They have burned the gods of the nations, for they are not really gods, but only the product of human hands manufactured from wood and stone. That is why the Assyrians could destroy them.

Some of the prophets said to Elisha, “Look, the place where we meet with you is too cramped for us.

When the king of Israel saw them, he asked Elisha, “Should I strike them down, my master?”

At that time King Hazael of Syria attacked Gath and captured it. Hazael then decided to attack Jerusalem.

Jeroboam passed away and was buried in Samaria with the kings of Israel. His son Zechariah replaced him as king.

The king of Assyria marched through the whole land. He attacked Samaria and besieged it for three years.

He was buried in his tomb in the garden of Uzzah, and his son Josiah replaced him as king.

The king of Babylon made Mattaniah, Jehoiachin’s uncle, king in Jehoiachin’s place. He renamed him Zedekiah.

The fifty members of the prophetic guild went and stood opposite them at a distance, while Elijah and Elisha stood by the Jordan.

So the king of Israel sent a message to the place the prophet had pointed out, warning it to be on its guard. This happened on several occasions.

When King Ahaz went to meet with King Tiglath-pileser of Assyria in Damascus, he saw the altar there. King Ahaz sent to Uriah the priest a drawing of the altar and a blueprint for its design.

All the people of Judah took Azariah, who was sixteen years old, and made him king in his father Amaziah’s place.

He did evil in the sight of the Lord, but not to the same degree as the Israelite kings who preceded him.

So the Lord rejected all of Israel’s descendants; he humiliated them and handed them over to robbers, until he had thrown them from his presence.

Joash passed away and Jeroboam succeeded him on the throne. Joash was buried in Samaria with the kings of Israel.

King Jehoash of Israel sent this message back to King Amaziah of Judah, “A thornbush in Lebanon sent this message to a cedar in Lebanon, ‘Give your daughter to my son as a wife.’ Then a wild animal of Lebanon came by and trampled down the thorn.

He picked up Elijah’s cloak, which had fallen off him, and went back and stood on the shore of the Jordan.

Jehoiada the priest ordered the officers of the units of hundreds, who were in charge of the army, “Bring her outside the temple to the guards. Put the sword to anyone who follows her.” The priest gave this order because he had decided she should not be executed in the Lord’s temple.

He did what the Lord approved, but not like David his father. He followed the example of his father Joash.

But the prophet sent this message to the king of Israel, “Make sure you don’t pass through this place because Syria is invading there.”