He erected the altar of the Lord and offered on it peace offerings and thank offerings. He told the people of ¹  Judah to serve the Lord God of Israel.

The priests brought the ark of the covenant of the Lord to its assigned ¹  place in the inner sanctuary of the temple, in the most holy place under the wings of the cherubs.

They attacked Judah and swept through it. ¹  They carried off everything they found in the royal palace, ²  including his sons and wives. None of his sons was left, except for his youngest, Ahaziah.

The porch in front of the main hall was 30 feet long, corresponding to the width of the temple, ¹  and its height was 30 feet. ²  He plated the inside with pure gold.

All the work ordered by Solomon was completed, from the day the foundation of the Lord’s temple was laid until it was finished; the Lord’s temple was completed.

So the king of Israel assembled 400 prophets and asked them, “Should we attack Ramoth Gilead or not?” ¹  They said, “Attack! God ²  will hand it over to the king.”

They slaughtered the bulls, and the priests took the blood and splashed it on the altar. Then they slaughtered the rams and splashed the blood on the altar; next they slaughtered the lambs and splashed the blood on the altar.

“This is what the Lord says: ‘I am about to bring disaster on this place and its residents, the details of which are recorded in the scroll which they read before the king of Judah.

The Israelites seized from their brothers 200,000 wives, sons, and daughters. They also carried off a huge amount of plunder and took it ¹  back to Samaria. ² 

“This is what King Sennacherib of Assyria says: ‘Why are you so confident that you remain in Jerusalem while it is under siege? ¹ 

He made all who were in Jerusalem and Benjamin agree to it. ¹  The residents of Jerusalem acted in accordance with the covenant of God, the God of their ancestors.

Now Jeroboam had sent some men to ambush the Judahite army from behind. ¹  The main army was in front of the Judahite army; ²  the ambushers were behind it.

As for this temple, which was once majestic, ¹  everyone who passes by it will be shocked and say, ‘Why did the Lord do this to this land and this temple?’

‘Therefore I will allow you to die and be buried in peace. ¹  You will not have to witness all the disaster I will bring on this place and its residents.’”’” Then they reported back to the king.

After this Manasseh ¹  built up the outer wall of the City of David 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.

There was nothing in the ark except the two tablets Moses had placed there in Horeb. ¹  (It was there that ²  the Lord made an agreement with the Israelites after he brought them out of the land of Egypt.)

Asa took all the silver and gold that was left in the treasuries of the Lord’s temple and of the royal palace and sent it to King Ben Hadad of Syria, ruler in Damascus, along with this message:

They stood at their posts according to the regulations outlined in the law of Moses, the man of God. The priests were splashing the blood as the Levites handed it to them. ¹ 

Jeremiah composed laments for Josiah which all the male and female singers use to mourn Josiah to this very day. It has become customary in Israel to sing these; they are recorded in the Book of Laments.

They confronted ¹  King Uzziah and said to him, “It is not proper for you, Uzziah, to offer incense to the Lord. That is the responsibility of the priests, the descendants of Aaron, who are consecrated to offer incense. Leave the sanctuary, for you have disobeyed ²  and the Lord God will not honor you!”