Then a spirit ¹  stepped forward and stood before the Lord. He said, ‘I will deceive him.’ The Lord asked him, ‘How?’

Jehoram took control of his father’s kingdom and became powerful. ¹  Then he killed all his brothers, ²  as well as some of the officials of Israel.

He was buried in the City of David ¹  with the kings, because he had accomplished good in Israel and for God and his temple.

So Amaziah dismissed the troops that had come to him from Ephraim and sent them home. ¹  They were very angry at Judah and returned home incensed.

They removed the altars in Jerusalem; they also removed all the incense altars and threw them into the Kidron Valley. ¹ 

everyone who has determined to follow God, ¹  the Lord God of his ancestors, even if he is not ceremonially clean according to the standards of the temple.” ² 

He appointed military officers over the army ¹  and assembled them in the square at the city gate. He encouraged them, ²  saying,

“Foreigners, who do not belong to your people Israel, will come from a distant land because of your great reputation ¹  and your ability to accomplish mighty deeds; ²  they will come and direct their prayers toward this temple.

the food in his banquet hall, ¹  his servants and attendants ²  in their robes, his cupbearers in their robes, and his burnt sacrifices which he presented in the Lord’s temple, ³  she was amazed. ⁴ 

But as for us, the Lord is our God and we have not rejected him. Aaron’s descendants serve as the Lord’s priests and the Levites assist them with the work. ¹ 

Micaiah ¹  said, “That being the case, hear the word of the Lord: I saw the Lord sitting on his throne, with all the heavenly assembly standing on his right and on his left.

He prayed: “O Lord God of our ancestors, ¹  you are the God who lives in heaven ²  and rules over all the kingdoms of the nations. You possess strength and power; no one can stand against you.

Jehoram was thirty-two years old when he became king and he reigned eight years in Jerusalem. No one regretted his death; ¹  he was buried in the City of David, ²  but not in the royal tombs.

No one must enter the Lord’s temple except the priests and Levites who are on duty. They may enter because they are ceremonially pure. All the others should carry out their assigned service to the Lord.

In Jerusalem he made war machines carefully designed to shoot arrows and large stones from the towers and corners of the walls. He became very famous, for he received tremendous support and became powerful. ¹ 

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.

Ahaz gathered the items in God’s temple and removed them. He shut the doors of the Lord’s temple and erected altars on every street corner in Jerusalem.

We have prepared and consecrated all the items that King Ahaz removed during his reign when he acted unfaithfully. They are in front of the altar of the Lord.”

Hezekiah ordered the burnt sacrifice to be offered on the altar. As they began to offer the sacrifice, they also began to sing to the Lord, accompanied by the trumpets and the musical instruments of King David of Israel.

They made disbursements to all the males three years old and up who were listed in the genealogical records – to all who would enter the Lord’s temple to serve on a daily basis and fulfill their duties as assigned to their divisions. ¹