¹² Jehoram received a letter from Elijah^(A) the prophet, which said:

³ The Lord was with Jehoshaphat because he followed the ways of his father David^(A) before him. He did not consult the Baals ⁴ but sought^(B) the God of his father and followed his commands rather than the practices of Israel.

Asa King of Judah^(A)

² Asa did what was good and right in the eyes of the Lord his God.^{(B) 3} He removed the foreign altars^(C) and the high places, smashed the sacred stones^(D) and cut down the Asherah poles.^{[a](E) 4} He commanded Judah to seek the Lord,^(F) the God of their ancestors, and to obey his laws and commands. ⁵ He removed the high places^(G) and incense altars^(H) in every town in Judah, and the kingdom was at peace under him.

Elijah Taken Up to Heaven

2 When the Lord was about to take^(A) Elijah up to heaven in a whirlwind,^(B) Elijah and Elisha^(C) were on their way from Gilgal.^(D)

²⁵ “This is the inscription that was written:

²⁶ “Here is what these words mean:

²⁹ Then at Belshazzar’s command, Daniel was clothed in purple, a gold chain was placed around his neck,^(G) and he was proclaimed the third highest ruler in the kingdom.^(H)

⁵ Suddenly the fingers of a human hand appeared and wrote on the plaster of the wall, near the lampstand in the royal palace. The king watched the hand as it wrote.

²⁸ “Take another scroll^(A) and write on it all the words that were on the first scroll, which Jehoiakim king of Judah burned up. ²⁹ Also tell Jehoiakim king of Judah, ‘This is what the Lord says: You burned that scroll and said, “Why did you write on it that the king of Babylon would certainly come and destroy this land and wipe from it^(B) both man and beast?”^{(C) 30} Therefore this is what the Lord says about Jehoiakim^(D) king of Judah: He will have no one to sit on the throne of David; his body will be thrown out^(E) and exposed^(F) to the heat by day and the frost by night.^{(G) 31} I will punish him and his children^(H) and his attendants for their wickedness; I will bring on them and those living in Jerusalem and the people of Judah every disaster^(I) I pronounced against them, because they have not listened.^(J)’”

³² So Jeremiah took another scroll and gave it to the scribe Baruch son of Neriah, and as Jeremiah dictated,^(K) Baruch wrote^(L) on it all the words of the scroll that Jehoiakim king of Judah had burned^(M) in the fire. And many similar words were added to them.

²³ Whenever Jehudi had read three or four columns of the scroll,^(A) the king cut them off with a scribe’s knife and threw them into the firepot, until the entire scroll was burned in the fire.^(B)

² “Take a scroll^(A) and write on it all the words^(B) I have spoken to you concerning Israel, Judah and all the other nations from the time I began speaking to you in the reign of Josiah^(C) till now.