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King Asa even deposed his grandmother Maacah from her position as queen mother because she had made an obscene Asherah pole. He cut down her obscene pole, broke it up, and burned it in the Kidron Valley.

At that time Hanani the seer came to King Asa and told him, "Because you have put your trust in the king of Aram instead of in the Lord your God, you missed your chance to destroy the army of the king of Aram.

The Lord was with Jehoshaphat because he followed the example of his father's early years and did not worship the images of Baal.

Jehu son of Hanani the seer went out to meet him. "Why should you help the wicked and love those who hate the Lord ?" he asked the king. "Because of what you have done, the Lord is very angry with you.

On the fourth day they gathered in the Valley of Blessing, which got its name that day because the people praised and thanked the Lord there. It is still called the Valley of Blessing today.

Then Eliezer son of Dodavahu from Mareshah prophesied against Jehoshaphat. He said, "Because you have allied yourself with King Ahaziah, the Lord will destroy your work." So the ships met with disaster and never put out to sea.

Their father had given each of them valuable gifts of silver, gold, and costly items, and also some of Judah's fortified towns. However, he designated Jehoram as the next king because he was the oldest.

Even so, Edom has been independent from Judah to this day. The town of Libnah also revolted about that same time. All this happened because Jehoram had abandoned the Lord , the God of his ancestors.

he returned to Jezreel to recover from the wounds he had received at Ramoth. Because Joram was wounded, King Ahaziah of Judah went to Jezreel to visit him.

Then Jehu's men searched for Ahaziah, and they found him hiding in the city of Samaria. They brought him to Jehu, who killed him. Ahaziah was given a decent burial because the people said, "He was the grandson of Jehoshaphat—a man who sought the Lord with all his heart." But none of the surviving members of Ahaziah's family was capable of ruling the kingdom.

So all the people of the land rejoiced, and the city was peaceful because Athaliah had been killed.

He was buried among the kings in the City of David, because he had done so much good in Israel for God and his Temple.

They decided to abandon the Temple of the Lord , the God of their ancestors, and they worshiped Asherah poles and idols instead! Because of this sin, divine anger fell on Judah and Jerusalem.

But the king interrupted him and said, "Since when have I made you the king's counselor? Be quiet now before I have you killed!" So the prophet stopped with this warning: "I know that God has determined to destroy you because you have done this and have refused to accept my counsel."

He also constructed forts in the wilderness and dug many water cisterns, because he kept great herds of livestock in the foothills of Judah and on the plains. He was also a man who loved the soil. He had many workers who cared for his farms and vineyards, both on the hillsides and in the fertile valleys.

When Azariah the high priest and all the other priests saw the leprosy, they rushed him out. And the king himself was eager to get out because the Lord had struck him.

King Jotham became powerful because he was careful to live in obedience to the Lord his God.

Because of all this, the Lord his God allowed the king of Aram to defeat Ahaz and to exile large numbers of his people to Damascus. The armies of the king of Israel also defeated Ahaz and inflicted many casualties on his army.

In a single day Pekah son of Remaliah, Israel's king, killed 120,000 of Judah's troops, all of them experienced warriors, because they had abandoned the Lord , the God of their ancestors.

Listen to me and return these prisoners you have taken, for they are your own relatives. Watch out, because now the Lord 's fierce anger has been turned against you!"