In each city there were shields and spears; he strongly fortified them. ¹  Judah and Benjamin belonged to him.

Jehoram took control of his father’s kingdom and became powerful. ¹  Then he killed all his brothers, ²  as well as some of the officials of Israel.

Zikri, an Ephraimite warrior, killed the king’s son Maaseiah, Azrikam, the supervisor of the palace, and Elkanah, the king’s second-in-command.

The Lord humiliated ¹  Judah because of King Ahaz of Israel, ²  for he encouraged Judah to sin and was very ³  unfaithful to the Lord.

Kore son of Imnah, a Levite and the guard on the east side, was in charge of the voluntary offerings made to God and disbursed the contributions made to the Lord and the consecrated items.

When he prayed to the Lord, ¹  the Lord ²  responded to him ³  and answered favorably ⁴  his cry for mercy. The Lord ⁵  brought him back to Jerusalem to his kingdom. Then Manasseh realized that the Lord is the true God.

We therefore are informing the king that if this city is rebuilt and its walls are completed, you will not retain control ¹  of this portion of Trans-Euphrates.”

For ²  Solomon. O God, grant the king the ability to make just decisions! ³  Grant the king’s son ⁴  the ability to make fair decisions! ⁵ 

The king’s heart ¹  is in the hand ²  of the Lord like channels of water; ³  he turns it wherever he wants.

Blessed are you, O land, when your king is the son of nobility, ¹  and your princes feast at the proper time ²  – with self-control and not in drunkenness. ³ 

Indeed this is what the Lord told me. He took hold of me firmly and warned me not to act like these people: ¹ 

¹ They will say to you, “Seek oracles at the pits used to conjure up underworld spirits, from the magicians who chirp and mutter incantations. ²  Should people not seek oracles from their gods, by asking the dead about the destiny of the living?” ³ 

For ¹  evil burned like a fire, ²  it consumed thorns and briers; it burned up the thickets of the forest, and they went up in smoke. ³ 

The Egyptians will panic, ¹  and I will confuse their strategy. ²  They will seek guidance from the idols and from the spirits of the dead, from the pits used to conjure up underworld spirits, and from the magicians. ³ 

Here is a message about the Desert by the Sea: ¹  Like strong winds blowing in the south, ²  one invades from the desert, from a land that is feared.

Who planned this for royal Tyre, ¹  whose merchants are princes, whose traders are the dignitaries ²  of the earth?

Look, I will take control of his mind; ¹  he will receive a report and return to his own land. I will cut him down ²  with a sword in his own land.”’”

I have at this time placed all these nations of yours under the power ¹  of my servant, ²  King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon. I have even made all the wild animals subject to him. ³ 

“‘What you plan ¹  will never happen. You say, “We will be ²  like the nations, like the clans of the lands, who serve gods of wood and stone.” ³ 

After ¹  entering into an alliance with him, he will behave treacherously; he will ascend to power with only a small force. ²