<t /><p class="bodytext"><v id="(14:1)" /> Asa did what the <sc>Lordsc> his God desired and approved.<n id="1" />

Jehoshaphat&#8217;s kingdom enjoyed peace; his God made him secure on every side.<n id="1" />p>

<p class="bodytext">Jotham grew powerful because he was determined to please the <sc>Lordsc> his God.<n id="1" />

<t /><p class="bodytext">Solomon son of David solidified his royal authority,<n id="1" /> for<n id="2" /> the <sc>Lordsc> his God was with him and magnified him greatly.p>

<p class="bodytext">This is what Hezekiah did throughout Judah. He did what the <sc>Lordsc> his God considered good and right and faithful.

In his pain<n id="1" /> Manasseh<n id="2" /> asked the <sc>Lordsc> his God for mercy<n id="3" /> and truly<n id="4" /> humbled himself before the God of his ancestors.<n id="5" />

He did evil in the sight of<n id="1" /> the <sc>Lordsc> his God. He did not humble himself before Jeremiah the prophet, the <sc>Lordsc>&#8217;s spokesman.

<p class="bodytext">But once he became powerful, his pride destroyed him.<n id="1" /> He disobeyed<n id="2" /> the <sc>Lordsc> his God. He entered the <sc>Lordsc>&#8217;s temple to offer incense on the incense altar.

<t /><p class="bodytext">Jehoiakim was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned for eleven years in Jerusalem.<n id="1" /> He did evil in the sight of<n id="2" /> the <sc>Lordsc> his God.

<p class="bodytext">He assembled all Judah and Benjamin, as well as the settlers<n id="1" /> from Ephraim, Manasseh, and Simeon who had come to live with them. Many people from Israel had come there to live<n id="2" /> when they saw that the <sc>Lordsc> his God was with him.

<p class="bodytext">The <sc>Lordsc> his God handed him over to the king of Syria. The Syrians<n id="1" /> defeated him and deported many captives to Damascus.<n id="2" /> He was also handed over to the king of Israel, who thoroughly defeated him.<n id="3" />

The <sc>Lordsc> sent a messenger<n id="1" /> and he wiped out all the soldiers, princes, and officers in the army of the king of Assyria. So Sennacherib<n id="2" /> returned home humiliated.<n id="3" /> When he entered the temple of his god, some of his own sons<n id="4" /> struck him down with the sword.

<p class="bodytext">The rest of the events of Manasseh&#8217;s reign, including his prayer to his God and the words the prophets<n id="1" /> spoke to him in the name of the <sc>Lordsc> God of Israel, are recorded<n id="2" /> in the Annals of the Kings of Israel.

<p class="bodytext">In the eighteenth year of his reign, he continued his policy of purifying the land and the temple.<n id="1" /> He sent Shaphan son of Azaliah, Maaseiah the city official, and Joah son of Joahaz the secretary to repair the temple of the <sc>Lordsc> his God.

It read: &#8220;This is what King Cyrus of Persia says: &#8216;The <sc>Lordsc> God of the heavens has given to me all the kingdoms of the earth. He has appointed me to build for him a temple in Jerusalem<n id="1" /> in Judah. May the <sc>Lordsc> your God energize you who belong to his people, so you may be able to go back there!&#8221;<n id="2" />p>

<p class="bodytext">Asa prayed<n id="1" /> to the <sc>Lordsc> his God: &#8220;O <sc>Lordsc>, there is no one but you who can help the weak when they are vastly outnumbered.<n id="2" /> Help us, O <sc>Lordsc> our God, for we rely on you and have marched on your behalf against this huge army.<n id="3" /> O <sc>Lordsc> our God, don&#8217;t let men prevail against you!&#8221;<n id="4" />