After Solomon finished building the Lord’s temple and the royal palace, and accomplished all his plans for the Lord’s temple and his royal palace, ¹ 

With the timber the king made steps ¹  for the Lord’s temple and royal palace as well as stringed instruments ²  for the musicians. No one had seen anything like them in the land of Judah prior to that. ³ )

He followed their advice and joined Ahab’s son King Joram ¹  of Israel in a battle against King Hazael of Syria ²  at Ramoth Gilead in which the Syrians defeated Joram.

He said to them: “Listen to me, you Levites! Now consecrate yourselves, so you can consecrate the temple of the Lord God of your ancestors! ¹  Remove from the sanctuary what is ceremonially unclean!

Because many in the assembly had not consecrated themselves, the Levites slaughtered ¹  the Passover lambs of all who were ceremonially unclean and could not consecrate their sacrifice to the Lord. ² 

But respond favorably to ¹  your servant’s prayer and his request for help, O Lord my God. Answer ²  the desperate prayer ³  your servant is presenting to you. ⁴ 

He asked them, “How do you advise me to respond to these people who said to me, ‘Lessen the demands your father placed on us’?” ¹ 

They commanded an army of 307,500 skilled and able warriors who were ready to defend ¹  the king against his enemies.

And now you are planning ¹  to enslave ²  the people ³  of Judah and Jerusalem. Yet are you not also guilty before the Lord your God?

In every city throughout Judah he set up high places to offer sacrifices to other gods. He angered the Lord God of his ancestors.

But Hezekiah was ungrateful; he had a proud attitude, provoking God to be angry at him, as well as Judah and Jerusalem. ¹ 

Prepare yourselves by your families according to your divisions, as instructed ¹  by King David of Israel and his son Solomon.

After Josiah had done all this for the temple, ¹  King Necho of Egypt marched up to do battle at Carchemish on the Euphrates River. ²  Josiah marched out to oppose him.

The trumpeters and musicians played together, praising and giving thanks to the Lord. Accompanied by trumpets, cymbals, and other instruments, they loudly praised the Lord, singing: ¹  “Certainly he is good; certainly his loyal love endures!” Then a cloud filled the Lord’s temple. ² 

He said to the people of Judah: ¹  “Let’s build these cities and fortify them with walls, towers, and barred gates. ²  The land remains ours because we have followed ³  the Lord our God and he has made us secure on all sides.” ⁴  So they built the cities ⁵  and prospered.

Necho ¹  sent messengers to him, saying, “Why are you opposing me, O king of Judah? ²  I am not attacking you today, but the kingdom with which I am at war. ³  God told me to hurry. Stop opposing God, who is with me, or else he will destroy you.” ⁴ 

Night and day may you watch over this temple, the place where you promised you would live. ¹  May you answer your servant’s prayer for this place. ² 

When your people ¹  come to their senses ²  in the land where they are held prisoner, they will repent and beg for your mercy in the land of their imprisonment, admitting, ‘We have sinned and gone astray ³ , we have done evil!’

When Rehoboam arrived in Jerusalem, he summoned 180,000 skilled warriors from Judah and Benjamin ¹  to attack Israel and restore the kingdom to Rehoboam.

Even if you go and fight bravely in battle, God will defeat you ¹  before the enemy. God is capable of helping or defeating.” ²