After these faithful deeds were accomplished, King Sennacherib of Assyria invaded Judah. He besieged the fortified cities, intending to seize them. ¹ 

He brought the holy items that his father and he had made into God’s temple, including the silver, gold, and other articles. ¹ 

Jehoram took control of his father’s kingdom and became powerful. ¹  Then he killed all his brothers, ²  as well as some of the officials of Israel.

He was buried in the tomb he had carved out in the City of David. ¹  They laid him to rest on a bier covered with spices and assorted mixtures of ointments. They made a huge bonfire to honor him. ² 

King Rehoboam solidified his rule in Jerusalem; ¹  he ²  was forty-one years old when he became king and he ruled for seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city the Lord chose from all the tribes of Israel to be his home. ³  Rehoboam’s ⁴  mother was an Ammonite named Naamah.

He followed ¹  God during the lifetime of ²  Zechariah, who taught him how to honor God. As long as he followed ³  the Lord, God caused him to succeed. ⁴ 

After Rehoboam’s rule was established and solidified, he and all Israel rejected the law of the Lord.

Jehoshaphat was very wealthy and greatly respected. He made an alliance by marriage with Ahab,

Later King Jehoshaphat of Judah made an alliance with King Ahaziah of Israel, who ¹  did evil.

They agreed ¹  to make large seagoing merchant ships; ²  they built the ships in Ezion Geber.

Ahaz gathered the items in God’s temple and removed them. He shut the doors of the Lord’s temple and erected altars on every street corner in Jerusalem.

But then Hezekiah and the residents of Jerusalem humbled themselves and abandoned their pride, and the Lord was not angry with them for the rest of Hezekiah’s reign. ¹ 

Amaziah boldly led his army to the Valley of Salt, ¹  where he defeated ²  10,000 Edomites. ³ 

Solomon sent a message to King Huram ¹  of Tyre: ²  “Help me ³  as you did my father David, when you sent him cedar logs ⁴  for the construction of his palace. ⁵ 

Jeroboam ¹  appointed his own priests to serve at the worship centers ²  and to lead in the worship of the goat idols and calf idols he had made. ³ 

Now look, God is with us as our leader. His priests are ready to blow the trumpets to signal the attack against you. ¹  You Israelites, don’t fight against the Lord God of your ancestors, ²  for you will not win!”

Certainly ¹  the Lord watches the whole earth carefully ²  and is ready to strengthen those who are devoted to him. ³  You have acted foolishly in this matter; from now on you will have war.

In the seventh year Jehoiada made a bold move. He made a pact ¹  with the officers of the units of hundreds: Azariah son of Jehoram, Ishmael son of Jehochanan, Azariah son of Obed, Maaseiah son of Adaiah, and Elishaphat son of Zikri.

So when the envoys arrived from the Babylonian officials to visit him and inquire about the sign that occurred in the land, ¹  God left him alone to test him, in order to know his true motives. ² 

Afterward King Sennacherib of Assyria, while attacking Lachish with all his military might, sent his messengers ¹  to Jerusalem. The message was for King Hezekiah of Judah and all the people of ²  Judah who were in Jerusalem. It read: