Surely when wicked men have killed an innocent man as he slept ¹  in his own house, should I not now require his blood from your hands and remove ²  you from the earth?”

The king said, “One says, ‘My son is alive; your son is dead,’ while the other says, ‘No, your son is dead; my son is alive.’”

The remaining 27,000 ran to Aphek and went into the city, but the wall fell on them. ¹  Now Ben Hadad ran into the city and hid in an inner room. ² 

When the members of the prophetic guild in Jericho, ¹  who were standing at a distance, ²  saw him do this, they said, “The spirit that energized Elijah ³  rests upon Elisha.” They went to meet him and bowed down to the ground before him.

When they approached the Israelite camp, the Israelites rose up and struck down the Moabites, who then ran from them. The Israelites ¹  thoroughly defeated ²  Moab.

One of his advisers said, “No, my master, O king. The prophet Elisha who lives in Israel keeps telling the king of Israel the things you say in your bedroom.”

But they did not repudiate ¹  the sinful ways of the family ²  of Jeroboam, who encouraged Israel to sin; they continued in those sins. ³  There was even an Asherah pole ⁴  standing in Samaria.

He took away all the gold and silver, all the items found in the Lord’s temple and in the treasuries of the royal palace, and some hostages. ¹  Then he went back to Samaria. ²  (

Furthermore Manasseh killed so many innocent people, he stained Jerusalem with their blood from end to end, ¹  in addition to encouraging Judah to sin by doing evil in the sight of the Lord. ² 

Genealogical records were kept for all Israel; they are recorded in the Scroll of the Kings of Israel.The people of Judah ¹  were carried away to Babylon because of their unfaithfulness.

For we are resident foreigners and nomads in your presence, like all our ancestors; ¹  our days are like a shadow on the earth, without security. ² 

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.

Be careful with them and protect them, until you weigh them out before the leading priests and the Levites and the family leaders of Israel in Jerusalem, ¹  in the storerooms of the temple of the Lord.”

How blessed ²  is the one ³  who does not follow ⁴  the advice ⁵  of the wicked, ⁶  or stand in the pathway ⁷  with sinners, or sit in the assembly ⁸  of scoffers! ⁹ 

Give sincere homage! ¹  Otherwise he ²  will be angry, ³  and you will die because of your behavior, ⁴  when his anger quickly ignites. ⁵  How blessed ⁶  are all who take shelter in him! ⁷ 

Yet its voice ¹  echoes ²  throughout the earth; its ³  words carry ⁴  to the distant horizon. ⁵  In the sky ⁶  he has pitched a tent for the sun. ⁷ 

All of the thriving people ¹  of the earth will join the celebration and worship; ²  all those who are descending into the grave ³  will bow before him, including those who cannot preserve their lives. ⁴ 

For the music director; by the Korahites, a well-written song. ²  O God, we have clearly heard; ³  our ancestors ⁴  have told us what you did ⁵  in their days, in ancient times. ⁶ 

You ascend on high, ¹  you have taken many captives. ²  You receive tribute ³  from ⁴  men, including even sinful rebels. Indeed the Lord God lives there! ⁵ 

Do not forsake your friend and your father’s friend, and do not enter your brother’s house in the day of your disaster; a neighbor nearby is better than a brother far away. ¹