When Rehoboam arrived in Jerusalem, he summoned 180,000 skilled warriors from Judah and Benjamin ¹  to attack Israel and restore the kingdom to Rehoboam.

He was committed to following the Lord; ¹  he even removed the high places and Asherah poles from Judah.

When the chariot commanders realized he was not the king of Israel, they turned away from him.

For if you return to the Lord, your brothers and sons will be shown mercy by their captors and return to this land. The Lord your God is merciful and compassionate; he will not reject you ¹  if you return to him.”

‘Therefore I will allow you to die and be buried in peace. ¹  You will not have to witness all the disaster I will bring on this place and its residents.’”’” Then they reported back to the king.

Then all the men of Judah and Jerusalem returned joyfully to Jerusalem with Jehoshaphat leading them; the Lord had given them reason to rejoice over their enemies.

They worked hard and made the repairs. ¹  They followed the measurements specified for God’s temple and restored it. ² 

But Hezekiah was ungrateful; he had a proud attitude, provoking God to be angry at him, as well as Judah and Jerusalem. ¹ 

Shaphan brought the scroll to the king and reported, ¹  “Your servants are doing everything assigned to them.

you are granted wisdom and discernment. ¹  Furthermore I am giving you riches, wealth, and honor surpassing that of any king before or after you.” ² 

if my people, who belong to me, ¹  humble themselves, pray, seek to please me, ²  and repudiate their sinful practices, ³  then I will respond ⁴  from heaven, forgive their sin, and heal their land. ⁵ 

and Asa and his army chased them as far as Gerar. The Cushites were wiped out; ¹  they were shattered before the Lord and his army. The men of Judah ²  carried off a huge amount of plunder.

Micaiah ¹  said, “That being the case, hear the word of the Lord: I saw the Lord sitting on his throne, with all the heavenly assembly standing on his right and on his left.

The list of Joash’s ¹  sons, the many prophetic oracles pertaining to him, and the account of his building project on God’s temple are included in the record of the Scroll of the Kings. ²  His son Amaziah replaced him as king.

There was a large number of burnt sacrifices, as well as fat from the peace offerings and drink offerings that accompanied the burnt sacrifices. So the service of the Lord’s temple was reinstituted. ¹ 

When they return to you with all their heart and being 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, ² 

The king and Jehoiada gave it to the construction foremen ¹  assigned to the Lord’s temple. They hired carpenters and craftsmen to repair the Lord’s temple, as well as those skilled in working with iron and bronze to restore the Lord’s temple.

When Asa heard these words and the prophecy of Oded the prophet, he was encouraged. ¹  He removed the detestable idols from the entire land of Judah and Benjamin and from the cities he had seized in the Ephraimite hill country. He repaired the altar of the Lord in front of the porch of the Lord’s temple. ²