World English Bible · The divided kingdom
2 Chronicles 26
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All the people of Judah took , who was sixteen years old, and made him king in the place of his . He built and restored it to Judah. After that the king slept with his fathers. was sixteen years old when he began to reign; and he reigned fifty-two years in . His mother's name was Jechiliah, of . He did that which was right in eyes, according to all that his had done. He set himself to seek in the days of , who had understanding in the of ; and as long as he sought , made him prosper. He went out and fought against the , and broke down the wall of , the wall of Jabneh, and the wall of ; and he built cities in the country of , and among the . helped him against the , and against the who lived in Gur , and the . gave tribute to . His name spread abroad even to the entrance of , for he grew exceedingly strong. Moreover built towers in at the corner , at the valley gate, and at the turning of the wall, and fortified them. He built towers in , and dug out many cisterns, for he had much livestock, both in the lowlands and in the plains. He had farmers and keepers in the mountains and in the fruitful fields, for he loved farming. Moreover had an army of fighting men who went out to war by bands, according to the number of their reckoning made by Jeiel the and the officer, under the hand of Hananiah, one of the king's captains. 12The whole number of the heads of fathers' households, even the of valor, was two thousand six hundred. Under their hand was an army, three hundred seven thousand five hundred, who made war with mighty , to help the king against . prepared for them, even for , shields, spears, helmets, coats of mail, bows, and stones for slinging. In , he made devices, invented by skillful men, to be on the towers and on the battlements, with which to shoot arrows and great stones. His name spread far abroad, because he was marvelously helped until he was strong. But when he was strong, was lifted up, so that he did corruptly and he trespassed against his , for he went into temple to on the . the priest went in after him, and with him eighty priests of , who were valiant men. They resisted the king, and said to him, "It isn't for you, , to to , but for the priests the sons of , who are to . Go out of , for you have trespassed. It will not be for your from ." Then was angry. He had a censer in his hand to , and while he was angry with the priests, the broke out on his forehead before the priests in house, beside the . the and all the priests looked at him, and behold, he was in his forehead; and they thrust him out quickly from there. Indeed, he himself also hurried to go out, because had struck him. the king was a to the day of his , and lived in a separate house, being a ; for he was house. his son was over the king's house, judging the people of the land. Now the rest of the acts of , first and last, the , the son of , wrote. So slept with his fathers; and they with his fathers in the field of burial which belonged to the kings, for they said, "He is a ." his son reigned in his place.
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The world at this moment · The divided kingdom, 931 BC to 745 BC ›
Israel in the north and Judah in the south, often at odds, with Aram of Damascus as the immediate threat and Assyria growing in the distance.
- Aram of Damascus
- The immediate enemy for most of two centuries, close enough to raid every campaigning season and strong enough to take territory. Most of the wars in Kings that read like national emergencies are border wars with Damascus.
- Assyria
- Growing steadily in the distance. Shalmaneser III fights a coalition at Qarqar in 853 BC and his own inscription lists King Ahab of Israel among his opponents with two thousand chariots, the earliest Assyrian mention of an Israelite king. A later monument shows Jehu bowing and paying tribute. Assyria is not yet the destroyer, but it is already taking notes.
- Egypt
- Divided and unreliable, capable of the occasional raid, such as Shishak stripping the temple in Rehoboam's fifth year, but no longer an empire that governs the Levant.
- Further afield
- The Greeks adopt the alphabet, hold the first Olympiad by tradition in 776 BC, and begin to compose the Homeric poems. Rome is founded by tradition in 753 BC, a village of huts at this point. This is the century in which the classical world begins.