Elisha ¹  went back and walked around in the house. ²  Then he got up on the bed again ³  and bent down over him. The child sneezed seven times and opened his eyes.

This made the king of Syria upset. ¹  So he summoned his advisers ²  and said to them, “One of us must be helping the king of Israel.” ³ 

He followed in the footsteps of the kings of Israel, just as Ahab’s dynasty had done, for he married Ahab’s daughter. ¹  He did evil in the sight of ²  the Lord.

The Lord provided a deliverer ¹  for Israel and they were freed from Syria’s power. ²  The Israelites once more lived in security. ³ 

The prophet ¹  got angry at him and said, “If you had struck the ground five or six times, you would have annihilated Syria! ²  But now, you will defeat Syria only three times.”

The Lord afflicted the king with an illness; he suffered from a skin disease ¹  until the day he died. He lived in separate quarters, ²  while his son Jotham was in charge of the palace and ruled over the people of the land.

He tore Israel away from David’s dynasty, and Jeroboam son of Nebat became their king. ¹  Jeroboam drove Israel away ²  from the Lord and encouraged them to commit a serious sin. ³ 

In the eighteenth year of King Josiah’s reign, the king sent the scribe Shaphan son of Azaliah, son of Meshullam, to the Lord’s temple with these orders: ¹ 

Rehoboam loved Maacah daughter of Absalom more than his other wives and concubines. ¹  He had eighteen wives and sixty concubines; he fathered twenty-eight sons and sixty daughters.

Asa was so angry at the prophet, he put him in jail. ¹  Asa also oppressed some of the people at that time.

While the battle raged throughout the day, the king stood propped up in his chariot opposite the Syrians. He died in the evening as the sun was setting.

Their father gave them many presents, including silver, gold, and other precious items, along with fortified cities in Judah. But he gave the kingdom to Jehoram because he was the firstborn.

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.

They abandoned the temple of the Lord God of their ancestors, ¹  and worshiped ²  the Asherah poles and idols. Because of this sinful activity, God was angry with Judah and Jerusalem.

Don’t be like your fathers and brothers who were unfaithful to the Lord God of their ancestors, ¹  provoking him to destroy them, ²  as you can see.

They slaughtered the Passover lamb on the fourteenth day of the second month. The priests and Levites were ashamed, so they consecrated themselves and brought burnt sacrifices to the Lord’s temple.

Many were bringing presents ¹  to the Lord in Jerusalem and precious gifts to King Hezekiah of Judah. From that time on he was respected by ²  all the nations.

Jeremiah composed laments for Josiah which all the male and female singers use to mourn Josiah to this very day. It has become customary in Israel to sing these; they are recorded in the Book of Laments.

They were hiring advisers to oppose them, so as to frustrate their plans, throughout the time ¹  of King Cyrus of Persia until the reign of King Darius ²  of Persia. ³ 

So the king said to me, “Why do you appear to be depressed when you aren’t sick? What can this be other than sadness of heart?” This made me very fearful.