He told his servant, “Go on up and look in the direction of the sea.” So he went on up, looked, and reported, “There is nothing.” ¹  Seven times Elijah sent him to look. ² 

So he threw a big banquet ¹  for them and they ate and drank. Then he sent them back ²  to their master. After that no Syrian raiding parties again invaded the land of Israel.

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 

However, Jehu did not repudiate the sins which Jeroboam son of Nebat had encouraged Israel to commit; the golden calves remained in Bethel ¹  and Dan. ² 

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. ¹  He even ripped open the pregnant women.

Ahaz was twenty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned for sixteen years in Jerusalem. ¹  He did not do what pleased the Lord his God, in contrast to his ancestor David. ² 

Isaiah ¹  asked, “What have they seen in your palace?” Hezekiah replied, “They have seen everything in my palace. I showed them everything ²  in my treasuries.”

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. ¹ 

The first time you did not carry it; that is why the Lord God attacked us, because we did not ask him about the proper way to carry it.” ¹ 

At that time Hanani the prophet ¹  visited King Asa of Judah and said to him: “Because you relied on the king of Syria and did not rely on the Lord your God, the army of the king of Syria has escaped from your hand.

In the thirty-ninth year of his reign, Asa developed a foot disease. ¹  Though his disease was severe, he did not seek the Lord, but only the doctors. ² 

After about two years his intestines came out because of the disease, so that he died a very painful death. ¹  His people did not make a bonfire to honor him, as they had done for his ancestors. ² 

So the king summoned Jehoiada the chief priest, ¹  and said to him, “Why have you not made ²  the Levites collect ³  from Judah and Jerusalem the tax authorized by Moses the Lord’s servant and by the assembly of Israel at the tent containing the tablets of the law?” ⁴ 

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.

Ahaz was twenty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned for sixteen years in Jerusalem. ¹  He did not do what pleased the Lord, in contrast to his ancestor David. ² 

When the edict was issued, ¹  the Israelites freely contributed ²  the initial portion of their grain, wine, olive oil, honey, and all the produce of their fields. They brought a tenth of everything, which added up to a huge amount.

Even when they were in their kingdom and benefiting from your incredible ¹  goodness that you had lavished ²  on them in the spacious and fertile land you had set ³  before them, they did not serve you, nor did they turn from their evil practices.

But I warned them and said, ¹  “Why do you spend the night by the wall? If you repeat this, I will forcibly remove you!” ²  From that time on they did not show up on the Sabbath. ³ 

When you did these things, I was silent, ¹  so you thought I was exactly like you. ²  But now I will condemn ³  you and state my case against you! ⁴ 

Those who hate me without cause are more numerous than the hairs of my head. Those who want to destroy me, my enemies for no reason, ¹  outnumber me. ²  They make me repay what I did not steal! ³