After this, Jehoram ascended to the throne during the second year of the reign of Jehoshaphat's son Jehoram from Judah. He took the place of Ahaziah, who had no son. The rest of Ahaziah's activities are recorded in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel, are they not?

As soon as the Guild of Prophets who lived adjacent to Jericho saw Elisha, they began to announce, "The spirit of Elijah is at rest on Elisha!" So they came out to meet him and they greeted him by bowing low to the ground in front of him.

Ahab's son Jehoram ascended to the throne of Israel at Samaria during the eighteenth year of the reign of Judah's King Jehoshaphat. He reigned for twelve years,

Even so, he kept on committing the sins that Nebat's son Jeroboam had done, which ensnared Israel in sin he never abandoned them.

Jehoshaphat asked, "Isn't there a prophet who belongs to the LORD and through whom we can ask the LORD a question?" One of the king of Israel's attendants replied, "Shaphat's son Elisha lives here. He used to be Elijah's personal attendant."

As the Moabites arose early that morning, the sun cast its rays on the water, and to the Moabites, the water across from them appeared to be red like blood.

So he took his firstborn son, whom he intended to reign after him, and offered him up as a burnt offering on the wall. There subsequently came great anger against Israel, so they abandoned the attack and returned to their homeland.

When the last of the vessels had been filled, she told her son, "Bring me another pot!"

He responded, "What, then, is to be done on her behalf?" Gehazi answered, "Well, she has no son and her husband is growing old."

and he told her, "About this time next year you will be embracing a son."

"No, sir! Please, as a godly man, don't mislead your servant!" But the woman did conceive and did bear a son at that very same time the next year, just as Elisha had told her.

Then she asked, "Did I ask my lord for a son? Didn't I beg you, "Don't mislead me?'"

Meanwhile, Gehazi went on ahead of them and placed the staff on the youngster's face, but when there was no sound or reaction, he returned, met Elisha, and told him, "The youngster has shown no sign of awakening."

He called out to Gehazi, "Go get the Shunammite woman!" So he called her. When she came in to see Elisha, he told her, "Take back your son!"

Then she approached him, fell at his feet, bowing low to the ground, took back her son, and went out.

Naaman's leprosy will plague you and your descendants forever!" As he left Elisha's presence, he was infected with leprosy that looked like white snow.

She said, "This woman told me, "Give up your son, and we'll eat him today, and we'll eat your son tomorrow.'" So we boiled my son and ate him. The next day, I told her, "Give me your son so we can eat him!' But she has hidden her son!"

He said, "May God do to me and more also! if the head of Shaphat's son Elisha remains on his shoulders today!"

Meanwhile, Elisha urged the woman whose son he had restored to life, "You must get up and leave with your household to go live wherever you can, because the LORD has called for a famine, and it's going to come over the land for seven years."

Just as he was telling the king about Elisha's having restored the dead to life, the woman whose son had been restored arrived and appealed to the king for her house and her land! Gehazi told the king, "Your majesty, this is the woman! And here's her son, whom Elisha restored to life!"

So Hazael went out to meet with him and took a gift with him 40 camel loads filled with samples of everything good in Damascus. He approached the man of God and said, "Your son King Ben-hadad from Aram has sent me to you to ask you, "Will I recover from this sickness?'"

Sometime during the fifth year of the reign of Ahab's son Joram, king of Israel (while Jehoshaphat was still ruling as king of Judah), Jehoshaphat's son Jehoram ascended to the throne of Judah.

After Joram was laid to rest with his ancestors in the City of David, his son Ahaziah replaced him as king.

Joram's son Ahaziah began to reign as king of Judah during the twelfth year of the reign of Ahab's son Joram, king of Israel.

His mother was named Athaliah. She was the granddaughter of Omri, king of Israel. Ahaziah lived his life following the example of Ahab's household, practicing what the LORD considered to be evil, just like the household of Ahab, because he was a son-in-law to Ahab's household.

He joined Ahab's son Joram in an attack on King Hazael of Aram at Ramoth-gilead, and that's where the Arameans wounded Joram.

Then King Joram retreated to Jezreel to recover from the wounds that the Arameans had inflicted on him at Ramah during the battle against King Hazael of Aram. Jehoram's son Ahaziah, king of Judah, went to visit Ahab's son Joram in Jezreel because Joram was sick.

As soon as you get there, go find Jehoshaphat's son Jehu, the grandson of Nimshi. When you do, go in, tell him to get up and go apart with you away from his brothers. Lead him into a private chamber,

I will make the household of Ahab like the household of Nebat's son Jeroboam and the household of Ahijah's son Baasha.

Meanwhile, Jehoshaphat's son Jehu, the grandson of Nimshi, had been conspiring against Joram while Joram and all the army of Israel had been defending Ramoth-gilead against King Hazael from Aram.

The watchman reported to Joram, "He arrived there, but he hasn't returned. Also, he drives like Nimshi's son Jehu drives irrationally!"

Joram replied, "Let's begin our attack!" As soon as his chariot was prepared, both King Joram of Israel and King Ahaziah of Judah went out, each in his own chariot, to fight against Jehu. They met together in the property that had belonged to Naboth the Jezreelite.

As soon as Joram noticed Jehu, he cried out, "Peace, Jehu?" Jehu replied, "What peace, given your mother Jezebel's prostitution and all of her witchcraft?"

As soon as King Ahaziah of Judah observed this, he attempted to flee by the garden house road, but Jehu pursued him. At the ascent toward Gur which is near Ibleam, he ordered, "Shoot him in the chariot, too!"

Ahaziah had begun to reign over Judah in the eleventh year of the reign of Ahab's son Joram.

As soon as Jehu arrived at Jezreel, Jezebel adorned her eyes, arranged her hair, and peered out a window.

"As soon as you receive this letter (since your master's children are with you, you have chariots and horses there with you, and you are protected by a walled city and weaponry),

After he left there, he encountered Rechab's son Jehonadab. After he greeted him, Jehu asked him, "Is your heart right, as my heart is with yours?" "It is," Jehonadab answered.

Jehu and Rechab's son Jehonadab entered Baal's temple, and Jehu told the Baal worshipers, "Look around and be sure that no servant of the LORD is here among you, but only worshipers of Baal."

As soon as he had completed the burnt offering, Jehu ordered the guards and the officers, "Go in and execute them. Don't let even one man escape." So they executed them with swords, and the guards and the officers threw the bodies out and proceeded into the inner room of Baal's temple,

Even so, Jehu never abandoned the sins of Nebat's son Jeroboam, who caused Israel to sin, regarding the golden calves that were at Bethel and Dan.

But Jehu did not remain careful to walk in the instruction of the LORD God of Israel with all his heart. He never abandoned the sins of Jeroboam that had caused Israel to sin.

Then Jehu died, as did his ancestors, and they buried him in Samaria. His son Jehoahaz reigned in his place.

As soon as Ahaziah's mother Athaliah learned that her son had died, she seized the throne and executed the entire royal bloodline.

But King Joram's daughter Jehosheba, who was Ahaziah's sister, rescued Ahaziah's son Joash from the group of the king's sons who were being executed and hid him and his nurse in her bedroom, concealing him from Athaliah so he was not put to death.

But during the seventh year of her reign, Jehoiada went out and called together the rulers of hundreds, the captains, and the guards, and assembled them together inside the LORD's Temple. He made a covenant with them, making them take an oath in the LORD's Temple, and then he revealed the king's son to them.

Then he brought out the king's son, put the royal crown on him, presented him with the Testimony, and installed him as king. They anointed him, applauded, and said, "May the king live!"

The money from the guilt offerings and from the sin offerings was not brought into the LORD's Temple, because it was allocated to the priests.

Shimeath's son Jozacar and Shomer's son Jehozabad, his servants, attacked him and he died. They buried him alongside his ancestors in the City of David, and his son Amaziah became king to replace him.

During the twenty-third year of the reign of Ahaziah's son Joash, king of Judah, Jehu's son Jehoahaz began his seventeen year reign in Samaria over Israel.

He did what the LORD considered to be evil, after the pattern of Nebat's son Jeroboam. By doing so, he caused Israel to sin, and he never changed course from it.

As a result, the LORD's wrath flared up against Israel, so he handed them over to domination by King Hazael of Aram and later into constant domination by Hazael's son Ben-hadad.

Nevertheless, they did not change course away from the sins of Jeroboam's household, by which he caused Israel to sin, but continued on that same course, with Asherah poles remaining in place in Samaria.

So Jehoahaz died, as did his ancestors, and he was buried in Samaria while his son Joash replaced him as king.

During the thirty-seventh year of the reign of King Joash of Judah, Jehoahaz's son Jehoash began a sixteen year reign as king over Israel in Samaria.

He practiced what the LORD considered to be evil, not changing course from all of the sins practiced by Nebat's son Jeroboam by which he caused Israel to sin. Instead, he continued on that same course.

After King Hazael of Aram died, his son Ben-hadad replaced him as king.

At that time, Jehoahaz's son Jehoash recaptured from Hazael's son Ben-hadad the cities that Hazael had captured through warfare from the control of Jehoahaz, Jehoash's father. Joash defeated and recovered cities of Israel from Ben-hadad three times.

Amaziah, son of Judah's King Joash, became king during the second year of the reign of Joash, son of King Joahaz of Israel,

Later on, as soon as he was in firm control of his kingdom, he executed the servants who had murdered his father the king,

but he did not execute the children of the murderers, in keeping with what is written in the Book of the Law of Moses, as the LORD had commanded: "Fathers must not be put to death because of their children's sin; nor are children to die because of their fathers' sin, for each person is to be put to death for his own sin."

Later, Amaziah sent couriers to Jehoahaz's son Jehoash, grandson of King Jehu of Israel, challenging him, "Come on! Let's fight face to face!"

But King Jehoash of Israel sent this message to King Amaziah of Judah: "The thorn bush in Lebanon sent this message to the cedar of Lebanon: "Give your daughter to my son in marriage.' But just then a wild beast from Lebanon wandered by and trampled down the thorn bush.

Then King Jehoash of Israel captured Judah's King Amaziah, the son of Jehoash and grandson of Ahaziah, at Beth-shemesh. He went to Jerusalem and demolished 400 cubits of the wall of Jerusalem from the Ephraim Gate to the Corner Gate.

Jehoash died, as had his ancestors, and he was buried in Samaria alongside the kings of Israel. His son Jeroboam reigned in his place.

Joash's son, King Amaziah of Judah, lived for fifteen years after Jehoahaz' son, King Jehoash of Israel, died.

In the fifteenth year of the reign of Amaziah son of Joash, king of Judah, Jeroboam son of Joash, king of Israel, began a 41 year reign in Samaria.

He did what the LORD considered to be evil by not abandoning all the sins of Nebat's son Jeroboam, who made Israel sin.

He rebuilt Israel's coastline from the entrance of Hamath as far as the Sea of the Arabah, in accordance with the message from the LORD God of Israel that he spoke through his servant Jonah the prophet, Amittai's son, who was from Gath-hepher.

The LORD had never said that he would erase the name of Israel from under heaven. Instead, he delivered them by Joash's son Jeroboam.

Jeroboam died, as had his ancestors the kings of Israel, and his son Zechariah became king in his place.

Amaziah's son Azariah began reigning during the twenty-seventh year of the reign of Jeroboam, king of Israel.

The LORD struck the king so that he was afflicted with leprosy until the day he died. He lived in a separate house while his son Jotham managed the household and ruled the people who lived in the land.

Later, Azariah died, as had his ancestors, and they buried him with his ancestors in the City of David. His son Jotham then reigned in his place.

During the thirty-eighth year of the reign of Azariah, king of Judah, Jeroboam's son Zachariah began a six-month reign in Samaria.

He did what the LORD considered to be evil, just as his ancestors had done. He never abandoned the sins of Nebat's son Jeroboam, who caused Israel to sin.

So Jabesh's son Shallum conspired against him and attacked him in full view of the people, killed him, and reigned in his place.

Jabesh's son Shallum began his reign in the thirty-ninth year of the reign of Uzziah, king of Judah. He reigned a full month in Samaria,

then Gadi's son Menahem approached Samaria from Tirzah and attacked Jabesh's son Shallum, executed him, and reigned in his place.

In the thirty-ninth year of the reign of Azariah, king of Judah, Gadi's son Menahem began a ten-year reign over Israel from Samaria.

He did what the LORD considered to be evil by never abandoning the sins of Nebat's son Jeroboam, who caused Israel to sin, as long as he lived.

Then Menahem died, as did his ancestors, and his son Pekahiah reigned in his place.

Menahem's son Pekahiah became king over Israel for two years during the fiftieth year of the reign of King Azariah of Judah.

He did what the LORD considered to be evil. Just as Nebat's son Jeroboam had led Israel into sin, so also Pekahiah did not stop doing the same thing.

Then Remaliah's son Pekah, Pekahiah's officer, conspired against him with Argob and Arieh. Accompanied by 50 Gileadite men, Pekah attacked Pekahiah inside the palace of the king's compound in Samaria, executed him, and reigned as king in his place.

Remaliah's son Pekah began a 20-year reign as Israel's king during the fifty-second year of King Azariah of Judah.

He did what the LORD considered to be evil by never abandoning the sins of Nebat's son Jeroboam, by which he caused Israel to sin.

So during the twentieth year of the reign of Uzziah's son Jotham, Elah's son Hoshea conspired against Remaliah's son Pekah, attacked him, executed him, and became king in his place.

Uzziah's son Jotham became king over Judah during the second year of the reign of Remaliah's son Pekah, king of Israel.

Right about that time, the LORD began to send King Rezin of Aram and Remaliah's son Pekah against Judah.

Meanwhile, Jotham died, as did his ancestors, and was buried with them in the City of David, his ancestor. Then Jotham's son Ahaz reigned in his place.

During the seventeenth year of the reign of Remaliah's son Pekah, Jotham's son Ahaz became king of Judah.

Instead, he behaved like the kings of Israel did by making his son pass through fire, the very same abomination that the heathen practiced, whom the LORD evicted from the land right in front of the Israelis.

Later, King Rezin of Aram and Remaliah's son Pekah, king of Israel, approached Jerusalem to attack it. They besieged Ahaz but could not conquer him.

So Ahaz sent envoys to Tiglath-pileser, king of Assyria, to tell him, "I am your servant and son. Save me from the king of Aram and the king of Israel, who are attacking me."

When the king returned from Damascus, as soon as he saw the altar, he approached it and offered sacrifices on it.

Later, Ahaz died, as did his ancestors, and was buried alongside his ancestors in the City of David. His son Hezekiah reigned in his place.

During the twelfth year of the reign of King Ahaz of Judah, Elah's son Hoshea became king over Israel for nine years in Samaria.

He ripped them away from the heritage of David, even as the people appointed Nebat's son Jeroboam to be king. Jeroboam drove Israel away from following the LORD and made them commit great sin.

Now it happened that during the third year of the reign of Elah's son Hoshea, king of Israel, that Ahaz' son Hezekiah became king.