Jehu sent invitations throughout Israel, and all the servants of Baal came; not one was absent. They arrived at the temple of Baal and filled it up from end to end.<n id="1" />

But Jehu did not carefully and wholeheartedly obey the law of the <sc>Lordsc> God of Israel.<n id="1" /> He did not repudiate the sins which Jeroboam had encouraged Israel to commit.<n id="2" />p>

The Israelites said things about the <sc>Lordsc> their God that were not right.<n id="1" /> They built high places in all their cities, from the watchtower to the fortress.<n id="2" />

&#8216;Therefore I will allow you to die and be buried in peace.<n id="1" /> You will not have to witness<n id="2" /> all the disaster I will bring on this place.&#8217;&#8221;&#8217;&#8221; Then they reported back to the king.p>

No king before or after repented before the <sc>Lordsc> as he did, with his whole heart, soul, and being in accordance with the whole law of Moses.<n id="1" />p>

David said to the whole Israelite assembly, &#8220;If you so desire and the <sc>Lordsc> our God approves,<n id="1" /> let&#8217;s spread the word<n id="2" /> to our brothers who remain in all the regions of Israel, and to the priests and Levites in their cities,<n id="3" /> so they may join us.

Here are the divisions of the priests and Levites who will perform all the service of God&#8217;s temple. All the willing and skilled men are ready to assist you in all the work and perform their service.<n id="1" /> The officials and all the people are ready to follow your instructions.&#8221;<n id="2" />p>

When they return to you with all their heart and being<n id="1" /> in the land where they are held prisoner and direct their prayers toward the land you gave to their ancestors, your chosen city, and the temple I built for your honor,<n id="2" />

then I will remove you<n id="1" /> from my land I have given you,<n id="2" /> I will abandon this temple I have consecrated with my presence,<n id="3" /> and I will make you<n id="4" /> an object of mockery and ridicule<n id="5" /> among all the nations.

Certainly<n id="1" /> the <sc>Lordsc> watches the whole earth carefully<n id="2" /> and is ready to strengthen those who are devoted to him.<n id="3" /> You have acted foolishly in this matter; from now on you will have war.

He prayed: &#8220;O <sc>Lordsc> God of our ancestors,<n id="1" /> you are the God who lives in heaven<n id="2" /> and rules over all the kingdoms of the nations. You possess strength and power; no one can stand against you.

He looked for Ahaziah, who was captured while hiding in Samaria.<n id="1" /> They brought him to Jehu and then executed him. They did give him a burial, for they reasoned,<n id="2" /> &#8220;He is the son of Jehoshaphat, who sought the <sc>Lordsc> with his whole heart.&#8221; There was no one in Ahaziah&#8217;s family strong enough to rule in his place.<n id="3" />p>

Ahaz gathered the items in God&#8217;s temple and removed them. He shut the doors of the <sc>Lordsc>&#8217;s temple and erected altars on every street corner in Jerusalem.

So they sent an edict<n id="1" /> throughout Israel from Beer Sheba to Dan, summoning the people<n id="2" /> to come and observe a Passover for the <sc>Lordsc> God of Israel in Jerusalem, for they had not observed it on a nationwide scale as prescribed in the law.<n id="3" />

Messengers<n id="1" /> delivered the letters from the king and his officials throughout Israel and Judah.p> <p class="bodytext">This royal edict read:<n id="2" /> &#8220;O Israelites, return to the <sc>Lordsc> God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, so he may return<n id="3" /> to you who have been spared from the kings of Assyria.<n id="4" />

As for the descendants of Aaron, the priests who lived in the outskirts of all their cities,<n id="1" /> men were assigned<n id="2" /> to disburse portions to every male among the priests and to every Levite listed in the genealogical records.p>

Who among all the gods of these nations whom my predecessors annihilated was able to rescue his people from my power?<n id="1" />

<p class="bodytext">After this Manasseh<n id="1" /> built up the outer wall of the City of David<n id="2" /> on the west side of the Gihon in the valley to the entrance of the Fish Gate and all around the terrace; he made it much higher. He placed army officers in all the fortified cities in Judah.p>

&#8216;Therefore I will allow you to die and be buried in peace.<n id="1" /> You will not have to witness all the disaster I will bring on this place and its residents.&#8217;&#8221;&#8217;&#8221; Then they reported back to the king.p>

The king stood by his pillar<n id="1" /> and renewed<n id="2" /> the covenant before the <sc>Lordsc>, agreeing to follow<n id="3" /> the <sc>Lordsc> and to obey his commandments, laws, and rules with all his heart and being,<n id="4" /> by carrying out the terms<n id="5" /> of this covenant recorded on this scroll.