Jonathan, David’s uncle, was a wise adviser and scribe; Jehiel son of Hacmoni cared for the king’s sons.

But God said to me, ‘You must not build a temple to honor me, for you are a warrior and have spilled blood.’

“When someone is accused of sinning against his neighbor and the latter pronounces a curse on the alleged offender before your altar in this temple,

Then I will establish your dynasty, just as I promised your father David, ‘You will not fail to have a successor ruling over Israel.’

besides what he collected from the merchants and traders. All the Arabian kings and the governors of the land also brought gold and silver to Solomon.

Year after year visitors brought their gifts, which included items of silver, items of gold, clothes, perfume, spices, horses, and mules.

Abijah and his army thoroughly defeated them; 500,000 well-trained Israelite men fell dead.

Anyone who would not seek the Lord God of Israel would be executed, whether they were young or old, male or female.

The Ammonites and Moabites attacked the men from Mount Seir and annihilated them. When they had finished off the men of Seir, they attacked and destroyed one another.

Then all the men of Judah and Jerusalem returned joyfully to Jerusalem with Jehoshaphat leading them; the Lord had given them reason to rejoice over their enemies.

The Levites must surround the king. Each of you must hold his weapon in his hand. Whoever tries to enter the temple must be killed. You must accompany the king wherever he goes.”

They stood at their posts according to the regulations outlined in the law of Moses, the man of God. The priests were splashing the blood as the Levites handed it to them.

and she said to them: “This is what the Lord God of Israel says: ‘Say this to the man who sent you to me:

These are the people of the province who were going up, from the captives of the exile whom King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon had forced into exile in Babylon. They returned to Jerusalem and Judah, each to his own city.

They came with Zerubbabel, Jeshua, Nehemiah, Seraiah, Reelaiah, Mordecai, Bilshan, Mispar, Bigvai, Rehum, and Baanah. The number of Israelites was as follows:

When the seventh month arrived and the Israelites were living in their towns, the people assembled in Jerusalem.

Hanani, who was one of my relatives, along with some of the men from Judah, came to me, and I asked them about the Jews who had escaped and had survived the exile, and about Jerusalem.

Adjacent to them worked Melatiah the Gibeonite and Jadon the Meronothite, who were men of Gibeon and Mizpah. These towns were under the jurisdiction of the governor of Trans-Euphrates.

At that time I instructed the people, “Let every man and his coworker spend the night in Jerusalem and let them be guards for us by night and workers by day.

We did not change clothes – not I, nor my relatives, nor my workers, nor the watchmen who were with me. Each had his weapon, even when getting a drink of water.