Under the rim all the way around it ¹  were round ornaments ²  arranged in settings 15 feet long. ³  The ornaments were in two rows and had been cast with “The Sea.” ⁴ 

Inside the stand was a round opening that was a foot-and-a-half deep; it had a support that was two and one-quarter feet long. ¹  On the edge of the opening were carvings in square frames. ² 

There was nothing in the ark except the two stone tablets Moses had placed there in Horeb. ¹  It was there that ²  the Lord made an agreement with the Israelites after he brought them out of the land of Egypt.

There were six steps leading up to the throne, and the back of it was rounded on top. The throne had two armrests with a statue of a lion standing on each side. ¹ 

At that time, when Jeroboam had left Jerusalem, the prophet Ahijah the Shilonite met him on the road; the two of them were alone in the open country. Ahijah ¹  was wearing a brand new robe,

In the twenty-sixth year of King Asa’s reign over Judah, Baasha’s son Elah became king over Israel; he ruled in Tirzah for two years.

He purchased the hill of Samaria ¹  from Shemer for two talents ²  of silver. He launched a construction project there ³  and named the city he built after Shemer, the former owner of the hill of Samaria.

In the thirty-eighth year of Asa’s reign over Judah, Omri’s son Ahab became king over Israel. Ahab son of Omri ruled over Israel for twenty-two years in Samaria. ¹ 

Now King Ben Hadad of Syria assembled all his army, along with thirty-two other kings with their horses and chariots. He marched against Samaria ¹  and besieged and attacked it. ² 

When the Israelites had mustered and had received their supplies, they marched out to face them in battle. When the Israelites deployed opposite them, they were like two small flocks ¹  of goats, but the Syrians filled the land.

The two villains arrived and sat opposite him. Then the villains testified against Naboth right before the people, saying, “Naboth cursed God and the king.” So they dragged him ¹  outside the city and stoned him to death. ² 

Now the king of Syria had ordered his thirty-two chariot commanders, “Do not fight common soldiers or high-ranking officers; ¹  fight only the king of Israel.”

In the seventeenth year of King Jehoshaphat’s reign over Judah, Ahab’s son Ahaziah became king over Israel in Samaria. ¹  He ruled for two years over Israel.

While Elisha was watching, he was crying out, “My father, my father! The chariot and horsemen of Israel!” ¹  Then he could no longer see him. He grabbed his clothes and tore them in two.

Then the people went out and looted the Syrian camp. A seah ¹  of finely milled flour sold for a shekel, and two seahs of barley for a shekel, just as the Lord had said they would. ² 

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.”

Ahaziah was twenty-two years old when he became king and he reigned for one year in Jerusalem. ¹  His mother was Athaliah, the granddaughter ²  of King Omri of Israel.

The messenger came and told Jehu, ¹  “They have brought the heads of the king’s sons.” Jehu ²  said, “Stack them in two piles at the entrance of the city gate until morning.”

He said, “Capture them alive!” So they captured them alive and then executed all forty-two of them in the cistern at Beth Eked. He left no survivors.

He was sixteen years old when he began to reign, and he reigned for fifty-two years in Jerusalem. ¹  His mother’s name was Jecholiah, who was from Jerusalem.