“‘Therefore,’ says the Lord, ‘I have become compassionate ¹  toward Jerusalem ²  and will rebuild my temple ³  in it,’ says the Lord who rules over all. ‘Once more a surveyor’s measuring line will be stretched out over Jerusalem.’

“The Lord who rules over all also says, ‘Gather strength, you who are listening to these words today from the mouths of the prophets who were there at the founding of the house of the Lord who rules over all, ¹  so that the temple might be built.

There he set up an altar and called it “The God of Israel is God.” ¹ 

All the people who were at the gate and the elders replied, “We are witnesses. May the Lord make the woman who is entering your home like Rachel and Leah, both of whom built up the house of Israel! May ¹  you prosper ²  in Ephrathah and become famous ³  in Bethlehem. ⁴ 

You must obey ¹  all I command you to do, follow my instructions, ²  do what I approve, ³  and keep my rules and commandments, like my servant David did. Then I will be with you and establish for you a lasting dynasty, as I did for David; ⁴  I will give you Israel.

King Asa ordered all the men of Judah (no exemptions were granted) to carry away the stones and wood that Baasha had used to build Ramah. ¹  King Asa used the materials to build up ²  Geba (in Benjamin) and Mizpah.

David said, “My son Solomon is just an inexperienced young man, ¹  and the temple to be built for the Lord must be especially magnificent so it will become famous and be considered splendid by all the nations. ²  Therefore I will make preparations for its construction.” So David made extensive preparations before he died.

After this Manasseh ¹  built up the outer wall of the City of David ²  on the west side of the Gihon in the valley to the entrance of the Fish Gate and all around the terrace; he made it much higher. He placed army officers in all the fortified cities in Judah.

He told the Levites, who instructed all Israel about things consecrated to the Lord, “Place the holy ark in the temple which King Solomon son of David of Israel built. Don’t carry it on your shoulders. Now serve the Lord your God and his people Israel!

For he set its foundation upon the seas, and established ¹  it upon the ocean currents. ² 

King Solomon made a sedan chair ¹  for himself of wood imported from Lebanon. ² 

Then Rahab ¹  let them down by a rope ²  through the window. (Her ³  house was built as part of the city wall; she lived in the wall.) ⁴ 

He constructed the walls inside the temple with cedar planks; he paneled the inside with wood from the floor of the temple to the rafters ¹  of the ceiling. He covered the temple floor with boards made from the wood of evergreens.

He built temples ¹  on the high places and appointed as priests people who were not Levites.

Jehoshaphat built a fleet of large merchant ships ¹  to travel to Ophir for gold, but they never made the voyage because they were shipwrecked in Ezion Geber.

He built royal cities ¹  and owned a large number of sheep and cattle, for God gave him a huge amount of possessions.

The builders to a man had their swords strapped to their sides while they were building. But the trumpeter ¹  remained with me.

There was once ¹  a small city with a few men in it, and a mighty king attacked it, besieging ²  it and building strong ³  siege works against it.

“Indeed a time is coming,” ¹  says the Lord, ²  “when the city of Jerusalem ³  will be rebuilt as my special city. ⁴  It will be built from the Tower of Hananel westward to the Corner Gate. ⁵ 

Pharaoh with his great army and mighty horde will not help ¹  him in battle, when siege ramps are erected and siege-walls are built to kill many people.