<p class="bodytext">David said to him, &#8220;Don&#8217;t be afraid, because I will certainly extend kindness to you for the sake of Jonathan your father. You will be a regular guest at my table.&#8221;<n id="1" />

David said to the messenger, &#8220;Tell Joab, &#8216;Don&#8217;t let this thing upset you.<n id="1" /> There is no way to anticipate whom the sword will cut down.<n id="2" /> Press the battle against the city and conquer<n id="3" /> it.&#8217; Encourage him with these words.&#8221;<n id="4" />p>

<p class="bodytext">Her brother Absalom said to her, &#8220;Was Amnon your brother with you? Now be quiet, my sister. He is your brother. Don&#8217;t take it so seriously!&#8221;<n id="1" /> Tamar, devastated, lived in the house of her brother Absalom.p>

<p class="bodytext">Absalom instructed his servants, &#8220;Look! When Amnon is drunk<n id="1" /> and I say to you, &#8216;Strike Amnon down,&#8217; kill him then and there. Don&#8217;t fear! Is it not I who have given you these instructions? Be strong and courageous!&#8221;<n id="2" />

So Joab sent to Tekoa and brought from there a wise woman. He told her, &#8220;Pretend to be in mourning<n id="1" /> and put on garments for mourning. Don&#8217;t anoint yourself with oil. Instead, act like a woman who has been mourning for the dead for some time.<n id="2" />

<p class="bodytext">Then the king replied to the woman, &#8220;Don&#8217;t hide any information from me when I question you.&#8221; The woman said, &#8220;Let my lord the king speak!&#8221;

Now send word quickly to David and warn him,<n id="1" /> &#8220;Don&#8217;t spend the night at the fords of the desert<n id="2" /> tonight. Instead, be sure you cross over,<n id="3" /> or else the king and everyone who is with him may be overwhelmed.&#8221;<n id="4" />p>

She said, &#8220;I would like to ask you for just one small favor.<n id="1" /> Please don&#8217;t refuse me.&#8221;<n id="2" /> He said,<n id="3" /> &#8220;Go ahead and ask, my mother, for I would not refuse you.&#8221;

Elijah said to her, &#8220;Don&#8217;t be afraid. Go and do as you planned.<n id="1" /> But first make a small cake for me and bring it to me; then make something for yourself and your son.

Elijah told them, &#8220;Seize the prophets of Baal! Don&#8217;t let even one of them escape!&#8221; So they seized them, and Elijah led them down to the Kishon Valley and executed<n id="1" /> them there.p>

<p class="bodytext">Elisha said to the king of Israel, &#8220;Why are you here?<n id="1" /> Go to your father&#8217;s prophets or your mother&#8217;s prophets!&#8221; The king of Israel replied to him, &#8220;No, for the <sc>Lordsc> is the one who summoned these three kings so that he can hand them over to Moab.&#8221;

But King Joram had returned to Jezreel to recover from the wounds he received from the Syrians<n id="1" /> when he fought against King Hazael of Syria.<n id="2" /> Jehu told his supporters,<n id="3" /> &#8220;If you really want me to be king,<n id="4" /> then don&#8217;t let anyone escape from the city to go and warn Jezreel.&#8221;

<p class="bodytext">When he finished offering the burnt sacrifice, Jehu ordered the royal guard<n id="1" /> and officers, &#8220;Come in and strike them down! Don&#8217;t let any escape!&#8221; So the royal guard and officers struck them down with the sword and left their bodies lying there.<n id="2" /> Then they entered the inner sanctuary of the temple of Baal.<n id="3" />

Jehoiada the priest ordered the officers of the units of hundreds, who were in charge of the army,<n id="1" /> &#8220;Bring her outside the temple to the guards.<n id="2" /> Put the sword to anyone who follows her.&#8221; The priest gave this order because he had decided she should not be executed in the <sc>Lordsc>&#8217;s temple.<n id="3" />

So King Jehoash summoned Jehoiada the priest along with the other priests, and said to them, &#8220;Why have you not repaired the damage to the temple? Now, take no more silver from your treasurers unless you intend to use it to repair the damage.&#8221;<n id="1" />

<p class="bodytext">Eliakim son of Hilkiah, Shebna, and Joah said to the chief adviser, &#8220;Speak to your servants in Aramaic,<n id="1" /> for we understand it. Don&#8217;t speak with us in the Judahite dialect<n id="2" /> in the hearing of the people who are on the wall.&#8221;

Don&#8217;t listen to Hezekiah!&#8217; For this is what the king of Assyria says, &#8216;Send me a token of your submission and surrender to me.<n id="1" /> Then each of you may eat from his own vine and fig tree and drink water from his own cistern,

until I come and take you to a land just like your own &#8211; a land of grain and new wine, a land of bread and vineyards, a land of olive trees and honey. Then you will live and not die. Don&#8217;t listen to Hezekiah, for he is misleading you when he says, &#8220;The <sc>Lordsc> will rescue us.&#8221;

Isaiah said to them, &#8220;Tell your master this: &#8216;This is what the <sc>Lordsc> says: &#8220;Don&#8217;t be afraid because of the things you have heard &#8211; these insults the king of Assyria&#8217;s servants have hurled against me.<n id="1" />

&#8220;Tell King Hezekiah of Judah this: &#8216;Don&#8217;t let your God in whom you trust mislead you when he says, &#8220;Jerusalem will not be handed over<n id="1" /> to the king of Assyria.&#8221;