His assassination brought to fulfillment the Lord’s word to Jehu, ¹  “Four generations of your descendants will rule over Israel.” ²  That is exactly what happened. ³ 

The king of Assyria responded favorably to his request; ¹  he ²  attacked Damascus and captured it. He deported the people ³  to Kir and executed Rezin.

So one of the priests whom they had deported from Samaria went back and settled in Bethel. ¹  He taught them how to worship ²  the Lord.

They summoned the king, so Eliakim son of Hilkiah, the palace supervisor, accompanied by Shebna the scribe and Joah son of Asaph, the secretary, went out to meet them.

This is what the king says: ‘Don’t let Hezekiah mislead you, for he is not able to rescue you from my hand! ¹ 

Don’t let Hezekiah talk you into trusting in the Lord when he says, “The Lord will certainly rescue us; this city will not be handed over to the king of Assyria.”

He sent Eliakim the palace supervisor, Shebna the scribe, and the leading priests, ¹  clothed in sackcloth, with this message to the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz:

Hezekiah had said to Isaiah, “What is the confirming sign that the Lord will heal me and that I will go up to the Lord’s temple the day after tomorrow?”

Isaiah the prophet called out to the Lord, and the Lord ¹  made the shadow go back ten steps on the stairs of Ahaz. ² 

At that time Merodach-Baladan ¹  son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent letters and a gift to Hezekiah, for he had heard that Hezekiah was ill.

Hezekiah said to Isaiah, “The Lord’s word which you have announced is appropriate.” ¹  Then he added, ²  “At least there will be peace and stability during my lifetime.” ³ 

“Go up to Hilkiah the high priest and have him melt down ¹  the silver that has been brought by the people to the Lord’s temple and has been collected by the guards at the door.

(Now the priests of the high places did not go up to the altar of the Lord in Jerusalem, but they did eat unleavened cakes among their fellow priests.) ¹ 

The king ¹  said, “Leave it alone! No one must touch his bones.” So they left his bones undisturbed, as well as the bones of the Israelite prophet buried beside him. ² 

Gedaliah took an oath so as to give them and their troops some assurance of safety. ¹  He said, “You don’t need to be afraid to submit to the Babylonian officials. Settle down in the land and submit to the king of Babylon. Then things will go well for you.”

King Jehoash of Israel sent this message back to King Amaziah of Judah, “A thornbush in Lebanon sent this message to a cedar in Lebanon, ‘Give your daughter to my son as a wife.’ Then a wild animal ¹  of Lebanon came by and trampled down the thorn. ² 

But the Lord’s angelic messenger told Elijah the Tishbite, “Get up, go to meet the messengers from the king of Samaria. Say this to them: ‘You must think there is no God in Israel! That explains why you are on your way to seek an oracle from Baal Zebub the god of Ekron. ¹ 

Elijah replied to the captain, ¹  “If I am indeed a prophet, may fire come down from the sky and consume you and your fifty soldiers!” Fire then came down ²  from the sky and consumed him and his fifty soldiers.

Some members of the prophetic guild in Jericho approached Elisha and said, “Do you know that today the Lord is going to take your master from you?” He answered, “Yes, I know. Be quiet.”

When they had crossed over, Elijah said to Elisha, “What can I do for you, ¹  before I am taken away from you?” Elisha answered, “May I receive a double portion of the prophetic spirit that energizes you.” ²