At that time Solomon and all Israel with him celebrated a festival before the Lord our God for two entire weeks. This great assembly included people from all over the land, from Lebo Hamath in the north to the Brook of Egypt ¹  in the south. ² 

Others will then answer, ¹  ‘Because they abandoned the Lord their God, who led their ancestors ²  out of Egypt. They embraced other gods whom they worshiped and served. ³  That is why the Lord has brought all this disaster down on them.’”

(Pharaoh, king of Egypt, had attacked and captured Gezer. He burned it and killed the Canaanites who lived in the city. He gave it as a wedding present to his daughter, who had married Solomon.)

While in Egypt Hadad heard that David had passed away ¹  and that Joab, the commander of the army, was dead. So Hadad asked Pharaoh, “Give me permission to leave ²  so I can return to my homeland.”

After the king had consulted with his advisers, ¹  he made two golden calves. Then he said to the people, ²  “It is too much trouble for you to go up to Jerusalem. Look, Israel, here are your gods who brought you up from the land of Egypt.”

The Lord had caused the Syrian camp to hear the sound of chariots and horses and a large army. Then they said to one another, “Look, the king of Israel has paid the kings of the Hittites and Egypt to attack us!”

The king of Assyria discovered that Hoshea was planning a revolt. ¹  Hoshea had sent messengers to King So ²  of Egypt and had not sent his annual tribute to the king of Assyria. So the king of Assyria arrested him and imprisoned him. ³ 

Instead you must worship the Lord, who brought you up from the land of Egypt by his great power and military ability; ¹  bow down to him and offer sacrifices to him.

During Josiah’s reign Pharaoh Necho king of Egypt marched toward ¹  the Euphrates River to help the king of Assyria. King Josiah marched out to fight him, but Necho ²  killed him at Megiddo ³  when he saw him.

Pharaoh Necho made Josiah’s son Eliakim king in Josiah’s place, and changed his name to Jehoiakim. He took Jehoahaz to Egypt, where he died. ¹ 

And who is like your people, Israel, a unique nation ¹  in the earth? Their God ²  went to claim ³  a nation for himself! You made a name for yourself by doing great and awesome deeds ⁴  when you drove out ⁵  nations before your people whom you had delivered from the Egyptian empire and its gods. ⁶ 

He told David, ¹  ‘Since the day I brought my people out of the land of Egypt, I have not chosen a city from all the tribes of Israel to build a temple in which to live. ²  Nor did I choose a man as leader of my people Israel.

At that time Solomon and all Israel with him celebrated a festival for seven days. This great assembly included people from Lebo Hamath in the north to the Brook of Egypt in the south. ¹ 

Others will then answer, ¹  ‘Because they abandoned the Lord God of their ancestors, ²  who led them out of Egypt. They embraced other gods whom they worshiped and served. ³  That is why he brought all this disaster down on them.’”

King Shishak of Egypt attacked Jerusalem and took away the treasures of the Lord’s temple and of the royal palace; he took everything, including the gold shields that Solomon had made.

Now the Ammonites, Moabites, and men from Mount Seir are coming! ¹  When Israel came from the land of Egypt, you did not allow them to invade these lands. ²  They bypassed them and did not destroy them.

After Josiah had done all this for the temple, ¹  King Necho of Egypt marched up to do battle at Carchemish on the Euphrates River. ²  Josiah marched out to oppose him.

So ¹  here is what the sovereign master, the Lord who commands armies, says: “My people who live in Zion, do not be afraid of Assyria, even though they beat you with a club and lift their cudgel against you as Egypt did. ² 

At that time ¹  the sovereign master ²  will again lift his hand ³  to reclaim ⁴  the remnant of his people ⁵  from Assyria, Egypt, Pathros, ⁶  Cush, ⁷  Elam, Shinar, ⁸  Hamath, and the seacoasts. ⁹ 

The land of Judah will humiliate Egypt. Everyone who hears about Judah will be afraid because of what the Lord who commands armies is planning to do to them. ¹