He replied, &#8220;Don&#8217;t be afraid, for our side outnumbers them.&#8221;<n id="1" />

You must never forget the agreement I made with you, and you must not worship other gods.

Instead you must worship the <sc>Lordsc> your God; then he will rescue you from the power of all your enemies.&#8221;

The <sc>Lordsc>&#8217;s angelic messenger said to Elijah, &#8220;Go down with him. Don&#8217;t be afraid of him.&#8221; So he got up and went down<n id="1" /> with him to the king.p>

<p class="bodytext">They were absolutely terrified<n id="1" /> and said, &#8220;Look, two kings could not stop him!<n id="2" /> How can we?&#8221;<n id="3" />

When they first moved in,<n id="1" /> they did not worship<n id="2" /> the <sc>Lordsc>. So the <sc>Lordsc> sent lions among them and the lions were killing them.

So one of the priests whom they had deported from Samaria went back and settled in Bethel.<n id="1" /> He taught them how to worship<n id="2" /> the <sc>Lordsc>.p>

At the same time they worshiped<n id="1" /> the <sc>Lordsc>. They appointed some of their own people to serve as priests in the shrines on the high places.<n id="2" />

They were worshiping<n id="1" /> the <sc>Lordsc> and at the same time serving their own gods in accordance with the practices of the nations from which they had been deported.p>

The <sc>Lordsc> made an agreement<n id="1" /> with them<n id="2" /> and instructed them, &#8220;You must not worship other gods. Do not bow down to them, serve them, or offer sacrifices to them.

You must carefully obey at all times the rules, regulations, law, and commandments he wrote down for you. You must not worship other gods.

Gedaliah took an oath so as to give them and their troops some assurance of safety.<n id="1" /> He said, &#8220;You don&#8217;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.&#8221;

Then all the people, from the youngest to the oldest, as well as the army officers, left for<n id="1" /> Egypt, because they were afraid of what the Babylonians might do.p>

<t /><p class="bodytext">Now a wife of one of the prophets<n id="1" /> appealed<n id="2" /> to Elisha for help, saying, &#8220;Your servant, my husband is dead. You know that your servant was a loyal follower of the <sc>Lordsc>.<n id="3" /> Now the creditor is coming to take away my two boys to be his servants.&#8221;

<t /><p class="bodytext">This happened because the Israelites sinned against the <sc>Lordsc> their God, who brought them up from the land of Egypt and freed them from the power of<n id="1" /> Pharaoh king of Egypt. They worshiped<n id="2" /> other gods;

<p class="bodytext">To this very day they observe their earlier practices. They do not worship<n id="1" /> the <sc>Lordsc>; they do not obey the rules, regulations, law, and commandments that the <sc>Lordsc> gave<n id="2" /> the descendants of Jacob, whom he renamed Israel.

Instead you must worship the <sc>Lordsc>, who brought you up from the land of Egypt by his great power and military ability;<n id="1" /> bow down to him and offer sacrifices to him.

These nations are worshiping the <sc>Lordsc> and at the same time serving their idols; their sons and grandsons do just as their fathers have done, to this very day.p>

Isaiah said to them, &#8220;Tell your master this: &#8216;This is what the <sc>Lordsc> says: &#8220;Don&#8217;t be afraid because of the things you have heard &#8211; these insults the king of Assyria&#8217;s servants have hurled against me.<n id="1" />