He issued this edict because ¹  a Passover like this had not been observed since the days of the judges; it was neglected for the entire period of the kings of Israel and Judah. ² 

because they have done evil in my sight ¹  and have angered me from the time their ancestors left Egypt right up to this very day!’”

“You have with you the sons of your master, chariots and horses, a fortified city, and weapons. So when this letter arrives, ¹ 

But the Lord was unwilling to destroy Judah. He preserved Judah for the sake of ¹  his servant David to whom he had promised a perpetual dynasty. ² 

The water has been pure to this very day, just as Elisha prophesied. 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 king asked the woman about it, and she gave him the details. ¹  The king assigned a eunuch to take care of her request and ordered him, ²  “Give her back everything she owns, as well as the amount of crops her field produced from the day she left the land until now.”

The Lord had not decreed that he would blot out Israel’s memory ¹  from under heaven, ²  so he delivered them through Jeroboam son of Joash.

When they first moved in, ¹  they did not worship ²  the Lord. So the Lord sent lions among them and the lions were killing them.

He died just as the Lord had prophesied through Elijah. ¹  In the second year of the reign of King Jehoram son of Jehoshaphat over Judah, Ahaziah’s brother Jehoram replaced him as king of Israel, because he had no son. ² 

When the king heard what the woman said, he tore his clothes. As he was passing by on the wall, the people could see he was wearing sackcloth under his clothes. ¹ 

No king before or after repented before the Lord as he did, with his whole heart, soul, and being in accordance with the whole law of Moses. ¹ 

Elisha said to Gehazi, ¹  “Tell her, ‘Look, you have treated us with such great respect. ²  What can I do for you? Can I put in a good word for you with the king or the commander of the army?’” She replied, “I’m quite secure.” ³ 

One of his advisers replied, “Pick some men and have them take five of the horses that are left in the city. (Even if they are killed, their fate will be no different than that of all the Israelite people – we’re all going to die!) ¹  Let’s send them out so we can know for sure what’s going on.” ² 

But King Joram had returned to Jezreel to recover from the wounds he received from the Syrians ¹  when he fought against King Hazael of Syria. ²  Jehu told his supporters, ³  “If you really want me to be king, ⁴  then don’t let anyone escape from the city to go and warn Jezreel.”

He wrote them a second letter, saying, “If you are really on my side and are willing to obey me, ¹  then take the heads of your master’s sons and come to me in Jezreel at this time tomorrow.” ²  Now the king had seventy sons, and the prominent ³  men of the city were raising them.

Eliakim son of Hilkiah, Shebna, and Joah said to the chief adviser, “Speak to your servants in Aramaic, ¹  for we understand it. Don’t speak with us in the Judahite dialect ²  in the hearing of the people who are on the wall.”

The enemy broke through the city walls, ¹  and all the soldiers tried to escape. They left the city during the night. ²  They went through the gate between the two walls that is near the king’s garden. ³  (The Babylonians were all around the city.) Then they headed for the Jordan Valley. ⁴ 

They replied, ¹  “A man came up to meet us. He told us, “Go back to the king who sent you and tell him, ‘This is what the Lord says: “You must think there is no God in Israel! That explains why you are sending for an oracle from Baal Zebub, the god of Ekron. ²  Therefore you will not leave the bed you lie on, for you will certainly die.”’”