Now, O Lord our God, rescue us from his power, so that all the kingdoms of the earth will know that you, Lord, are the only God.”

Hezekiah prayed before the Lord: “Lord God of Israel, who is enthroned on the cherubs! ¹  You alone are God over all the kingdoms of the earth. You made the sky ²  and the earth.

Perhaps the Lord your God will hear all these things the chief adviser has spoken on behalf of his master, the king of Assyria, who sent him to taunt the living God. ¹  When the Lord your God hears, perhaps he will punish him for the things he has said. ²  So pray for this remnant that remains.’” ³ 

Judah also failed to keep the commandments of the Lord their God; they followed Israel’s example. ¹ 

Instead you must worship the Lord your God; then he will rescue you from the power of all your enemies.”

He abandoned the Lord God of his ancestors and did not follow the Lord’s instructions. ¹ 

But they did not pay attention and were as stubborn as their ancestors, ¹  who had not trusted the Lord their God.

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

The king ruined the high places east of Jerusalem, south of the Mount of Destruction, ¹  that King Solomon of Israel had built for the detestable Sidonian goddess Astarte, the detestable Moabite god Chemosh, and the horrible Ammonite god Milcom.

He trusted in the Lord God of Israel; in this regard there was none like him among the kings of Judah either before or after. ¹ 

Pay attention, Lord, and hear! Open your eyes, Lord, and observe! Listen to the message Sennacherib sent and how he taunts the living God! ¹ 

The king ordered all the people, “Observe the Passover of the Lord your God, as prescribed in this scroll of the covenant.”

Then he said, “May God judge me severely ¹  if Elisha son of Shaphat still has his head by the end of the day!” ² 

Elijah replied to them, ¹  “If I am indeed a prophet, may fire come down from the sky and consume you and your fifty soldiers!” Fire from God ²  came down from the sky and consumed him and his fifty soldiers.

But the Lord’s angelic messenger told Elijah the Tishbite, “Get up, go to meet the messengers from the king of Samaria. Say this to them: ‘You must think there is no God in Israel! That explains why you are on your way to seek an oracle from Baal Zebub the god of Ekron. ¹ 

Elijah ¹  said to the king, ²  “This is what the Lord says, ‘You sent messengers to seek an oracle from Baal Zebub, the god of Ekron. You must think there is no God in Israel from whom you can seek an oracle! ³  Therefore you will not leave the bed you lie on, for you will certainly die.’” ⁴ 

The Israelites said things about the Lord their God that were not right. ¹  They built high places in all their cities, from the watchtower to the fortress. ² 

Isaiah son of Amoz sent this message to Hezekiah: “This is what the Lord God of Israel says: ‘I have heard your prayer concerning King Sennacherib of Assyria. ¹ 

The king of Assyria was told, ¹  “The nations whom you deported and settled in the cities of Samaria do not know the requirements of the God of the land, so he has sent lions among them. They are killing the people ²  because they do not know the requirements of the God of the land.”

Ahaziah fell through a window lattice in his upper chamber in Samaria ¹  and was injured. He sent messengers with these orders, ²  “Go, ask ³  Baal Zebub, ⁴  the god of Ekron, if I will survive this injury.”