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

Have any of the gods of the nations actually rescued his land from the power of the king of Assyria? ¹ 

When he finished offering the burnt sacrifice, Jehu ordered the royal guard ¹  and officers, “Come in and strike them down! Don’t let any escape!” So the royal guard and officers struck them down with the sword and left their bodies lying there. ²  Then they entered the inner sanctuary of the temple of Baal. ³ 

As one of them was felling a log, the ax head ¹  dropped into the water. He shouted, “Oh no, ²  my master! It was borrowed!”

Where are the gods of Hamath and Arpad? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivvah? ¹  Indeed, did any gods rescue Samaria ²  from my power? ³ 

Don’t listen to Hezekiah!’ For this is what the king of Assyria says, ‘Send me a token of your submission and surrender to me. ¹  Then each of you may eat from his own vine and fig tree and drink water from his own cistern,

When Jehu rejoined ¹  his master’s servants, they ²  asked him, “Is everything all right? ³  Why did this madman visit you?” He replied, “Ah, it’s not important. You know what kind of man he is and the kinds of things he says.” ⁴ 

You must surround the king. Each of you must hold his weapon in his hand. Whoever approaches your ranks must be killed. You must accompany the king wherever he goes.” ¹ 

He replied, “No, let the Lord help you. How can I help you? The threshing floor and winepress are empty.” ¹ 

Jehu aimed his bow and shot an arrow right between Jehoram’s shoulders. ¹  The arrow went through ²  his heart and he fell to his knees in his chariot.

(At that time King Rezin of Syria ¹  recovered Elat for Syria; he drove the Judahites from there. ²  Syrians ³  arrived in Elat and live there to this very day.)

So the Lord rejected all of Israel’s descendants; he humiliated ¹  them and handed them over to robbers, until he had thrown them from his presence.

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 

Just as the Lord had announced, he rejected Judah because of all the sins which Manasseh had committed. ¹ 

But when they went to bury her, they found nothing left but ¹  the skull, feet, and palms of the hands.

Finally ¹  the Lord rejected Israel ²  just as he had warned he would do ³  through all his servants the prophets. Israel was deported from its land to Assyria and remains there to this very day.

He removed the Asherah pole from the Lord’s temple and took it outside Jerusalem to the Kidron Valley, where he burned it. ¹  He smashed it to dust and then threw the dust in the public graveyard. ² 

When Josiah turned around, he saw the tombs there on the hill. So he ordered the bones from the tombs to be brought; ¹  he burned them on the altar and defiled it. This fulfilled the Lord’s announcement made by the prophet while Jeroboam stood by the altar during a festival. King Josiah ²  turned and saw the grave of the prophet who had foretold this. ³ 

Go and close the door behind you and your sons. Pour the olive oil into all the containers; ¹  set aside each one when you have filled it.”

After seven years the woman returned from the land of the Philistines and went to ask the king to give her back her house and field. ¹