Then he said to me, “Son of man, I am about to remove the bread supply ¹  in Jerusalem. ²  They will eat their bread ration anxiously, and they will drink their water ration in terror

Say to them, ‘This is what the sovereign Lord says: The prince will raise this burden in Jerusalem, ¹  and all the house of Israel within it.’ ² 

Mark out the routes for the sword to take: “Rabbah of the Ammonites” and “Judah with Jerusalem in it.” ¹ 

The Lord ¹  said to Satan, “May the Lord rebuke you, Satan! May the Lord, who has chosen Jerusalem, ²  rebuke you! Isn’t this man like a burning stick snatched from the fire?”

Many peoples and powerful nations will come to Jerusalem to seek the Lord who rules over all and to ask his favor.

Moreover, Judah will fight at ¹  Jerusalem, and the wealth of all the surrounding nations will be gathered up ²  – gold, silver, and clothing in great abundance.

King Rehoboam solidified his rule in Jerusalem; ¹  he ²  was forty-one years old when he became king and he ruled for seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city the Lord chose from all the tribes of Israel to be his home. ³  Rehoboam’s ⁴  mother was an Ammonite named Naamah.

The men of Judah were unable to conquer the Jebusites living in Jerusalem. ¹  The Jebusites live with the people of Judah in Jerusalem to this very day. ² 

In the spring of the year, at the time when kings ¹  normally conduct wars, ²  David sent out Joab with his officers ³  and the entire Israelite army. ⁴  They defeated the Ammonites and besieged Rabbah. But David stayed behind in Jerusalem. ⁵ 

So David said to all his servants who were with him in Jerusalem, ¹  “Come on! ²  Let’s escape! ³  Otherwise no one will be delivered from Absalom! Go immediately, or else he will quickly overtake us and bring ⁴  disaster on us and kill the city’s residents with the sword.” ⁵ 

The king asked, “Where is your master’s grandson?” ¹  Ziba replied to the king, “He remains in Jerusalem, ²  for he said, ‘Today the house of Israel will give back to me my grandfather’s ³  kingdom.’”

all the storage cities that belonged to him, ¹  and the cities where chariots and horses were kept. ²  He built whatever he wanted in Jerusalem, Lebanon, and throughout his entire kingdom. ³ 

Solomon accumulated ¹  chariots and horses. He had 1,400 chariots and 12,000 horses. He kept them in assigned cities and in Jerusalem. ² 

I will leave ¹  his son one tribe so my servant David’s dynasty may continue to serve me ²  in Jerusalem, the city I have chosen as my home. ³ 

If these people go up to offer sacrifices in the Lord’s temple in Jerusalem, ¹  their loyalty could shift to their former master, ²  King Rehoboam of Judah. They might kill me and return to King Rehoboam of Judah.”

Perhaps you will tell me, ‘We are trusting in the Lord our God.’ But Hezekiah is the one who eliminated his high places and altars and then told the people of Judah and Jerusalem, ‘You must worship at this altar in Jerusalem.’

So Hilkiah the priest, Ahikam, Acbor, Shaphan, and Asaiah went to Huldah the prophetess, the wife of Shullam son of Tikvah, the son of Harhas, the supervisor of the wardrobe. ¹  (She lived in Jerusalem in the Mishneh ²  district.) They stated their business, ³ 

They performed music ¹  before the sanctuary ²  of the meeting tent until Solomon built the Lord’s temple in Jerusalem. ³  They carried out their tasks according to regulations.

In the spring, at the time when kings normally conduct wars, ¹  Joab led the army into battle and devastated the land of the Ammonites. He went and besieged Rabbah, while David stayed in Jerusalem. Joab defeated Rabbah and tore it down.

Solomon accumulated ¹  chariots and horses. He had 1,400 chariots and 12,000 horses. He kept them in assigned cities and in Jerusalem. ²