Asa prayed ¹  to the Lord his God: “O Lord, there is no one but you who can help the weak when they are vastly outnumbered. ²  Help us, O Lord our God, for we rely on you and have marched on your behalf against this huge army. ³  O Lord our God, don’t let men prevail against you!” ⁴ 

When Hezekiah and the officials came and saw the heaps, they praised the Lord and pronounced blessings on his people Israel. ¹ 

and prayed: ¹  “O Lord God of Israel, there is no god like you in heaven or on earth! You maintain covenantal loyalty ²  to your servants who obey you with sincerity. ³ 

When Azariah the high priest and the other priests looked at ¹  him, there was a skin disease on his forehead. They hurried him out of there; even the king ²  himself wanted to leave quickly because the Lord had afflicted him.

Now the king of Israel and King Jehoshaphat of Judah were sitting on their respective thrones, dressed in their royal robes, at the threshing floor at ¹  the entrance of the gate of Samaria. All the prophets were prophesying before them.

‘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.

“When someone is accused of sinning against his neighbor and the latter pronounces a curse on the alleged offender before your altar in this temple, ¹ 

Then they will honor ¹  you by obeying you ²  throughout their lifetimes as ³  they live on the land you gave to our ancestors.

So King Joash of Israel attacked. He and King Amaziah of Judah faced each other on the battlefield ¹  in Beth Shemesh of Judah.

The priests and Levites got up and pronounced blessings on the people. The Lord responded favorably to them ¹  as their prayers reached his holy dwelling place in heaven.

then listen from heaven and forgive the sin of your servants, your people Israel. Certainly ¹  you will then teach them the right way to live ²  and send rain on your land that you have given your people to possess. ³ 

An edict was sent throughout Judah and Jerusalem requiring the people to bring to the Lord the tax that Moses, God’s servant, imposed on Israel in the wilderness. ¹ 

Then the priests slaughtered them. They offered their blood as a sin offering on the altar to make atonement for all Israel, because the king had decreed ¹  that the burnt sacrifice and sin offering were for all Israel.

In Jerusalem Jehoshaphat appointed some Levites, priests, and Israelite family leaders to judge on behalf of the Lord ¹  and to settle disputes among the residents of Jerusalem. ² 

Others will then answer, ¹  ‘Because they abandoned the Lord God of their ancestors, ²  who led them out of Egypt. They embraced other gods whom they worshiped and served. ³  That is why he brought all this disaster down on them.’”

He removed the foreign gods and images from the Lord’s temple and all the altars he had built on the hill of the Lord’s temple and in Jerusalem; he threw them outside the city.

All Judah was happy about the oath, because they made the vow with their whole heart. They willingly sought the Lord and he responded to them. ¹  He made them secure on every side. ² 

Men were assigned to take the prisoners and find clothes among the plunder for those who were naked. ¹  So they clothed them, supplied them with sandals, gave them food and drink, and provided them with oil to rub on their skin. ²  They put the ones who couldn’t walk on donkeys. ³  They brought them back to their brothers at Jericho, ⁴  the city of the date palm trees, and then returned to Samaria.

He was buried in the tomb he had carved out in the City of David. 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. ² 

we will get all the timber you need from Lebanon ¹  and bring it ²  in raft-like bundles ³  by sea to Joppa. You can then haul it on up to Jerusalem.”