Ahaz gathered riches<n id="1" /> from the <sc>Lordsc>&#8217;s temple, the royal palace, and the officials and gave them to the king of Assyria, but that did not help.p>

He said to them: &#8220;Listen to me, you Levites! Now consecrate yourselves, so you can consecrate the temple of the <sc>Lordsc> God of your ancestors!<n id="1" /> Remove from the sanctuary what is ceremonially unclean!

They removed the altars in Jerusalem; they also removed all the incense altars and threw them into the Kidron Valley.<n id="1" />p>

Hezekiah says, &#8220;The <sc>Lordsc> our God will rescue us from the power<n id="1" /> of the king of Assyria.&#8221; But he is misleading you and you will die of hunger and thirst!<n id="2" />

Hezekiah is the one who eliminated<n id="1" /> the <sc>Lordsc>&#8217;s<n id="2" /> high places and altars and then told Judah and Jerusalem, &#8220;At one altar you must worship and offer sacrifices.&#8221;

The <sc>Lordsc> delivered Hezekiah and the residents of Jerusalem from the power of King Sennacherib of Assyria and from all the other nations.<n id="1" /> He made them secure on every side.<n id="2" />

So the <sc>Lordsc> brought against them the commanders of the army of the king of Assyria. They seized Manasseh, put hooks in his nose,<n id="1" /> bound him with bronze chains, and carried him away to Babylon.

He erected the altar of the <sc>Lordsc> and offered on it peace offerings and thank offerings. He told the people of<n id="1" /> Judah to serve the <sc>Lordsc> God of Israel.

The people of the land executed all who had conspired against King Amon, and they<n id="1" /> made his son Josiah king in his place.p>

he tore down the altars and Asherah poles, demolished the idols, and smashed all the incense altars throughout the land of Israel. Then he returned to Jerusalem.p>

<p class="bodytext">When they took out the silver that had been brought to the <sc>Lordsc>&#8217;s temple, Hilkiah the priest found the law scroll the <sc>Lordsc> had given to Moses.

So the Israelites who were present observed the Passover at that time, as well as the Feast of Unleavened Bread for seven days.

He also rebelled against King Nebuchadnezzar, who had made him vow allegiance<n id="1" /> in the name of God. He was stubborn and obstinate, and refused to return<n id="2" /> to the <sc>Lordsc> God of Israel.

They burned down the <sc>Lordsc>&#8217;s temple and tore down the wall of Jerusalem.<n id="1" /> They burned all its fortified buildings and destroyed all its valuable items.

He put &#8220;The Sea&#8221; on the south side, in the southeast corner.p>

When all Israel&#8217;s elders had arrived, the Levites lifted the ark.

So Jehoshabeath,<n id="1" /> the daughter of King Jehoram,<n id="2" /> took Ahaziah&#8217;s son Joash and sneaked him away<n id="3" /> from the rest of the royal descendants who were to be executed. She hid him and his nurse in the room where the bed covers were stored. So Jehoshabeath the daughter of King Jehoram, wife of Jehoiada the priest and sister of Ahaziah, hid him from Athaliah so she could not execute him.

The <sc>Lordsc> responded favorably<n id="1" /> to Hezekiah and forgave<n id="2" /> the people.p>

<p class="bodytext">The king summoned all the leaders of Judah and Jerusalem.<n id="1" />

<t /><p class="bodytext">Then Solomon convened Israel&#8217;s elders &#8211; all the leaders of the Israelite tribes and families &#8211; in Jerusalem,<n id="1" /> so they could witness the transferal of the ark of the covenant of the <sc>Lordsc> from the City of David<n id="2" /> (that is, Zion).<n id="3" />