Now a man from Baal Shalisha brought some food for the prophet ¹  – twenty loaves of bread made from the firstfruits of the barley harvest, as well as fresh ears of grain. ²  Elisha ³  said, “Set it before the people so they may eat.”

When they had entered Samaria, Elisha said, “O Lord, open their eyes, so they can see.” The Lord opened their eyes and they saw that they were in the middle of Samaria. ¹ 

When the king heard what the woman said, he tore his clothes. As he was passing by on the wall, the people could see he was wearing sackcloth under his clothes. ¹ 

The prophet told the king, “Two seahs of barley will sell for a shekel, and a seah of finely milled flour for a shekel; this will happen about this time tomorrow in the gate of Samaria.”

The next day Hazael ¹  took a piece of cloth, dipped it in water, and spread it over Ben Hadad’s ²  face until he died. Then Hazael replaced him as king.

When Jehoram saw Jehu, he asked, “Is everything all right, Jehu?” He replied, “How can everything be all right as long as your mother Jezebel promotes idolatry and pagan practices?” ¹ 

When they went back and told him, he said, “The Lord’s word through his servant, Elijah the Tishbite, has come to pass. He warned, ¹  ‘In the plot of land at Jezreel, dogs will devour Jezebel’s flesh.

When they received the letter, they seized the king’s sons and executed all seventy of them. ¹  They put their heads in baskets and sent them to him in Jezreel.

In the morning he went out and stood there. Then he said to all the people, “You are innocent. I conspired against my master and killed him. But who struck down all of these men?

What follows is a record of what happened to Jerusalem and Judah because of the Lord’s anger; he finally threw them out of his presence. ¹  Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon.

Later there was a battle ¹  with the Philistines in Gezer. ²  At that time Sibbekai the Hushathite killed Sippai, ³  one of the descendants of the Rephaim, and the Philistines ⁴  were subdued.

When Jeroboam son of Nebat heard the news, he was still in Egypt, where he had fled from King Solomon. Jeroboam returned from Egypt.

The king refused to listen to the people, because God was instigating this turn of events ¹  so that he might bring to pass the prophetic announcement he had made ²  through Ahijah the Shilonite to Jeroboam son of Nebat.

Tomorrow march down against them as ¹  they come up the Ascent of Ziz. You will find them at the end of the ravine in front of the Desert of Jeruel.

While Jehu was dishing out punishment to Ahab’s family, he discovered the officials of Judah and the sons of Ahaziah’s relatives who were serving Ahaziah and killed them.

When Amaziah returned from defeating the Edomites, he brought back the gods of the people ¹  of Seir and made them his personal gods. ²  He bowed down before them and offered them sacrifices.

He offered sacrifices in the Valley of Ben-Hinnom and passed his sons through the fire, ¹  a horrible sin practiced by the nations ²  whom the Lord drove out before the Israelites.

(4:1) ¹  When Sanballat, Tobiah, the Arabs, the Ammonites, and the people of Ashdod heard that the restoration of the walls of Jerusalem ²  had moved ahead and that the breaches had begun to be closed, they were very angry.

So it happened that the Jews who were living near them came and warned us repeatedly ¹  about all the schemes ²  they were plotting ³  against us.

It so happened that when our adversaries heard that we were aware of these matters, ¹  God frustrated their intentions. Then all of us returned to the wall, each to his own work.