all the people of the land went into the house of Baal, and tore down it and its altars, and they ground his images to powder, and they slew Matthan the priest of Baal before his altars. [18] And Jodae the priest committed the works of the house of the Lord into the and of the priests and Levites, and he re-established the courses of the priests and Levites which David appointed over the house of the Lord, and he appointed them to offer whole-burnt-offerings to the Lord, as it is written in the law of Moses, with gladness, and with songs by the hand of David. [19] And the porters stood at the gates of the house of the Lord, that no one unclean in any respect should enter in. [20] And he took the heads of families, and the mighty men, and the chiefs of the people, and all the people of the land, and they conducted the king into the house of the Lord; and he went through the inner gate into the king’s house, and they seated the king on the throne of the kingdom. [21] And all the people of the land rejoiced; and the city was quiet: and they slew Gotholia.
Chapter 24
[1] Joas was seven years old when he began to reign, and he reigned forty years in Jerusalem: and his mother’s name was Sabia of Bersabee. [2] And Joas did that which right in the sight of the Lord all the days of Jodae the priest. [3] And Jodae took to himself two wives, and they bore sons and daughters.
[4] And it came to pass afterward that it came into the heart of Joas to repair the house of the Lord. [5] And he gathered the priests and the Levites, and said to them, Go out into the cities of Juda, and collect money of all Israel to repair the house of the Lord from year to year, and make haste to speak of it. But the Levites hasted not.
[6] And king Joas called Jodae the chief, and said to him, Why hast thou not looked after the Levites, so that they should bring from Juda and Jerusalem that which was prescribed by Moses the man of God, when he assembled Israel at the tabernacle of witness? [7] For Gotholia was a transgressor, and her sons tore down the house of God; for they offered the holy things of the house of the Lord to Baalim.
[8] And the king said, Let a box be made, and let it be put at the gate of the house of the Lord without. [9] And let men proclaim in Juda an in Jerusalem, that the people should bring to the Lord, as Moses the servant of God spoke concerning Israel in the wilderness. [10] And all the princes and all the people gave, and brought in, and cast into the box until it was filled. [11] And it came to pass, when they brought in the box to the officers of the king by the hand of the Levites, and when they saw that the money was more than sufficient, then came the king’s scribe, and the officer of the high priest, and emptied the box, and restored it to its place. Thus they did day by day, and collected much money. [12] And the king and Jodae the priest gave it to the workmen employed in the service of the house of the Lord, and they hired masons and carpenters to repair the house of the Lord, also smiths and braziers to repair the house of the Lord. [13] And the workmen wrought, and the works prospered in their hands, and they established the house of the Lord on its foundation, and strengthened it. [14] And when they had finished it, they brought to the king and to Jodae the remainder of the money, and they made vessels for the house of the Lord, vessels of service for whole-burnt-offerings, and gold and silver censers: and they offered up whole-burnt-offerings in the house of the Lord continually all the days of Jodae.
[15] And Jodae grew old, being full of days, and he died, being a hundred and thirty years old at his death. [16] And they buried him with the kings in the city of David, because he had dealt well with Israel, and with God and his house.
[17] And it came to pass after the death of Jodae, that the princes of Juda went in, and did obeisance to the king. Then the king hearkened to them. [18] And they forsook the house of the Lord God of their fathers, and served the Astartes and idols: and there was wrath upon Juda and Jerusalem in that day. [19] yet he sent prophets to them, to turn them to the Lord; but they hearkened not: and he testified to them, but they obeyed not. [20] And the Spirit of God came upon Azarias the son of Jodae the priest, and he stood up above the people, and said, Thus saith the Lord, Why do ye transgress the commandments of the Lord? so shall ye not prosper; for ye have forsaken the Lord, and he will forsake you. [21] And they conspired against him, and stone him by command of king Joas in the court of the Lord’s house. [22] So Joas remembered not the kindness which his father Jodae had exercised towards him, but slew his son. And as he died, he said, The Lord look upon it, and judge.
[23] And it came to pass after the end of the year, that the host of Syria went up against him, and came against Juda and Jerusalem: and they slew all the chiefs of the people among the people, and all their spoils they sent to the king of Damascus. [24] For the army of Syria came with few men, yet God gave into their hands a very large army, because they had forsaken the God of their fathers; and he brought judgments on Joas.
[25] And after they had departed from him, when they had left him in sore diseases, then his servants conspired against him because of the blood of the son of Jodae the priest, and slew him on his bed, and he died, and they buried him in the city of David, but they buried him not in the sepulchre of the kings. [26] And they that conspired against him were Zabed the son of Samaath the Ammanite, and Jozabed the son of Samareth the Moabite. [27] And all his sons, and the five came to him: and the other matters, behold, they are written in the book of the kings. And Amasias his son reigned in his stead.
Chapter 25
[1] Amasias began to reign when he was twenty and five years old, and he reigned twenty-nine years in Jerusalem; and his mother’s name was Joadaen of Jerusalem. [2] And he did that which was right in the sight of the Lord, but not with a perfect heart. [3] And it came to pass, when the kingdom was established in his hand, that he slew his servants who had slain the king his father. [4] But he slew not their sons, according to the covenant of the law of the Lord, as it is written, and as the Lord commanded, saying, The fathers shall not die for the children, and the sons shall not die for the fathers, but they shall die each for his own sin.
[5] And Amasias assembled the house of Juda, and appointed them according to the houses of their families for captains of thousands and captains of hundreds in all Juda and Jerusalem: and he numbered them from twenty years old and upwards, and found them three hundred thousand able to go out to war, holding spear and shield. [6] Also he hired of Israel a hundred thousand mighty men for a hundred talents of silver.
[7] And there came a man of God to him, saying, O king, let not the host of Israel go with thee; for the Lord is not with Israel, even all the sons of Ephraim. [8] For if thou shalt undertake to strengthen thyself with these, then the lord shall put thee to flight before the enemies: for it is of the Lord both to strengthen and to put to flight. [9] And Amasias said to the man of God, But what shall I do for the hundred talents which I have given to the army of Israel? And the man of God said, The Lord can give thee much more than these.
[10] And Amasias separated from the army that came to him from Ephraim, that they might go away to their place; and they were very angry with Juda, and they returned to their place with great wrath. [11] And Amasias strengthened himself, and took his people, and went to the valley of salt, and smote there the children of Seir ten thousand. [12] And the children of Juda took ten thousand prisoners, and they carried them to the top of the precipice, and cast them headlong from the top of the precipice, and they were all dashed to pieces. [13] And the men of the host whom Amasias sent back so that they should not go with him to battle, went and attacked the cities of Juda, from Samaria to Baethoron; and they smote three thousand among them, and took much spoil.
[14] And it came to pass, after Amasias had returned from smiting Idumea, that he brought home the gods of the children of Seir, and set them up for himself as gods, and bowed down before them, and he sacrificed to them. [15] And the anger of the Lord came upon Amasias, and he sent him a prophet, and he said to him, Why hast thou sought the gods of the people, which have not rescued their own people out of thine hand? [16] And it came to pass when the prophet was speaking to him, that he said to him, have I made thee king’s counsellor? take heed lest thou be scourged: and the prophet forebore, and said, I know that God is disposed against thee to destroy thee, because thou hast done this thing, and hast not hearkened to my counsel.
