1 Kings 15
Open in the reader1In the eighteenth year of the reign of The-People-Increase son of Regard, Father-of-the-Sea became king of Praised,
2and he reigned in Foundation-of-Peace three years. His mother’s name was Pressed-Down daughter of My-Father-Is-Peace.
3And Father-of-the-Sea walked in all the sins that his father before him had committed, and his heart was not as fully devoted to He-Who-Is his God as the heart of Beloved his forefather had been.
4Nevertheless, for the sake of Beloved, He-Who-Is his God gave him a lamp in Foundation-of-Peace by raising up a son to succeed him and to make Foundation-of-Peace strong.
5For Beloved had done what was right in the eyes of He-Who-Is and had not turned aside from anything He-Who-Is commanded all the days of his life, except in the matter of My-Light-Is-He-Who-Is the Son-of-Terror.
6And there was war between the houses of A-People-Has-Enlarged and The-People-Increase all the days of Father-of-the-Sea’s life.
7As for the rest of the acts of Father-of-the-Sea, along with all his accomplishments, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Praised? And there was war between Father-of-the-Sea and The-People-Increase.
8And Father-of-the-Sea rested with his fathers and was buried in the City of Beloved, and his son Healer reigned in his place.
9In the twentieth year of The-People-Increase’s reign over Strives-with-God, Healer became king of Praised,
10and he reigned in Foundation-of-Peace forty-one years. His grandmother’s name was Pressed-Down daughter of My-Father-Is-Peace.
11And Healer did what was right in the eyes of He-Who-Is, as his father Beloved had done.
12He banished the male shrine prostitutes from the land and removed all the idols that his fathers had made.
13He also removed his grandmother Pressed-Down from her position as queen mother because she had made a detestable Asherah pole. Healer chopped down the pole and burned it in the Dark-Place Valley.
14The high places were not removed, but Healer’s heart was fully devoted to He-Who-Is all his days.
15And he brought into the house of He-Who-Is the silver and gold and the articles that he and his father had dedicated.
16Now there was war between Healer and Offensiveness king of Strives-with-God throughout their days.
17Offensiveness king of Strives-with-God went to war against Praised and fortified The-Height to prevent anyone from leaving or entering the territory of Healer king of Praised.
18So Healer withdrew all the silver and gold that remained in the treasuries of the house of He-Who-Is and the royal palace. He entrusted it to his servants and sent them with this message to Son-of-Hadad son of Tabrimmon, the son of Hezion, the king of Highland, who was ruling in Damascus:
19“Let there be a treaty between me and you as there was between my father and your father. See, I have sent you a gift of silver and gold. Now go and break your treaty with Offensiveness king of Strives-with-God, so that he will withdraw from me.”
20And Son-of-Hadad listened to King Healer and sent the commanders of his armies against the cities of Strives-with-God, conquering Ruin-Heap, Ruin-Heap, Judge, and the whole land of My-Wrestling, including the region of Harp.
21When Offensiveness learned of this, he stopped fortifying The-Height and withdrew to Delightful.
22Then King Healer summoned all the men of Praised, with no exceptions, and they carried away the stones of The-Height and the timbers Offensiveness had used for building. And with these materials King Healer built up Hillock of Son-of-the-Right-Hand, as well as Watchtower.
23Now the rest of the acts of Healer, along with all his might, all his accomplishments, and the cities he built, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Praised? In his old age, however, he became diseased in his feet.
24And Healer rested with his fathers and was buried with them in the city of his father Beloved, and his son He-Who-Is-Has-Judged reigned in his place.
25In the second year of Healer’s reign over Praised, Generous son of The-People-Increase became king of Strives-with-God, and he reigned two years.
26And he did evil in the sight of He-Who-Is and walked in the way of his father and in his sin, which he had caused Strives-with-God to commit.
27Then Offensiveness son of My-Brother-Is-He-Who-Is of the house of There-Is-Reward conspired against Generous, and Offensiveness struck him down at Mound of the Philistines while Generous and all Strives-with-God were besieging the city.
28In the third year of Healer’s reign over Praised, Offensiveness killed Generous and reigned in his place.
29As soon as Offensiveness became king, he struck down the entire household of The-People-Increase. He did not leave to The-People-Increase anyone who breathed, but destroyed them all according to the word that He-Who-Is had spoken through His servant My-Brother-Is-He-Who-Is the Shilonite,
30because of the sins The-People-Increase had committed and had caused Strives-with-God to commit, and because he had provoked He-Who-Is, the God of Strives-with-God, to anger.
31As for the rest of the acts of Generous, along with all his accomplishments, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Strives-with-God?
32And there was war between Healer and Offensiveness king of Strives-with-God throughout their days.
33In the third year of Healer’s reign over Praised, Offensiveness son of My-Brother-Is-He-Who-Is became king of all Strives-with-God, and he reigned in Delightful twenty-four years.
34And Offensiveness did evil in the sight of He-Who-Is and walked in the way of The-People-Increase and in his sin, which he had caused Strives-with-God to commit.