Then Jehu and Jehonadab son of Rekab went to the temple of Baal. Jehu ¹  said to the servants of Baal, “Make sure there are no servants of the Lord here with you; there must be only servants of Baal.” ² 

The king ordered Hilkiah the high priest, the high-ranking priests, ¹  and the guards ²  to bring out of the Lord’s temple all the items that were used in the worship of ³  Baal, Asherah, and all the stars of the sky. ⁴  The king ⁵  burned them outside of Jerusalem in the terraces ⁶  of Kidron, and carried their ashes to Bethel. ⁷ 

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

But the high places were not eliminated; the people continued to offer sacrifices and burn incense on the high places.

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 

Jehoahaz had no army left ¹  except for fifty horsemen, ten chariots, and 10,000 foot soldiers. The king of Syria had destroyed his troops ²  and trampled on them like dust. ³ 

The gatekeepers relayed the news to the royal palace. ¹ 

So the young prophet ¹  went to Ramoth Gilead.

But the chief adviser said to them, “My master did not send me to speak these words only to your master and to you. ¹  His message is also for the men who sit on the wall, for they will eat their own excrement and drink their own urine along with you.” ² 

Ahab’s entire family will die. I ¹  will cut off every last male belonging to Ahab in Israel, including even the weak and incapacitated. ² 

Jehu drove his chariot ¹  to Jezreel, for Joram was recuperating ²  there. (Now King Ahaziah of Judah had come down to visit ³  Joram.)

The priest gave to the officers of the units of hundreds King David’s spears and the shields that were kept in the Lord’s temple.

Jehoiada then drew up a covenant between the Lord and the king and people, stipulating that they should be loyal to the Lord. ¹ 

The Lord saw Israel’s intense suffering; ¹  everyone was weak and incapacitated and Israel had no deliverer. ² 

Jotham passed away ¹  and was buried with his ancestors in the city of his ancestor David. His son Ahaz replaced him as king.

Now a wife of one of the prophets ¹  appealed ²  to Elisha for help, saying, “Your servant, my husband is dead. You know that your servant was a loyal follower of the Lord. ³  Now the creditor is coming to take away my two boys to be his servants.”

Hezekiah welcomed ¹  them and showed them his whole storehouse, with its silver, gold, spices, and high quality olive oil, as well as his armory and everything in his treasuries. Hezekiah showed them everything in his palace and in his whole kingdom. ² 

But in the seventh month ¹  Ishmael son of Nethaniah, son of Elishama, who was a member of the royal family, ²  came with ten of his men and murdered Gedaliah, ³  as well as the Judeans and Babylonians who were with him at Mizpah.

So the king told Hazael, “Take a gift ¹  and go visit the prophet. Request from him an oracle from the Lord. Ask him, ²  ‘Will I recover from this sickness?’”

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. ¹