King Ahaz took off the frames of the movable stands, and removed the basins from them. He took “The Sea” ¹  down from the bronze bulls that supported it ²  and put it on the pavement.

So the king of Israel sent a message to the place the prophet had pointed out, warning it ¹  to be on its guard. This happened on several occasions. ² 

The Moabites ¹  said, “It’s blood! The kings are totally destroyed! ²  They have struck one another down! Now, Moab, seize the plunder!”

At that time King Hazael of Syria attacked ¹  Gath and captured it. Hazael then decided to attack Jerusalem. ² 

Elijah ¹  replied, “That’s a difficult request! ²  If you see me taken from you, may it be so, but if you don’t, it will not happen.”

It is true, Lord, that the kings of Assyria have destroyed the nations and their lands.

So he set it before them; they ate and had some left over, just as the Lord predicted. ¹ 

The king of Assyria marched through ¹  the whole land. He attacked Samaria and besieged it for three years.

He defeated the Philistines as far as Gaza and its territory, from the watchtower to the city fortress. ¹ 

Jehoiada the priest took a chest and drilled a hole in its lid. He placed it on the right side of the altar near the entrance of ¹  the Lord’s temple. The priests who guarded the entrance would put into it all the silver brought to the Lord’s temple.

The king of Assyria responded favorably to his request; ¹  he ²  attacked Damascus and captured it. He deported the people ³  to Kir and executed Rezin.

In the fourth year of King Hezekiah’s reign (it was the seventh year of the reign of Israel’s King Hoshea, son of Elah), King Shalmaneser of Assyria marched ¹  up against Samaria ²  and besieged it.

Isaiah ordered, “Get a fig cake.” So they did as he ordered ¹  and placed it on the ulcerated sore, and he recovered. ² 

He said, “Why do you want to go see him today? It is not the new moon ¹  or the Sabbath.” She said, “Everything’s fine.” ² 

He asked, “What is this grave marker I see?” The men from the city replied, “It’s the grave of the prophet ¹  who came from Judah and foretold these very things you have done to the altar of Bethel.”

Then Shaphan the scribe told the king, “Hilkiah the priest has given me a scroll.” Shaphan read it out loud before the king.

So this is what the Lord says about the king of Assyria: “He will not enter this city, nor will he shoot an arrow here. ¹  He will not attack it with his shield-carrying warriors, ²  nor will he build siege works against it.

Each of the pillars was about twenty-seven feet ¹  high. The bronze top of one pillar was about four and a half feet ²  high and had bronze latticework and pomegranate shaped ornaments all around it. The second pillar with its latticework was like it.

I will shield this city and rescue it for the sake of my reputation and because of my promise to David my servant.’” ¹ 

So King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon came against Jerusalem with his whole army and set up camp outside ¹  it. They built siege ramps all around it. He arrived on the tenth day of the tenth month in the ninth year of Zedekiah’s reign. ²