Gehazi, the prophet Elisha's servant, thought, "Look, my master did not accept what this Syrian Naaman offered him. As certainly as the Lord lives, I will run after him and accept something from him."

Elisha replied, "I was there in spirit when a man turned and got down from his chariot to meet you. This is not the proper time to accept silver or to accept clothes, olive groves, vineyards, sheep, cattle, and male and female servants.

So he sent horses and chariots there, along with a good-sized army. They arrived during the night and surrounded the city.

Then Elisha said to them, "This is not the right road or city. Follow me, and I will lead you to the man you're looking for." He led them to Samaria.

He replied, "Do not strike them down! You did not capture them with your sword or bow, so what gives you the right to strike them down? Give them some food and water, so they can eat and drink and then go back to their master."

An officer who was the king's right-hand man responded to the prophet, "Look, even if the Lord made it rain by opening holes in the sky, could this happen so soon?" Elisha said, "Look, you will see it happen with your own eyes, but you will not eat any of the food!"

Then they said to one another, "It's not right what we're doing! This is a day to celebrate, but we haven't told anyone. If we wait until dawn, we'll be punished. So come on, let's go and inform the royal palace."

The king got up in the night and said to his advisers, "I will tell you what the Syrians have done to us. They know we are starving, so they left the camp and hid in the field, thinking, 'When they come out of the city, we will capture them alive and enter the city.'"

But the officer replied to the prophet, "Look, even if the Lord made it rain by opening holes in the sky, could this happen so soon?" Elisha said, "Look, you will see it happen with your own eyes, but you will not eat any of the food!"

Joram crossed over to Zair with all his chariots. The Edomites, who had surrounded him, attacked at night and defeated him and his chariot officers. The Israelite army retreated to their homeland.

Dogs will devour Jezebel on the plot of ground in Jezreel; she will not be buried.'" Then he opened the door and ran away.

When Jehu rejoined his master's servants, they asked him, "Is everything all right? 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."

Jezebel's corpse will be like manure on the surface of the ground in the plot of land at Jezreel. People will not be able to even recognize her.'"

They were absolutely terrified and said, "Look, two kings could not stop him! How can we?"

So the palace supervisor, the city commissioner, the leaders, and the guardians sent this message to Jehu, "We are your subjects! Whatever you say, we will do. We will not make anyone king. Do what you consider proper."

Therefore take note that not one of the judgments the Lord announced against Ahab's dynasty has failed to materialize. The Lord had done what he announced through his servant Elijah."

Jehu sent invitations throughout Israel, and all the servants of Baal came; not one was absent. They arrived at the temple of Baal and filled it up from end to end.

However, Jehu did not repudiate the sins which Jeroboam son of Nebat had encouraged Israel to commit; the golden calves remained in Bethel and Dan.

But Jehu did not carefully and wholeheartedly obey the law of the Lord God of Israel. He did not repudiate the sins which Jeroboam had encouraged Israel to commit.

Jehoiada the priest ordered the officers of the units of hundreds, who were in charge of the army, "Bring her outside the temple to the guards. Put the sword to anyone who follows her." The priest gave this order because he had decided she should not be executed in the Lord's temple.

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

The priests should receive the silver they need from the treasurers and repair any damage to the temple they discover."

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

So King Jehoash summoned Jehoiada the priest along with the other priests, and said to them, "Why have you not repaired the damage to the temple? Now, take no more silver from your treasurers unless you intend to use it to repair the damage."

The priests agreed not to collect silver from the people and relieved themselves of personal responsibility for the temple repairs.

The silver brought to the Lord's temple was not used for silver bowls, trimming shears, basins, trumpets, or any kind of gold or silver implements.

They did not audit the treasurers who disbursed the funds to the foremen, for they were honest.

(The silver collected in conjunction with reparation offerings and sin offerings was not brought to the Lord's temple; it belonged to the priests.)

He did evil in the sight of the Lord. He continued in the sinful ways of Jeroboam son of Nebat who had encouraged Israel to sin; he did not repudiate those sins.

But they did not repudiate the sinful ways of the family of Jeroboam, who encouraged Israel to sin; they continued in those sins. There was even an Asherah pole standing in Samaria.

He did evil in the sight of the Lord. He did not repudiate the sinful ways of Jeroboam son of Nebat who encouraged Israel to sin; he continued in those sins.

He did what the Lord approved, but not like David his father. He followed the example of his father Joash.

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

But he did not execute the sons of the assassins. He obeyed the Lord's commandment as recorded in the law scroll of Moses, "Fathers must not be put to death for what their sons do, and sons must not be put to death for what their fathers do. A man must be put to death only for his own sin."

But Amaziah would not heed the warning, so King Jehoash of Israel attacked. He and King Amaziah of Judah met face to face in Beth Shemesh of Judah.

He did evil in the sight of the Lord; he did not repudiate the sinful ways of Jeroboam son of Nebat who encouraged Israel to sin.

The Lord had not decreed that he would blot out Israel's memory from under heaven, so he delivered them through Jeroboam son of Joash.

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

He did evil in the sight of the Lord, as his ancestors had done. He did not repudiate the sinful ways of Jeroboam son of Nebat who encouraged Israel to sin.

At that time Menahem came from Tirzah and attacked Tiphsah. He struck down all who lived in the city and the surrounding territory, because they would not surrender. He even ripped open the pregnant women.

He did evil in the sight of the Lord; he did not repudiate the sinful ways of Jeroboam son of Nebat who encouraged Israel to sin. During his reign,

Menahem got this silver by taxing all the wealthy men in Israel; he took fifty shekels of silver from each one of them and paid it to the king of Assyria. Then the king of Assyria left; he did not stay there in the land.

He did evil in the sight of the Lord; he did not repudiate the sinful ways of Jeroboam son of Nebat who encouraged Israel to sin.

He did evil in the sight of the Lord; he did not repudiate the sinful ways of Jeroboam son of Nebat who encouraged Israel to sin.

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.

Ahaz was twenty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned for sixteen years in Jerusalem. He did not do what pleased the Lord his God, in contrast to his ancestor David.

He did evil in the sight of the Lord, but not to the same degree as the Israelite kings who preceded him.

The king of Assyria discovered that Hoshea was planning a revolt. Hoshea had sent messengers to King So of Egypt and had not sent his annual tribute to the king of Assyria. So the king of Assyria arrested him and imprisoned him.

The Israelites said things about the Lord their God that were not right. They built high places in all their cities, from the watchtower to the fortress.

But they did not pay attention and were as stubborn as their ancestors, who had not trusted the Lord their God.

The Israelites followed in the sinful ways of Jeroboam son of Nebat and did not repudiate them.

When they first moved in, they did not worship the Lord. So the Lord sent lions among them and the lions were killing them.

The king of Assyria was told, "The nations whom you deported and settled in the cities of Samaria do not know the requirements of the God of the land, so he has sent lions among them. They are killing the people because they do not know the requirements of the God of the land."

To this very day they observe their earlier practices. They do not worship the Lord; they do not obey the rules, regulations, law, and commandments that the Lord gave the descendants of Jacob, whom he renamed Israel.

The Lord made an agreement with them and instructed them, "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.

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

He was loyal to the Lord and did not abandon him. He obeyed the commandments which the Lord had given to Moses.

This happened because they did not obey the Lord their God and broke his agreement with them. They did not pay attention to and obey all that Moses, the Lord's servant, had commanded.

Certainly you will not refuse one of my master's minor officials and trust in Egypt for chariots and horsemen.

But the chief adviser said to them, "My master did not send me to speak these words only to your master and to you. His message is also for the men who sit on the wall, for they will eat their own excrement and drink their own urine along with you."

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

Don't let Hezekiah talk you into trusting in the Lord when he says, "The Lord will certainly rescue us; this city will not be handed over to the king of Assyria."

until I come and take you to a land just like your own -- a land of grain and new wine, a land of bread and vineyards, a land of olive trees and honey. Then you will live and not die. Don't listen to Hezekiah, for he is misleading you when he says, "The Lord will rescue us."

The people were silent and did not respond, for the king had ordered, "Don't respond to him."

"Tell King Hezekiah of Judah this: 'Don't let your God in whom you trust mislead you when he says, "Jerusalem will not be handed over to the king of Assyria."

They have burned the gods of the nations, for they are not really gods, but only the product of human hands manufactured from wood and stone. That is why the Assyrians could destroy them.

So this is what the Lord says about the king of Assyria: "He will not enter this city, nor will he shoot an arrow here. He will not attack it with his shield-carrying warriors, nor will he build siege works against it.

He will go back the way he came. He will not enter this city," says the Lord.

That very night the Lord's messenger went out and killed 185,000 men in the Assyrian camp. When they got up early the next morning, there were all the corpses.

In those days Hezekiah was stricken with a terminal illness. The prophet Isaiah son of Amoz visited him and told him, "This is what the Lord says, 'Give your household instructions, for you are about to die; you will not get well.'"

Hezekiah answered, "It is easy for the shadow to lengthen ten steps, but not for it to go back ten steps."

I will not make Israel again leave the land I gave to their ancestors, provided that they carefully obey all I commanded them, the whole law my servant Moses ordered them to obey."

But they did not obey, and Manasseh misled them so that they sinned more than the nations whom the Lord had destroyed from before the Israelites.

He abandoned the Lord God of his ancestors and did not follow the Lord's instructions.

He did what the Lord approved and followed in his ancestor David's footsteps; he did not deviate to the right or the left.

Do not audit the foremen who disburse the silver, for they are honest."

"Go, seek an oracle from the Lord for me and the people -- for all Judah. Find out about the words of this scroll that has been discovered. For the Lord's fury has been ignited against us, because our ancestors have not obeyed the words of this scroll by doing all that it instructs us to do."

This will happen because they have abandoned me and offered sacrifices to other gods, angering me with all the idols they have made. My anger will ignite against this place and will not be extinguished!'"

Therefore I will allow you to die and be buried in peace. You will not have to witness all the disaster I will bring on this place.'"'" Then they reported back to the king.

(Now the priests of the high places did not go up to the altar of the Lord in Jerusalem, but they did eat unleavened cakes among their fellow priests.)

He issued this edict because a Passover like this had not been observed since the days of the judges; it was neglected for the entire period of the kings of Israel and Judah.

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

The king of Egypt did not march out from his land again, for the king of Babylon conquered all the territory that the king of Egypt had formerly controlled between the Brook of Egypt and the Euphrates River.

The enemy broke through the city walls, and all the soldiers tried to escape. They left the city during the night. They went through the gate between the two walls that is near the king's garden. (The Babylonians were all around the city.) Then they headed for the Jordan Valley.

Gedaliah took an oath so as to give them and their troops some assurance of safety. He said, "You don'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."

These were all the sons of David, not counting the sons of his concubines. Tamar was their sister.

Jabez called out to the God of Israel, "If only you would greatly bless me and expand my territory! May your hand be with me! Keep me from harm so I might not endure pain!" God answered his prayer.

Shimei had sixteen sons and six daughters. But his brothers did not have many sons, so their whole clan was not as numerous as the sons of Judah.

The sons of Reuben, Israel's firstborn -- (Now he was the firstborn, but when he defiled his father's bed, his rights as firstborn were given to the sons of Joseph, Israel's son. So Reuben is not listed as firstborn in the genealogical records.

They would spend the night in their posts all around God's sanctuary, for they were assigned to guard it and would open it with the key every morning.

The musicians and Levite family leaders stayed in rooms at the sanctuary and were exempt from other duties, for day and night they had to carry out their assigned tasks.

So Saul died because he was unfaithful to the Lord and did not obey the Lord's instructions; he even tried to conjure up underworld spirits.

He did not seek the Lord's guidance, so the Lord killed him and transferred the kingdom to David son of Jesse.

From the three he was given double honor and he became their officer, even though he was not one of them.

He received honor from the thirty warriors, though he was not one of the three elite warriors. David put him in charge of his bodyguard.

David went out to meet them and said, "If you come to me in peace and want to help me, then I will make an alliance with you. But if you come to betray me to my enemies when I have not harmed you, may the God of our ancestors take notice and judge!"

Some men from Manasseh joined David when he went with the Philistines to fight against Saul. (But in the end they did not help the Philistines because, after taking counsel, the Philistine lords sent David away, saying: "It would be disastrous for us if he deserts to his master Saul.")

Let's move the ark of our God back here, for we did not seek his will throughout Saul's reign."

So David did not move the ark to the City of David; he left it in the house of Obed-Edom the Gittite.