He followed in the footsteps of the kings of Israel, just as Ahab’s dynasty had done, for he married Ahab’s daughter. ¹  He did evil in the sight of ²  the Lord.

They went inside to offer sacrifices and burnt offerings. Now Jehu had stationed eighty men outside. He had told them, “If any of the men inside get away, you will pay with your lives!” ¹ 

All the people of the land went and demolished ¹  the temple of Baal. They smashed its altars and idols ²  to bits. ³  They killed Mattan the priest of Baal in front of the altar. Jehoiada the priest ⁴  then placed guards at the Lord’s temple.

As one of them was felling a log, the ax head ¹  dropped into the water. He shouted, “Oh no, ²  my master! It was borrowed!”

Gehazi, the prophet Elisha’s servant, thought, ¹  “Look, my master did not accept what this Syrian Naaman offered him. ²  As certainly as the Lord lives, I will run after him and accept something from him.”

He looked up at the window and said, “Who is on my side? Who?” Two or three ¹  eunuchs looked down at him.

The rest of the events of Shallum’s reign, including the conspiracy he organized, are recorded in the scroll called the Annals of the Kings of Israel. ¹ 

One day Elisha ¹  came for a visit; he went ²  into the upper room and rested. ³ 

He spoke kindly to him and gave him a more prestigious position than ¹  the other kings who were with him in Babylon.

Now Elisha had a terminal illness. ¹  King Joash of Israel went down to visit him. ²  He wept before him and said, “My father, my father! The chariot ³  and horsemen of Israel!” ⁴ 

Furthermore Manasseh killed so many innocent people, he stained Jerusalem with their blood from end to end, ¹  in addition to encouraging Judah to sin by doing evil in the sight of the Lord. ² 

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 

Through your messengers you taunted the sovereign master, ¹  ‘With my many chariots ²  I climbed up the high mountains, the slopes of Lebanon. I cut down its tall cedars, and its best evergreens. I invaded its most remote regions, ³  its thickest woods.

Jehoiakim paid Pharaoh the required amount of silver and gold, but to meet Pharaoh’s demands Jehoiakim had to tax the land. He collected an assessed amount from each man among the people of the land in order to pay Pharaoh Necho. ¹ 

The prophet’s ¹  attendant got up early in the morning. When he went outside there was an army surrounding the city, along with horses and chariots. He said to Elisha, ²  “Oh no, my master! What will we do?”

(12:1) ¹  Jehoash ²  was seven years old when he began to reign.

So this is what the Lord God of Israel says, ‘I am about to bring disaster on Jerusalem and Judah. The news will reverberate in the ears of those who hear about it. ¹ 

This is what the king says: ‘Don’t let Hezekiah mislead you, for he is not able to rescue you from my hand! ¹ 

He took the officers of the units of hundreds, the Carians, the royal bodyguard, and all the people of land, and together they led the king down from the Lord’s temple. They entered the royal palace through the Gate of the Royal Bodyguard, ¹  and the king ²  sat down on the royal throne.

King Ahaz ordered Uriah the priest, “On the large altar ¹  offer the morning burnt sacrifice, the evening grain offering, the royal burnt sacrifices and grain offering, the burnt sacrifice for all the people of Israel, their grain offering, and their libations. Sprinkle all the blood of the burnt sacrifice and other sacrifices on it. The bronze altar will be for my personal use.” ²