Isaiah was still in the middle courtyard when the Lord told him, ¹ 

Yet the Lord’s great anger against Judah did not subside; he was still infuriated by all the things Manasseh had done. ¹ 

By the twenty-third year of King Jehoash’s reign the priests had still not repaired the damage to the temple.

He went to Samaria and exterminated all the members of Ahab’s family who were still alive in Samaria, ¹  just as the Lord had announced to Elijah. ² 

He was still talking to them when ¹  the messenger approached ²  and said, “Look, the Lord is responsible for this disaster! ³  Why should I continue to wait for the Lord to help?”

Then he said, “May God judge me severely ¹  if Elisha son of Shaphat still has his head by the end of the day!” ² 

Another third of you will be stationed at the Foundation ¹  Gate. Still another third of you will be stationed at the gate behind the royal guard. ²  You will take turns guarding the palace. ³ 

So they went and called out to the gatekeepers ¹  of the city. They told them, “We entered the Syrian camp and there was no one there. We didn’t even hear a man’s voice. ²  But the horses and donkeys are still tied up, and the tents remain up.” ³ 

But the high places were not eliminated; the people continued to offer sacrifices and burn incense on the high places.

But the high places were not eliminated; the people continued to offer sacrifices and burn incense on the high places.

But the high places were not eliminated; the people continued to offer sacrifices and burn incense on the high places. He built the Upper Gate to the Lord’s temple.

But the high places were not eliminated; the people continued to offer sacrifices and burn incense on the high places.

But each of these nations made ¹  its own gods and put them in the shrines on the high places that the people of Samaria ²  had made. Each nation did this in the cities where they lived.

When they came back, Elisha ¹  was staying in Jericho. He said to them, “Didn’t I tell you, ‘Don’t go’?”

As they were walking along and talking, suddenly a fiery chariot ¹  pulled by fiery horses appeared. ²  They went between Elijah and Elisha, ³  and Elijah went up to heaven in a windstorm.

Yet he persisted in ¹  the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat, who encouraged Israel to sin; he did not turn from them. ² 

So he asked Gehazi, ¹  “What can I do for her?” Gehazi replied, “She has no son, and her husband is old.”

Those who remain in Judah will take root in the ground and bear fruit. ¹ 

If we go into the city, we’ll die of starvation, ¹  and if we stay here we’ll die! So come on, let’s defect ²  to the Syrian camp! If they spare us, ³  we’ll live; if they kill us – well, we were going to die anyway.” ⁴ 

One of his advisers replied, “Pick some men and have them take five of the horses that are left in the city. (Even if they are killed, their fate will be no different than that of all the Israelite people – we’re all going to die!) ¹  Let’s send them out so we can know for sure what’s going on.” ²