1 Manasseh was twelve years old when he had begun to reign, and he reigned for fifty-five years in Jerusalem. The name of his mother was Hephzibah.
2 And he did evil in the sight of the Lord, in accord with the idols of the nations that the Lord destroyed before the face of the sons of Israel.
3 And he turned away. And he built up the high places that his father, Hezekiah, had destroyed. And he erected altars to Baal, and he made sacred groves, just as Ahab, the king of Israel, had done. And he adored the entire army of heaven, and he served them.
4 And he constructed altars in the house of the Lord, about which the Lord said: “In Jerusalem, I will place my name.”
5 And he constructed altars, for the entire army of heaven, within the two courts of the temple of the Lord.
6 And he led his son through fire. And he used divinations, and observed omens, and appointed soothsayers, and multiplied diviners, so that he did evil before the Lord, and provoked him.
7 Also, he set up an idol, of the sacred grove that he had made, in the temple of the Lord, about which the Lord said to David, and to his son Solomon: “In this temple, and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, I will place my name forever.
8 And I will no longer cause the feet of Israel to be moved from the land that I gave to their fathers: if only they will take care to do all that I have instructed them, and the entire law that my servant Moses commanded to them.”
9 Yet truly, they did not listen. Instead, they were seduced by Manasseh, so that they did evil, more so than the nations that the Lord crushed before the face of the sons of Israel.
10 And so the Lord spoke, by the hand of his servants, the prophets, saying:
11 Since Manasseh, the king of Judah, has committed these wicked abominations, beyond all that the Amorites before him have done, and also has caused Judah to sin by his defilements,
12 because of this, thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: Behold, I will lead evils over Jerusalem and over Judah, such that, whoever will hear of these things, both his ears will ring.
13 And I will extend the measuring line of Samaria over Jerusalem, with the scale of the house of Ahab. And I will erase Jerusalem, just as writing tablets are usually erased. And after erasing, I will turn it and repeatedly drag a stylus over its surface.
14 And truly, I will send away the remnants of my inheritance, and I will deliver them into the hands of their enemies. And they will be devastated and plundered by all their adversaries.
15 For they have done evil before me, and they have persevered in provoking me, from the day when their fathers departed from Egypt, even to this day.
16 Moreover, Manasseh also has shed an exceedingly great amount of innocent blood, until he filled Jerusalem even to the mouth, aside from his sins by which he caused Judah to sin, so that they did evil before the Lord.”
17 Now the rest of the words of Manasseh, and all that he did, and his sin that he sinned, have these not been written in the book of the words of the days of the kings of Judah?
18 And Manasseh slept with his fathers, and he was buried in the garden of his own house, in the garden of Uzza. And Amon, his son, reigned in his place.
19 Amon was twenty-two years old when he had begun to reign, and he reigned for two years in Jerusalem. The name of his mother was Meshullemeth, the daughter of Haruz, from Jotbah.
20 And he did evil in the sight of the Lord, just as his father, Manasseh, had done.
21 And he walked in all the ways in which his father had walked. And he served the unclean things that his father had served, and he adored them.
22 And he abandoned the Lord, the God of his fathers, and he did not walk in the way of the Lord.
23 And his servants undertook treachery against him. And they killed the king in his own house.
24 But the people of the land slew all those who had conspired against king Amon. And they appointed for themselves Josiah, his son, as king in his place.
25 But the rest of the words of Amon, which he did, have these not been written in the book of the words of the days of the kings of Judah?
26 And they buried him in his sepulcher, in the garden of Uzza. And his son, Josiah, reigned in his place.
1 Josiah was eight years old when he had begun to reign. He reigned for thirty-one years in Jerusalem. The name of his mother was Jedidah, the daughter of Adaiah, from Bozkath.
2 And he did what was pleasing before the Lord, and he walked in all the ways of his father David. He did not turn aside to the right, or to the left.
3 Then, in the eighteenth year of king Josiah, the king sent Shaphan, the son of Azaliah, the son of Meshullam, the scribe of the temple of the Lord, saying to him:
4 Go to Hilkiah, the high priest, so that the money may be put together which has been brought into the temple of the Lord, which the doorkeepers of the temple have collected from the people.
5 And let it be given, by those in charge of the house of the Lord, to the workers. And let them distribute it to those who are working in the temple of the Lord in order to repair the surfaces of the temple,
6 specifically, to carpenters and masons, and to those who mend gaps, and so that wood may be purchased, and stones from the quarries, in order to repair the temple of the Lord.
7 Yet truly, let no account be given by them of the money that they receive. Instead, let them have it within their power and trust.”
8 Then Hilkiah, the high priest, said to Shaphan, the scribe, “I have found the book of the law in the house of the Lord.” And Hilkiah gave the volume to Shaphan, and he read it.
9 Also, Shaphan, the scribe, went to the king, and reported to him what he had instructed. And he said: “Your servants have brought together the money which was found in the house of the Lord. And they have given it so that it would be distributed to the workers by the overseers of the works of the temple of the Lord.”
10 Also, Shaphan, the scribe, explained to the king, saying, “Hilkiah, the priest, gave the book to me.” And when Shaphan had read it before the king,
11 and the king had heard the words of the book of the law of the Lord, he tore his garments.
12 And he instructed Hilkiah, the priest, and Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, and Achbor, the son of Micaiah, and Shaphan, the scribe, and Asaiah, the servant of the king, saying:
13 Go and consult the Lord concerning me, and the people, and all of Judah, about the words of this volume which has been found. For the great wrath of the Lord has been kindled against us because our fathers did not listen to the words of this book, so that they would do all that has been written for us.
14 Therefore, Hilkiah, the priest, and Ahikam, and Achbor, and Shaphan, and Asaiah, went to Huldah, the prophetess, the wife of Shallum, the son of Tikvah, the son of Harhas, the keeper of the vestments, who was living in Jerusalem, in the second part. And they spoke with her.
15 And she responded to them: “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: Tell the man who sent you to me:
16 Thus says the Lord: Behold, I will lead evils over this place, and over its inhabitants, all the words of the law that the king of Judah has read.
17 For they have abandoned me, and they have sacrificed to foreign gods, provoking me by all the works of their hands. And so my indignation will be kindled against this place. And it will not be extinguished.
18 But to the king of Judah, who sent you so that you would consult the Lord, so shall you say: Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: In so far as you have heard the words of the volume,
19 and your heart was terrified, and you humbled yourself before the Lord, listening to the words against this place and its inhabitants, specifically, that they would become an astonishment and a curse, and because you have torn your garments, and have wept before me: I also have heard you, says the Lord.
20 For this reason, I will gather you to your fathers, and you will be gathered to your sepulcher in peace, so that your eyes may not see all the evils that I will bring over this place.”
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1 Thus says the Lord God: “The gate of the inner court which looks toward the east shall be closed for the six days on which work is done. Then, on the Sabbath day, it shall be opened. But also on the day of the new moon, it shall be opened.
2 And the prince shall enter from outside, by the way of the vestibule of the gate, and he shall stand at the threshold of the gate. And the priests shall offer his holocaust and his peace offerings. And he shall adore upon the threshold of the gate, and then depart. But the gate shall not be closed until evening.
3 And the people of the land shall adore at the entrance of the same gate, on the Sabbaths and on the new moons, in the sight of the Lord.
4 Now this holocaust, which the prince shall offer to the Lord on the Sabbath day, shall be six immaculate lambs, and one immaculate ram.
5 The sacrifice shall be one ephah for each ram. But for the lambs, the sacrifice shall be whatever his hand shall give. And there shall be one hin of oil for each ephah.
6 Then, on the day of the new moon, he shall offer one immaculate calf from the herd. Both the six lambs and the rams shall be immaculate.
7 And he shall offer the sacrifice of one ephah for each calf, and also one ephah for each ram. But for the lambs, it shall be just as his hand will find. And there shall be one hin of oil for each ephah.
8 And when the prince will enter, let him enter by the way of the vestibule of the gate, and let him go out by the same way.
9 And when the people of the land will enter in the sight of the Lord on the solemnities, whoever enters by the north gate so that he may adore, shall depart by the way of the south gate. And whoever enters by the way of the south gate shall depart by the way of the north gate. He shall not return by way of the gate through which he entered. Instead, he shall depart from the direction opposite to it.
10 But the prince in their midst shall enter when they enter, and he shall depart when they depart.
11 And during the feasts and the solemnities, there shall be the sacrifice of one ephah for each calf, and one ephah for each ram. But for the lambs, the sacrifice shall be just as his hand will find. And there shall be one hin of oil for each ephah.
12 But when the prince will offer a voluntary holocaust or a voluntary peace offering to the Lord, the gate which looks toward the east shall be opened to him. And he shall offer his holocaust and his peace offerings, just as is usually done on the Sabbath day. And he shall depart, and the gate shall be closed after he has gone out.
13 And daily he shall offer, as a holocaust to the Lord, an immaculate lamb of the same age. He shall offer it always in the morning.
14 And he shall offer as a sacrifice with it, morning after morning, one sixth part of an ephah, and one third part of a hin of oil, to be mixed with the fine flour, as a sacrifice to the Lord, by a continual and everlasting ordinance.
15 He shall offer the lamb and the sacrifice and the oil, morning after morning, as an everlasting holocaust.
16 Thus says the Lord God: If the prince grants a gift to any of his sons, the inheritance of it will go to his sons; they shall possess it as an inheritance.
17 But if he grants a legacy from his inheritance to one of his servants, it shall be his only until the year of remission, and then it shall be returned to the prince. For his inheritance shall go to his sons.
18 And the prince shall not take from the inheritance of the people by force, nor from their possession. Instead, from his own possession, he shall give an inheritance to his sons, so that my people will not be scattered, each one from his possession.”
19 And he led me in by the entrance which was at the side of the gate, into the storerooms of the sanctuary for the priests, which looked toward the north. And there was a place there which verged toward the west.
20 And he said to me: “This is the place where the priests will cook the offering for sin and the offering for trespasses. Here, they shall cook the sacrifice, so that they need not carry it to the outer court, and so that the people may be sanctified.”
21 And he led me away to the outer court, and he led me around by the four corners of the court. And behold, there was a little atrium at the corner of the court; a little atrium was at each corner of the court.
22 At the four corners of the court, little atriums were positioned, forty cubits in length, and thirty in width; each of the four were of the same measure.
23 And there was a wall all around, encircling the four little atriums. And kitchens had been constructed under the porticos on all sides.
24 And he said to me: “This is the house of the kitchens, in which the ministers of the house of the Lord will cook the victims of the people.”
7 For who in the clouds can be compared to the Lord: or who among the sons of God shall be like to God?
8 God, who is glorified in the assembly of the saints: great and terrible above all them that are about him.
9 O Lord God of hosts, who is like to thee? thou art mighty, O Lord, and thy truth is round about thee.
10 Thou rulest the power of the sea: and appeasest the motion of the waves thereof.
11 Thou hast humbled the proud one, as one that is slain: with the arm of thy strength thou hast scattered thy enemies.
12 Thine are the heavens, and thine is the earth: the world and the fulness thereof thou hast founded:
13 The north and the sea thou hast created. Thabor and Hermon shall rejoice in thy name:
1 Noble brothers and fathers, listen to the explanation that I now give to you.
2 And when they heard him speaking to them in the Hebrew language, they offered a greater silence.
3 And he said: “I am a Jewish man, born at Tarsus in Cilicia, but raised in this city beside the feet of Gamaliel, taught according to the truth of the law of the fathers, zealous for the law, just as all of you also are to this day.
4 I persecuted this Way, even unto death, binding and delivering into custody both men and women,
5 just as the high priest and all those greater by birth bear witness to me. Having received letters from them to the brothers, I journeyed to Damascus, so that I might lead them bound from there to Jerusalem, so that they might be punished.
6 But it happened that, as I was traveling and was approaching Damascus at midday, suddenly from heaven a great light shone around me.
7 And falling to the ground, I heard a voice saying to me, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?’
8 And I responded, ‘Who are you, Lord?’ And he said to me, ‘I am Jesus the Nazarene, whom you are persecuting.’
9 And those who were with me, indeed, saw the light, but they did not hear the voice of him who was speaking with me.
10 And I said, ‘What should I do, Lord?’ Then the Lord said to me: ‘Rise up, and go to Damascus. And there, you shall be told all that you must do.’
11 And since I could not see, because of the brightness of that light, I was led by the hand by my companions, and I went to Damascus.
12 Then a certain Ananias, a man in accord with the law, having the testimony of all the Jews who were living there,
13 drawing near to me and standing close by, said to me, ‘Brother Saul, see!’ And in that same hour, I looked upon him.
14 But he said: ‘The God of our fathers has preordained you, so that you would come to know his will and would see the Just One, and would hear the voice from his mouth.
15 For you shall be his witness to all men about those things which you have seen and heard.
16 And now, why do you delay? Rise up, and be baptized, and wash away your sins, by invoking his name.’
17 Then it happened that, when I returned to Jerusalem and was praying in the temple, a mental stupor came over me,
18 and I saw him saying to me: ‘Hurry! Depart quickly from Jerusalem! For they will not accept your testimony about me.’
