Editing Books of Kings (section)

===2 Kings===
====The Elijah cycle (continued) (1:1–18)====
=====After the death of Ahab (continued) (1:1–18)=====
Ahaziah falls through a [[latticework|lattice]] on an upper floor and injures himself. He sends a party to [[Ekron]] to consult its god, [[Beelzebub|Baal-Zebub]], about whether he will recover. The messengers are met by Elijah, who tells them to inform Ahaziah that he will die where he is for seeking advice from a non-Israelite god. Ahaziah sends two captains and fifty men each to summon Elijah, but both parties are consumed by fire at Elijah's command. When Ahaziah sends a third group, God tells Elijah to go with them and deliver his prophecy directly. Ahaziah dies and, having no sons, his brother [[Jehoram of Israel|Joram]] succeeds him.

====The Elisha cycle (2:1–13:25)====
=====Its opening (2:1–25)=====
Elijah and Elisha are walking from [[Gilgal I|Gilgal]]. Elijah asks that Elisha stay where they are, but Elisha insists on coming with him to Bethel. Elijah informs him that he is going to be taken by God. Elisha seems to have some kind of knowledge of this. Once again, Elijah asks Elisha to stay where they are, but Elisha insists on coming with him to Jericho. Eventually, they reach the Jordan, where fifty prophets are. Elijah strikes the water with his cloak, the water divides, and the pair cross over. Elijah asks what Elisha wants when he is gone, and Elisha asks for a double portion of his spirit, which Elijah says will be given to him if he watches him go.

Suddenly, a fiery horse-drawn chariot takes Elijah and he ascends to heaven in a whirlwind. After mourning, Elisha picks up Elijah's cloak and himself uses it to part the Jordan. This leads the other prophets to recognise him as Elijah's successor, and offer to look for Elijah, an offer which Elisha refuses. They persist but, naturally, are unable to find him. As Elisha's first task, he throws salt into a spring in Jericho, resolving the locals' water problem by purifying the water. When Elisha leaves for Bethel, some boys start jeering him on account of his baldness. Bears come and maul them.

=====The Moabite war (3:1–27)=====
Joram is evil but gets rid of the sacred stone of Baal. After the death of Ahab, the king of Moab refused to continue paying tribute to Israel, so Joram teams up with Jehoshaphat and the king of Edom to put down the rebellion. They attack through the Desert of Edom but soon run out of water. They ask Elisha for advice. He first makes it very clear that he is only doing this for Jehoshaphat's sake and then calls for a harpist. Elisha prophesies a coming flood in the valley in addition to a complete defeat of Moab.

The water comes but looks like blood to the Moabites, which they conclude can only have come from the three kings having killed each other. However, when they cross, Israel wins a great victory and completely plunders the land. When the king of Moab sacrifices his firstborn son on the city walls, the Israelites are overwhelmed by great wrath and withdraw.

=====Some miracles of Elisha (4:1–6:7)=====
Elisha meets a [[widow]] whose creditors are threatening to take her two sons into [[slavery]] as payment. When he finds out the only other thing she has is a small jar of olive oil, he tells her to go and ask all her neighbours for jars. He tells her to pour oil into the jars, and it holds out until every jar is filled. Elisha finally tells her to sell the oil, pay the creditors and live off the rest. He then moves on to [[Shunem]], where a [[Woman of Shunem|woman]] invites him to eat and soon decides to build a room for use whenever he passes through.

His servant [[Gehazi]] informs him that she has no son, so Elisha tells her that she will have [[Raising of the son of the woman of Shunem|a child]] within a year, as payment for her kindness. One day, the child is helping his father's reapers when he complains of a pain in his head. He is returned to his mother and dies. His mother therefore seeks out Elisha, whom she meets at Mount Carmel. He tells Gehazi to quickly make his way to the house and lay his staff on the boy's face. When Elisha gets there with the woman, Gehazi informs him that this has not worked.

Elisha prays, paces, and lays himself on the boy, who then awakens. Elisha continues on to Gilgal, where a [[famine]] is raging. Seeking to help the local prophets, he tells his servant to cook a stew. One of the prophets inadvertently adds some poisonous berries to the pot, but Elisha adds some [[flour]], negating the poison. A man comes from [[Shalisha|Baal-Shalish]] with twenty loaves of bread. Elisha uses them to miraculously feed the hundred people present.

An Aramean general named [[Naaman]] has [[leprosy]]. He hears of Elisha from an Israelite slave-girl and receives permission from the king to travel in an attempt to have his leprosy cured. He travels first to the king of Israel, but is eventually called by Elisha, who sends a messenger to tell him to wash seven times in the Jordan. He does what Elisha told him to and his leprosy is cured. Naaman offers Elisha a gift of thanks, but Elisha refuses. Naaman contents himself with taking earth back to Damascus in order to build an altar to God and asking God's forgiveness for when he has to participate in Aramean religious rituals when accompanying the king. As Naaman is leaving Gehazi catches up with him and lies about prophets arriving so that at least he can get a gift. As punishment for this, Elisha curses him to become leprous.

Several other prophets begin complaining that their meeting place with Elisha is too small, so he agrees to allow them to build a new one on the banks of the Jordan. During the building, someone's borrowed axehead falls in the river but miraculously floats.

=====The Aramean wars (6:8–8:29)=====
By this point, Aram is back at war with Israel. Elisha warns the king of Israel where the Arameans are camped several times, frustrating the king of Aram, who seeks him out. One morning, Elisha wakes up to find [[Tel Dothan|Dothan]], the city where he is staying, surrounded by Arameans. His servant is frightened, until Elisha shows him the angels protecting them. He then prays that the Aramean army go [[Visual impairment|blind]], and they do. He then leads them to Samaria, where their eyes are opened.

The king of Israel asks Elisha whether he should kill them, but Elisha instead tells him to treat them with hospitality. This ends the war, but soon Ben-Hadad is back at war and laying siege to Samaria. The resulting famine gets so severe that soon people resort to [[Human cannibalism|cannibalism]]. The king feels the best way to deal with the situation is to execute Elisha, blaming God for the famine. Elisha prophesies that huge amounts of the finest flour and [[barley]] will soon come to Samaria, but that the king's official will not taste any of it.

Four lepers sit at the gate of Samaria and decide to surrender to the Arameans in the hope of not dying in the famine. God made the Arameans hear horses and chariots the night before and, thinking the Hittites and Egyptians were helping the Israelites, they fled. The lepers find the abandoned camp and tell the king. The Samaritans then go and plunder the camp, driving down the price of food in the city. In the chaos, the king's official who was with him when he went to see Elisha is trampled to death.

Elisha has warned the Shunammite woman about the famine, so she and her husband have gone to live in [[Philistia|Philisitia]]. Upon return, she goes to the king to appeal for her land back. When she arrives, Gehazi is telling the king about how Elisha raised her son from the dead. This works in her favour, and her house and land are restored to her, as well as all her income. Next, Elisha goes to Damascus, where Ben-Hadad is ill. When he hears of Elisha's arrival, Ben-Hadad sends [[Hazael]] to him with a gift to ask whether he will get better. Elisha tells Hazael to tell the king that he will, even though he will in fact die, and Hazael will become king and cause much damage to Israel. The next day, Hazael smothers the king and succeeds him.

Back in Judah, Jehoram is king. Unlike his father and grandfather, he is evil and follows the ways of Israel, even marrying a daughter of Ahab. However, he is not destroyed, again because of God's covenant with David. His reign is plagued with instability, including revolts in Edom, who restores its monarchy, and [[Libnah]]. Jehoram dies and is succeeded by his son [[Ahaziah of Judah|Ahaziah]], who, like his father, follows in Ahab's footsteps. Ahaziah and Joram go to war together against Hazael. Joram is wounded, and after the battle Ahaziah goes to Jezreel to see him.

=====The history of Jehu (9:1–10:36)=====
Elisha tells a prophet to go to Ramoth-Gilead and anoint a commander of the royal guard named [[Jehu]] as king. Jehu leads his troops to Jezreel to challenge Joram. Joram sends two messengers, but both join Jehu. Jehu accuses Joram of continuing the idolatry of Jezebel. Joram flees, warning Ahaziah, but is struck in his heart between his shoulders and dies. Jehu tells his charioteer [[Bidkar]] to place him in Naboth's field. Jehu wants to kill Ahaziah too, but merely succeeds in wounding him, although he dies from his injuries at [[Tel Megiddo|Megiddo]].

His body is taken back to Jerusalem for burial. As Jehu enters Jezreel, Jezebel looks out of a window and compares him to Zimri. Two eunuchs push her out of a window at Jehu's behest and she dies. When two servants later go to prepare her body for burial as a king's daughter, they find nothing but some bones. She has been eaten by dogs, in accordance with Elijah's prophecy.

Jehu writes to Samaria, challenging the palace officials to pick Ahab's strongest son, put him on the throne and have him challenge Jehu. They refuse, and so Jehu instead asks for the heads of Ahab's seventy sons. After he has had them put inside the city gate of Jezreel, Jehu massacres the remaining members of the House of Ahab in order to fulfil Elijah's prophecy. Jehu then sets off for Samaria. On the way, he meets some of Ahaziah's relatives and has them killed too. Further along, he meets [[Jehonadab]], who becomes his ally.

Upon finally reaching Samaria, he kills the rest of Ahab's family. Under the guise of preparing a sacrifice for Baal, he next summons all the priests of Baal. After the sacrifice is over, he has guards enter the temple and kill them. He destroys the sacred stone and tears down the temple, replacing it with a toilet, thus ending the worship of Baal. However, he does not destroy the golden calves at Bethel and Dan, which was Jeroboam's original sin. Nonetheless, God is pleased with his destruction of the Baal religion, and promises that his House will reign in Israel for four generations. However, Jehu is not meticulous in his worship of God, so God allows Hazael to conquer large portions of Israel. Jehu dies and is succeeded by his son [[Jehoahaz of Israel|Jehoahaz]].

=====From the reign of Athaliah to the death of Elisha (11:1–13:25)=====
[[Athaliah]], the mother of Ahaziah, seizes the throne after the death of her son and begins killing off members of the royal family. Ahaziah's sister, [[Jehosheba]], manages to hide her nephew [[Jehoash of Judah|Joash]]. Seven years later, Jehosheba's husband, the priest [[Jehoiada]], introduces Joash to the army, and informs all five units that they will now be required to guard the Temple on the Sabbath in order to protect Joash. He also gives them all the spears and shields from David's day that are kept in the Temple. Joash is crowned and anointed, and proclaimed king by the army. Athaliah claims treason, but Jehoiada has her taken back to the palace and killed. Next, the altars of Baal are destroyed, thus ending the religion in Judah as well. Finally, Joash is taken back to the palace and enthroned.

Joash is a good king, but does not remove the high places. When he grows up, his first act is to reform priestly pay, and use whatever is left to repair the Temple. Twenty-three years later, when the Temple is still not repaired, Joash once again reforms priestly pay so that all money from the Temple treasury goes towards repairs. Instead, the priests will earn money from offerings. This succeeds, and the Temple is repaired. Hazael is back at war with Israel, and it looks like he will cross the border and attack Jerusalem, so Joash sends him gifts and he leaves. Joash is assassinated and is succeeded by his son [[Amaziah of Judah|Amaziah]].

Jehoahaz is evil, so God allows Hazael to continue oppressing Israel. He repents, so God allows the war to end. However, Jehoahaz does not get rid of Jeroboam's religion, or remove the Asherah pole in Samaria. In addition, the war has almost completely eradicated the Israelite army. Jehoahaz dies and is succeeded by his son [[Jehoash of Israel|Jehoash]], who continues the evil of the previous kings of Israel. He goes to war with Amaziah. The key event of Joash's reign, is the death of Elisha. When Joash goes to see him, he tells him to shoot an arrow out of the east window, and prophesies that, based on this, the Arameans will be defeated at Aphek.

He then tells him to throw arrows at the floor. Joash throws three, which Elisha is angry about, since it means there will only be three victories there. He then dies and is buried. During a Moabite raid, some Israelite men burying a dead body panic and throw the body in Elisha's tomb. As soon as it touches Elisha's bones, the dead body returns to life. Hazael's wars have plagued Israel since the reign of Jehoahaz, but God does not destroy Israel because of the Abrahamic and Israelite covenants. Hazael dies and is succeeded by his son [[Ben-Hadad III]]. As prophesied, Jehoash defeats him three times, taking back the towns Hazael conquered.

====The two kingdoms to the fall of Samaria (14:1–17:41)====
Amaziah is a good king, but the high places have still not been abolished. Upon assumption of the throne, he executes his father's assassins, but spares their children in accordance with the Mosaic law. Amaziah defeats the Edomites and challenges Israel, but Jehoash advises him to stay at home. The pair meet at [[Beit Shemesh|Beth Shemesh]] and Israel thoroughly defeats Judah, scattering Amaziah's troops and allowing Jehoash to sack Jerusalem. Jehoash dies and is succeeded by his son [[Jeroboam II]]. Amaziah faces a conspiracy and is killed in [[Tel Lachish|Lachish]]. He is buried in Jerusalem and succeeded by his son [[Uzziah|Azariah]], who recovers and rebuilds [[Elath]].

Jeroboam II is evil. He restores Israelite territory from [[Labweh|Lebo-Hamath]] to the [[Dead Sea]], in accordance with a prophecy by [[Jonah]]. This is because God has promised not to destroy Israel and has seen how much the Israelites are suffering. He dies and is succeeded by his son [[Zechariah of Israel|Zechariah]].

Azariah is a good king, although the high places still exist. He is, however, a leper, and so is relieved of his responsibilities while his son [[Jotham]] acts as regent. Azariah dies and Jotham succeeds him.

Zechariah is evil, and falls victim of a conspiracy by [[Shallum of Israel|Shallum]], who assassinates and succeeds him, thus fulfilling God's promise to Jehu that his family would rule for four generations. Shallum is himself assassinated and succeeded by [[Menahem]], who attacks [[Thapsacus|Tiphsah]], sacks it and rips open its pregnant women. During Menahem's reign, [[Tiglath-Pileser III|Pul]] of [[Assyria]] (also called Tiglath-Pileser) attacks Israel.

Menahem raises taxes to pay Pul both to leave and to support him on the throne. Menahem dies and is succeeded by his son [[Pekahiah]], who is assassinated by his official [[Pekah]] and fifty mercenaries from [[Gilead]]. During Pekah's reign, Pul comes back and captures many towns in northern Israel, including all of the land belonging to the [[Tribe of Naphtali]], and deports their populations to Assyria. Pekah is assassinated by [[Hoshea]], who succeeds him as king.

Jotham is a good king, but, again, the high places are still being used. He rebuilds the Upper Gate of the Temple. Aram and Israel attack Judah during his reign. He dies and is succeeded by his son [[Ahaz]]. Ahaz is a bad king, even going so far as to sacrifice his son. [[Rezin]], king of Aram, retakes Elath and gives it to Edom during the ongoing attacks. In an attempt to resolve the situation, Ahaz writes to Pul for help, which he gives by capturing Damascus, deporting its citizens and killing Rezin. Ahaz travels to Damascus to meet Pul, and while there sends a sketch of a new altar back to Jerusalem, which is built before he returns. He places it in the Temple upon his arrival. To symbolise his deference to the king of Assyria, he then removes much of the decoration in the Temple. He dies and is succeeded by his son [[Hezekiah]].

Hoshea is evil, but not as bad as the preceding kings of Israel. During Hoshea's reign, [[Shalmaneser V|Shalmaneser]] of Assyria attacks Israel in response to Israel's maintaining diplomatic relations with Egypt and refusing to pay tribute to Assyria. Shalmaneser conquers Samaria and deports its citizens to [[Media (region)|Media]]. All this happens because Israel has broken the commandments, principally by worshipping other gods and ignoring the prophets. This leaves only Judah, and even they are guilty of following the religious practices introduced by Israel. The king of Assyria then sends his subjects to resettle Samaria, led by an Israelite priest, whose job is to teach them the rites God requires. While they take this on board, they nonetheless continue worshipping their own national gods.

====The last years of the Kingdom of Judah (18:1–25:30)====
=====Hezekiah, the prophet Isaiah; Assyria (18:1–20:21)=====
[[Hezekiah]], the 13th king of Judah, does "what [is] right in the Lord's sight just as his ancestor David had done".<ref>{{bibleverse|2|Kings|18:3|HCSB}}</ref> He institutes a far-reaching religious reform: centralising sacrifice at the temple in Jerusalem, and destroying the images of other gods, including the [[Nehushtan]], the bronze snake [[Moses]] erected in the wilderness, which the Israelites have turned into an idol. He breaks his alliance with the Assyrians and defeats the Philistines. Following the capture of Samaria, the Assyrians attack Judah, but withdraw in return for money. The Assyrians soon attack again, and send a threatening and blasphemous message to Hezekiah, supposing that he has sought an alliance with Egypt.

The [[Assyrian people|Assyrian]] commander then attempts to turn the Judahites against Hezekiah, claiming that he is powerless to protect him, but Hezekiah pre-empts and stops this from happening. When Hezekiah hears the message, he sends a delegation to the prophet [[Isaiah]], who tells them that God will save Jerusalem and the kingdom from Assyria. When [[Sennacherib]], king of Assyria, hears of the advance of [[Taharqa|Tirhakah]], king of Cush, he retreats, but warns of a coming invasion. Hezekiah prays, and Isaiah sends another prophecy of Assyria's destruction. God sends an angel to kill the Assyrians, and the remaining Assyrians retreat in horror. Sennacherib is killed by his sons and is succeeded by a third son.

Hezekiah becomes ill, and Isaiah tells him he will die. Hezekiah prays, and God agrees to give him fifteen more years if he goes to the temple in three days. Isaiah prescribes a poultice of [[fig]]s, and Hezekiah recovers. When Hezekiah goes to the Temple and stands on the steps of Ahaz, his shadow moves back ten steps, thus proving God's words to be true. The king of [[Babylon]] sends an embassy to Hezekiah, who shows them everything in the palace. Isaiah prophesies that one day the Babylonians will carry away everything in the palace. However, there is peace for the rest of Hezekiah's reign. Hezekiah builds an [[Aqueduct (water supply)|aqueduct]] consisting of a [[Hezekiah's Pool|pool]] and a [[Siloam tunnel|tunnel]] before he dies. He is succeeded by his son [[Manasseh of Judah|Manasseh]].

=====Two wicked kings (21:1–26)=====
Manasseh reverses his father's reforms, murders the innocent, and sets up altars in the Temple. This breaches the Davidic-Solomonic covenant, and so God announces that he will destroy Jerusalem because of this apostasy by the king. He is succeeded by his son [[Amon of Judah|Amon]]. Amon follows in his father's footsteps, and is eventually assassinated by his officials. The assassins are executed, and Amon is succeeded by his son [[Josiah]].

=====Josiah and the religious reform (22:1–23:30)=====
Josiah begins his reign with a rebuilding of the Temple. During this effort, [[Hilkiah]], the high priest, finds a copy of the [[Book of Deuteronomy]] and has [[Shaphan]], the royal secretary, read it to the king. When Josiah hears the laws which have been broken, he becomes sorrowful and sends a delegation to the prophetess [[Huldah]] to ask what to do. Huldah tells the delegation that God will destroy Jerusalem, but not until after Josiah has died.

Josiah plans a ceremony to renew the [[Mosaic covenant]]. First, he reads to the people from the scroll and has them all renew the covenant. Then, he has Hilkiah remove all the objects dedicated to other gods from the Temple, burn them in the [[Kidron Valley]] and take the ashes to [[Bethel]]. Finally, he fires the priests of the other gods, desecrates the high places and gets rid of the male shrine prostitutes and weavers of Asherah in the temple.

While he is at Bethel, in the midst of destroying the tombs there, he finds the tomb of the prophet who prophesied his coming and spares it along with that of the Samarian prophet who had then tested him. He then instructs his people to celebrate [[Passover]], since its celebration had fallen out of use for many years. He gets rid of the [[Mediumship|mediums]] and spiritists. He is the best king in the history of Israel and Judah. Josiah goes to battle against [[Necho II]] of Egypt and the king of Assyria, but is defeated and killed by Necho at Megiddo.

=====The destruction of Jerusalem (23:31–25:30)=====
Necho takes Josiah's successor, [[Jehoahaz of Judah|Jehoahaz]], captive and imposes huge demands on Judah. He places another of Josiah's sons, [[Jehoiakim]], on the throne, who pays the demands by increasing taxes. Both of Josiah's successors are evil.

[[Nebuchadnezzar II]] of [[Neo-Babylonian Empire|Babylon]] invades, and Jehoiakim becomes his vassal for three years until he rebels. In response to this, in order to fulfil what God had said with regards to Manasseh, a large number of raiders from neighbouring kingdoms and empires attack Judah. This time, there is no support from Egypt because it has already been invaded by the Babylonians. Jehoiakim dies and is succeeded by his son [[Jeconiah|Jehoiachin]], who is also evil. Nebuchadnezzar lays siege to Jerusalem, and the Judahites surrender.

Nebuchadnezzar takes Jehoiachin and his family hostage, and takes away everything from the Temple and the palace, fulfilling Isaiah's prophecy to Hezekiah. He then takes away everyone into exile except the very poorest people. He then puts Jehoiachin's uncle, [[Zedekiah]], on the throne. Zedekiah is also evil. Eventually, he rebels against Nebuchadnezzar and Jerusalem is put under siege for two years. Finally, famine overcomes the city and the walls are broken through. Zedekiah's punishment, which he serves at [[Riblah]], is to watch his sons being killed before having his eyes gouged out and being carried as prisoner to Babylon.

Nebuchadnezzar burns down Jerusalem, including the Temple, the palace and all the important buildings. The walls are broken down, and everyone left is carried off, except some of the poorest people to act as farmers. He also kills the remaining priests at Riblah. He appoints [[Gedaliah]] as provincial governor. However, he is eventually killed by the last remaining member of the royal family, [[Ishmael son of Nethaniah]], and a large number of Judahites and Babylonians flee to Egypt. [[Amel-Marduk|Awel-Murduk]] becomes king of Babylon on Nebuchadnezzar's death. He releases Jehoiachin, gives him a place at his table and an allowance, and places him higher in honour than all other kings in Babylon other than himself.