the pure gold flower-shaped ornaments, lamps, and tongs,

All the men of Israel assembled before the king during the festival in the seventh month.

Later King Jehoshaphat of Judah made an alliance with King Ahaziah of Israel, who did evil.

He followed in the footsteps of Ahab’s dynasty, for his mother gave him evil advice.

Uzziah built up Elat and restored it to Judah after King Amaziah had passed away.

He built the Upper Gate to the Lord’s temple and did a lot of work on the wall in the area known as Ophel.

During his time of trouble King Ahaz was even more unfaithful to the Lord.

In the first month of the first year of his reign, he opened the doors of the Lord’s temple and repaired them.

He did not humble himself before the Lord as his father Manasseh had done. Amon was guilty of great sin.

When Azariah the high priest and the other priests looked at him, there was a skin disease on his forehead. They hurried him out of there; even the king himself wanted to leave quickly because the Lord had afflicted him.

But you will not build the temple; your very own son will build the temple for my honor.’

He also built high places on the hills of Judah; he encouraged the residents of Jerusalem to be unfaithful to the Lord and led Judah away from the Lord.

So King Joash of Israel attacked. He and King Amaziah of Judah faced each other on the battlefield in Beth Shemesh of Judah.

Hezekiah is the one who eliminated the Lord’s high places and altars and then told Judah and Jerusalem, “At one altar you must worship and offer sacrifices.”

But then Hezekiah and the residents of Jerusalem humbled themselves and abandoned their pride, and the Lord was not angry with them for the rest of Hezekiah’s reign.

When he prayed to the Lord, the Lord responded to him and answered favorably his cry for mercy. The Lord brought him back to Jerusalem to his kingdom. Then Manasseh realized that the Lord is the true God.

“Foreigners, who do not belong to your people Israel, will come from a distant land because of your great reputation and your ability to accomplish mighty deeds; they will come and direct their prayers toward this temple.

When the chariot commanders saw Jehoshaphat, they said, “He must be the king of Israel!” So they turned and attacked him, but Jehoshaphat cried out. The Lord helped him; God lured them away from him.

He prayed: “O Lord God of our ancestors, you are the God who lives in heaven and rules over all the kingdoms of the nations. You possess strength and power; no one can stand against you.

Jehoshaphat and his men went to gather the plunder; they found a huge amount of supplies, clothing and valuable items. They carried away everything they could. There was so much plunder, it took them three days to haul it off.