⁷ while the army of the king of Babylon was fighting against Jerusalem and the other cities of Judah that were still holding out—Lachish^(A) and Azekah.^(B) These were the only fortified cities left in Judah.

³ So Adoni-Zedek king of Jerusalem appealed to Hoham king of Hebron,^(A) Piram king of Jarmuth,^(B) Japhia king of Lachish^(C) and Debir^(D) king of Eglon.^(E)

Disaster From the North

Rehoboam Fortifies Judah

⁵ Rehoboam lived in Jerusalem and built up towns for defense in Judah: ⁶ Bethlehem, Etam, Tekoa, ⁷ Beth Zur, Soko, Adullam, ⁸ Gath, Mareshah, Ziph, ⁹ Adoraim, Lachish, Azekah, ¹⁰ Zorah, Aijalon and Hebron. These were fortified cities^(A) in Judah and Benjamin.

¹³ In the fourteenth year^(A) of King Hezekiah’s reign, Sennacherib king of Assyria attacked all the fortified cities of Judah^(B) and captured them. ¹⁴ So Hezekiah king of Judah sent this message to the king of Assyria at Lachish:^(C) “I have done wrong.^(D) Withdraw from me, and I will pay whatever you demand of me.” The king of Assyria exacted from Hezekiah king of Judah three hundred talents^[a] of silver and thirty talents^[b] of gold.

Warning to Zedekiah

34 While Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and all his army and all the kingdoms and peoples^(A) in the empire he ruled were fighting against Jerusalem^(B) and all its surrounding towns, this word came to Jeremiah from the Lord:

¹² The towns of Judah and the people of Jerusalem will go and cry out to the gods to whom they burn incense,^(A) but they will not help them at all when disaster^(B) strikes.