The Edomites had again invaded and defeated Judah and carried off captives.

The people continued to offer sacrifices at the high places, but only to the Lord their God.

He said to them, “Go away for three days, then return to me.” So the people went away.

Jeroboam did not regain power during the reign of Abijah. ¹  The Lord struck him down and he died.

He was committed to following the Lord; ¹  he even removed the high places and Asherah poles from Judah.

But Jehoshaphat asked, “Is there not a prophet of the Lord still here, that we may ask him?”

However, the high places were not eliminated; the people were still not devoted to the God of their ancestors. ¹ 

Sennacherib’s ¹  servants further insulted ²  the Lord God and his servant Hezekiah.

He did what the Lord approved, just as his father Uzziah had done. ¹  (He did not, however, have the audacity to enter the temple.) ²  Yet the people were still sinning.

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 

He said to the people of Judah: ¹  “Let’s build these cities and fortify them with walls, towers, and barred gates. ²  The land remains ours because we have followed ³  the Lord our God and he has made us secure on all sides.” ⁴  So they built the cities ⁵  and prospered.

In the eighth year of his reign, while he was still young, he began to seek the God of his ancestor ¹  David. In his twelfth year he began ridding ²  Judah and Jerusalem of the high places, Asherah poles, idols, and images.

Shaphan brought the scroll to the king and reported, ¹  “Your servants are doing everything assigned to them.

The king of Israel answered Jehoshaphat, “There is still one man through whom we can seek the Lord’s will. ¹  But I despise ²  him because he does not prophesy prosperity for me, but always ³  disaster. His name is Micaiah son of Imlah. ⁴  Jehoshaphat said, “The king should not say such things!”