King Asa ordered all the men of Judah to carry away the stones and wood that Baasha had used to build Ramah. He used the materials to build up Geba and Mizpah.

They went to King Hezekiah and said: “We have purified the entire temple of the Lord, including the altar of burnt sacrifice and all its equipment, and the table for the Bread of the Presence and all its equipment.

The king ordered Hilkiah, Ahikam son of Shaphan, Abdon son of Micah, Shaphan the scribe, and Asaiah the king’s servant,

The king made silver and gold as plentiful in Jerusalem as stones; cedar was as plentiful as sycamore fig trees are in the lowlands.

Solomon also made these items for God’s temple: the gold altar, the tables on which the Bread of the Presence was kept,

Jehoiada the priest gave to the officers of the units of hundreds King David’s spears and shields that were kept in God’s temple.

All the people went and demolished the temple of Baal. They smashed its altars and idols. They killed Mattan the priest of Baal in front of the altars.

They abandoned the temple of the Lord God of their ancestors, and worshiped the Asherah poles and idols. Because of this sinful activity, God was angry with Judah and Jerusalem.

Uzziah attacked the Philistines and broke down the walls of Gath, Jabneh, and Ashdod. He built cities in the region of Ashdod and throughout Philistine territory.

Zikri, an Ephraimite warrior, killed the king’s son Maaseiah, Azrikam, the supervisor of the palace, and Elkanah, the king’s second-in-command.

then listen from heaven to their prayers for help and vindicate them.

After twenty years, during which Solomon built the Lord’s temple and his royal palace,

He built up Tadmor in the wilderness and all the storage cities he had built in Hamath.

He removed the high places and the incense altars from all the cities of Judah. The kingdom had rest under his rule.

When Baasha heard the news, he stopped fortifying Ramah and abandoned the project.

He was committed to following the Lord; he even removed the high places and Asherah poles from Judah.

But Micaiah said, “As certainly as the Lord lives, I will say what my God tells me to say!”

When he had secured control of the kingdom, he executed the servants who had assassinated his father.

So the soldiers released the captives and the plunder before the officials and the entire assembly.

He burned the bones of the pagan priests on their altars; he purified Judah and Jerusalem.