But now I have chosen Jerusalem as a place to live,<n id="1" /> and I have chosen David to lead my people Israel.&#8217;

These men worked for Solomon as supervisors; there were a total of 250 of them who were in charge of the people.<n id="1" />p>

<p class="bodytext">He built the Upper Gate to the <sc>Lordsc>&#8217;s temple and did a lot of work on the wall in the area known as Ophel.<n id="1" />

<p class="bodytext">Amaziah assembled the people of Judah<n id="1" /> and assigned them by families to the commanders of units of a thousand and the commanders of units of a hundred for all Judah and Benjamin. He counted those twenty years old and up and discovered there were 300,000 young men of fighting age<n id="2" /> equipped with spears and shields.<n id="3" />

Some of the Philistines brought Jehoshaphat tribute, including a load of silver. The Arabs brought him 7,700 rams and 7,700 goats from their flocks.p>

These were their divisions by families:p> <p class="bodytext">There were a thousand officers from Judah.<n id="1" /> Adnah the commander led 300,000 skilled warriors,

Say, &#8216;This is what the king says: &#8220;Put this man in prison. Give him only a little bread and water<n id="1" /> until I return safely.&#8221;&#8217;&#8221;

Our God, you drove out<n id="1" /> the inhabitants of this land before your people Israel and gave it as a permanent possession<n id="2" /> to the descendants of your friend<n id="3" /> Abraham.

<p class="bodytext">Solomon took a census<n id="1" /> of all the male resident foreigners in the land of Israel, after the census his father David had taken. There were 153,600 in all.

<p class="bodytext">King Asa also removed Maacah his grandmother<n id="1" /> from her position as queen mother<n id="2" /> because she had made a loathsome Asherah pole. Asa cut down her Asherah pole and crushed and burned it in the Kidron Valley.

A large number of people gathered together and stopped up all the springs and the stream that flowed through the district.<n id="1" /> They reasoned,<n id="2" /> &#8220;Why should the kings of Assyria come and find plenty of water?&#8221;

Look, I am ready to build a temple to honor<n id="1" /> the <sc>Lordsc> my God and to dedicate it to him in order to burn fragrant incense before him, to set out the bread that is regularly displayed,<n id="2" /> and to offer burnt sacrifices each morning and evening, and on Sabbaths, new moon festivals, and at other times appointed by the <sc>Lordsc> our God. This is something Israel must do on a permanent basis.<n id="3" />

He passed his sons through the fire<n id="1" /> in the Valley of Ben-Hinnom and practiced divination, omen reading, and sorcery. He set up a ritual pit to conjure up underworld spirits and appointed magicians to supervise it.<n id="2" /> He did a great amount of evil in the sight of the <sc>Lordsc> and angered him.<n id="3" />

listen from heaven and make a just decision about your servants&#8217; claims. Condemn the guilty party, declare the other innocent, and give both of them what they deserve.<n id="1" />p>

and Asa and his army chased them as far as Gerar. The Cushites were wiped out;<n id="1" /> they were shattered before the <sc>Lordsc> and his army. The men of Judah<n id="2" /> carried off a huge amount of plunder.

The men<n id="1" /> of Judah captured 10,000 men alive. They took them to the top of a cliff and threw them over.<n id="2" /> All the captives<n id="3" /> fell to their death.<n id="4" />

<p class="bodytext">Oded, a prophet of the <sc>Lordsc>, was there. He went to meet the army as they arrived in Samaria and said to them: &#8220;Look, because the <sc>Lordsc> God of your ancestors was angry with Judah he handed them over to you. You have killed them so mercilessly that God has taken notice.<n id="1" />

The king had a fleet of large merchant ships<n id="1" /> manned by Huram&#8217;s men<n id="2" /> that sailed the sea. Once every three years the fleet<n id="3" /> came into port with cargoes of<n id="4" /> gold, silver, ivory, apes, and peacocks.<n id="5" />p>

In the thirty-ninth year of his reign, Asa developed a foot disease.<n id="1" /> Though his disease was severe, he did not seek the <sc>Lordsc>, but only the doctors.<n id="2" />

Whenever your countrymen who live in the cities bring a case before you<n id="1" /> (whether it involves a violent crime<n id="2" /> or other matters related to the law, commandments, rules, and regulations), warn them that they must not sin against the <sc>Lordsc>. If you fail to do so, God will be angry with you and your colleagues; but if you obey, you will be free of guilt.<n id="3" />