The <sc>Lordsc> has kept the promise he made. I have taken my father David&#8217;s place and have occupied the throne of Israel, as the <sc>Lordsc> promised. I have built this temple for the honor of the <sc>Lordsc> God of Israel

Now you are declaring that you will resist the <sc>Lordsc>&#8217;s rule through the Davidic dynasty.<n id="1" /> You have a huge army,<n id="2" /> and bring with you the gold calves that Jeroboam made for you as gods.

<p class="bodytext"><v id="(13:23)" /><n id="1" /> Abijah passed away<n id="2" /> and was buried in the City of David.<n id="3" /> His son Asa replaced him as king. During his reign<n id="4" /> the land had rest for ten years.p>

He was buried in the tomb he had carved out in the City of David.<n id="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.<n id="2" />p>

But the <sc>Lordsc> was unwilling to destroy David&#8217;s dynasty<n id="1" /> because of the promise<n id="2" /> he had made to give David a perpetual dynasty.<n id="3" />p>

<p class="bodytext">Jehoram<n id="1" /> received this letter from Elijah the prophet: &#8220;This is what the <sc>Lordsc> God of your ancestor David says: &#8216;You<n id="2" /> have not followed in the footsteps<n id="3" /> of your father Jehoshaphat and of<n id="4" /> King Asa of Judah,

and the whole assembly made a covenant with the king in the temple of God. Jehoiada<n id="1" /> said to them, &#8220;The king&#8217;s son will rule, just as the <sc>Lordsc> promised David&#8217;s descendants.

When they withdrew, they left Joash<n id="1" /> badly wounded. His servants plotted against him because of what he had done to<n id="2" /> the son<n id="3" /> of Jehoiada the priest. They murdered him on his bed. Thus<n id="4" /> he died and was buried in the City of David,<n id="5" /> but not in the tombs of the kings.

<p class="bodytext">King Hezekiah<n id="1" /> stationed the Levites in the <sc>Lordsc>&#8217;s temple with cymbals and stringed instruments, just as David, Gad the king&#8217;s prophet,<n id="2" /> and Nathan the prophet had ordered. (The <sc>Lordsc> had actually given these orders through his prophets.)

Hezekiah<n id="1" /> energetically rebuilt<n id="2" /> every broken wall. He erected towers and an outer wall,<n id="3" /> and fortified the terrace of the City of David.<n id="4" /> He made many weapons and shields.p>

Hezekiah passed away<n id="1" /> and was buried on the ascent of the tombs of the descendants of David. All the people of Judah and the residents of Jerusalem buried him with great honor.<n id="2" /> His son Manasseh replaced him as king.p>

He put an idolatrous image he had made in God&#8217;s temple, about which God had said to David and to his son Solomon, &#8220;This temple in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, will be my permanent home.<n id="1" />

<p class="bodytext">After this Manasseh<n id="1" /> built up the outer wall of the City of David<n id="2" /> on the west side of the Gihon in the valley to the entrance of the Fish Gate and all around the terrace; he made it much higher. He placed army officers in all the fortified cities in Judah.p>

<p class="bodytext">In the eighth year of his reign, while he was still young, he began to seek the God of his ancestor<n id="1" /> David. In his twelfth year he began ridding<n id="2" /> Judah and Jerusalem of the high places, Asherah poles, idols, and images.

The musicians, the descendants of Asaph, manned their posts, as prescribed by David, Asaph, Heman, and Jeduthun the king&#8217;s prophet.<n id="1" /> The guards at the various gates did not need to leave their posts, for their fellow Levites made preparations for them.

whose mother is a Danite and whose father is a Tyrian.<n id="1" /> He knows how to work with gold, silver, bronze, iron, stones, and wood, as well as purple, violet, white, and crimson fabrics. He knows how to do all kinds of engraving and understands any design given to him. He will work with your skilled craftsmen and the skilled craftsmen of my lord David your father.

Now, O <sc>Lordsc> God of Israel, keep the promise you made to your servant, my father David, when you said, &#8216;You will never fail to have a successor ruling before me on the throne of Israel,<n id="1" /> provided that your descendants watch their step and obey my law as you have done.&#8217;<n id="2" />

<p class="bodytext">When all Israel saw that the king refused to listen to them, the people answered the king, &#8220;We have no portion in David &#8211; no share in the son of Jesse!<n id="1" /> Return to your homes, O Israel!<n id="2" /> Now, look after your own dynasty, O David!&#8221;<n id="3" /> So all Israel returned to their homes.<n id="4" />

He told the Levites, who instructed all Israel about things consecrated to the <sc>Lordsc>, &#8220;Place the holy ark in the temple which King Solomon son of David of Israel built. Don&#8217;t carry it on your shoulders. Now serve the <sc>Lordsc> your God and his people Israel!