Now send word quickly to David and warn him, ¹  “Don’t spend the night at the fords of the desert ²  tonight. Instead, be sure you cross over, ³  or else the king and everyone who is with him may be overwhelmed.” ⁴ 

But Absalom, whom we anointed as our king, ¹  has died in battle. So now why do you hesitate to bring the king back?” ² 

Say to Amasa, ‘Are you not my flesh and blood? ¹  God will punish me severely, ²  if from this time on you are not the commander of my army in place of Joab!’”

Now, as certainly as the Lord lives (he who made me secure, allowed me to sit on my father David’s throne, and established a dynasty ¹  for me as he promised), Adonijah will be executed today!”

Now, O Lord my God, you have made your servant king in my father David’s place, even though I am only a young man and am inexperienced. ¹ 

“Your father made us work too hard. ¹  Now if you lighten the demands he made and don’t make us work as hard, we will serve you.” ² 

My father imposed heavy demands on you; I will make them even heavier. ¹  My father punished you with ordinary whips; I will punish you with whips that really sting your flesh.’” ² 

Now send out messengers ¹  and assemble all Israel before me at Mount Carmel, as well as the 450 prophets of Baal and 400 prophets of Asherah whom Jezebel supports. ² 

Throughout the afternoon they were in an ecstatic frenzy, ¹  but there was no sound, no answer, and no response. ² 

His wife Jezebel said to him, “You are the king of Israel! ¹  Get up, eat some food, and have a good time. ²  I will get the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite for you.”

Indeed, ¹  fire came down from the sky and consumed the two captains who came before me, along with their men. ²  So now, please have respect for my life.”

Now, run to meet her and ask her, ‘Are you well? Are your husband and the boy well?’” She told Gehazi, ¹  “Everything’s fine.”

He brought the letter to king of Israel. It read: “This is a letter of introduction for my servant Naaman, ¹  whom I have sent to be cured of his skin disease.”

“You have with you the sons of your master, chariots and horses, a fortified city, and weapons. So when this letter arrives, ¹ 

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.”

Now make a deal ¹  with my master the king of Assyria, and I will give you two thousand horses, provided you can find enough riders for them.

Furthermore it was by the command of the Lord that I marched up against this place to destroy it. The Lord told me, ‘March ¹  up against this land and destroy it.’”’” ² 

Now, O Lord our God, rescue us from his power, so that all the kingdoms of the earth will know that you, Lord, are the only God.”

¹ Certainly you must have heard! ²  Long ago I worked it out, In ancient times I planned ³  it; and now I am bringing it to pass. The plan is this: Fortified cities will crash into heaps of ruins. ⁴ 

“So now, say this to my servant David: ‘This is what the Lord who commands armies ¹  says: “I took you from the pasture and from your work as a shepherd ²  to make you a leader of my people Israel.