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>

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

After about two years his intestines came out because of the disease, so that he died a very painful death.<n id="1" /> His people did not make a bonfire to honor him, as they had done for his ancestors.<n id="2" />p>

<p class="bodytext">So the king summoned Jehoiada the chief priest,<n id="1" /> and said to him, &#8220;Why have you not made<n id="2" /> the Levites collect<n id="3" /> from Judah and Jerusalem the tax authorized by Moses the <sc>Lordsc>&#8217;s servant and by the assembly of Israel at the tent containing the tablets of the law?&#8221;<n id="4" />

<p class="bodytext">When Amaziah returned from defeating the Edomites, he brought back the gods of the people<n id="1" /> of Seir and made them his personal gods.<n id="2" /> He bowed down before them and offered them sacrifices.

The <sc>Lordsc> was angry at Amaziah and sent a prophet to him, who said, &#8220;Why are you following<n id="1" /> these gods<n id="2" /> that could not deliver their own people from your power?&#8221;<n id="3" />

While he was speaking, Amaziah<n id="1" /> said to him, &#8220;Did we appoint you to be a royal counselor? Stop prophesying or else you will be killed!&#8221;<n id="2" /> So the prophet stopped, but added, &#8220;I know that the <sc>Lordsc> has decided<n id="3" /> to destroy you, because you have done this thing and refused to listen to my advice.&#8221;p>

He built towers in the desert and dug many cisterns, for he owned many herds in the lowlands<n id="1" /> and on the plain. He had workers in the fields and vineyards in the hills and in Carmel,<n id="2" /> for he loved agriculture.<n id="3" />p>

They confronted<n id="1" /> King Uzziah and said to him, &#8220;It is not proper for you, Uzziah, to offer incense to the <sc>Lordsc>. That is the responsibility of the priests, the descendants of Aaron, who are consecrated to offer incense. Leave the sanctuary, for you have disobeyed<n id="2" /> and the <sc>Lordsc> God will not honor you!&#8221;

He offered sacrifices to the gods of Damascus whom he thought had defeated him.<n id="1" /> He reasoned,<n id="2" /> &#8220;Since the gods of the kings of Damascus helped them, I will sacrifice to them so they will help me.&#8221; But they caused him and all Israel to stumble.

Ahaz gathered the items in God&#8217;s temple and removed them. He shut the doors of the <sc>Lordsc>&#8217;s temple and erected altars on every street corner in Jerusalem.

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>

The Annals of the Prophets include his prayer, give an account of how the <sc>Lordsc> responded to it, record all his sins and unfaithful acts, and identify the sites where he built high places and erected Asherah poles and idols before he humbled himself.<n id="1" />

So his servants took him out of the chariot, put him in another chariot that he owned, and brought him to Jerusalem,<n id="1" /> where he died. He was buried in the tombs of his ancestors;<n id="2" /> all the people of Judah and Jerusalem mourned Josiah.

It read: &#8220;This is what King Cyrus of Persia says: &#8216;The <sc>Lordsc> God of the heavens has given to me all the kingdoms of the earth. He has appointed me to build for him a temple in Jerusalem<n id="1" /> in Judah. May the <sc>Lordsc> your God energize you who belong to his people, so you may be able to go back there!&#8221;<n id="2" />p>

<p class="bodytext">&#8220;Thus says King Cyrus of Persia:p> <p class="bodytext">&#8220;&#8216;The <sc>Lordsc> God of heaven has given me all the kingdoms of the earth. He has instructed me to build a temple<n id="1" /> for him in Jerusalem,<n id="2" /> which is in Judah.

This Ezra is the one who came up from Babylon. He was a scribe who was skilled in the law of Moses which the <sc>Lordsc> God of Israel had given. The king supplied him with everything he requested, for the hand of the <sc>Lordsc> his God was on him.

Then the king, with his consort<n id="1" /> sitting beside him, replied, &#8220;How long would your trip take, and when would you return?&#8221; Since the king was amenable to dispatching me,<n id="2" /> I gave him a time.

For many in Judah had sworn allegiance to him,<n id="1" /> because he was the son-in-law of Shecaniah son of Arah. His son Jonathan had married the daughter of Meshullam son of Berechiah.

He said to them, &#8220;Go and eat delicacies and drink sweet drinks and send portions to those for whom nothing is prepared. For this day is holy to our Lord.<n id="1" /> Do not grieve, for the joy of the <sc>LORDsc> is your strength.&#8221;p>