So the Lord said to Solomon, “Because you have chosen to break your agreement with me and have not obeyed my commands, I will tear your kingdom away from you and give it to one of your officers.
Some of the Philistines brought gifts and silver to Jehoshaphat as he demanded. Some Arabs brought him flocks: seventy-seven hundred sheep and seventy-seven hundred goats.
The people of Jerusalem chose Ahaziah, Jehoram’s youngest son, to be king in his place. The robbers who had come with the Arabs to attack Jehoram’s camp had killed all of Jehoram’s older sons. So Ahaziah began to rule Judah.
So the Lord brought the king of Assyria’s army commanders to attack Judah. They captured Manasseh, put hooks in him, placed bronze chains on his hands, and took him to Babylon.
In the first year Cyrus was king of Persia, the Lord caused Cyrus to send an announcement to his whole kingdom and to put it in writing. This happened so the Lord’s message spoken by Jeremiah would come true. He wrote:
Then the family leaders of Judah and Benjamin and the priests and Levites got ready to go to Jerusalem—everyone God had caused to want to go to Jerusalem to build the Temple of the Lord.
My master and king, listen to me. If the Lord made you angry with me, let him accept an offering. But if people did it, may the Lord curse them! They have made me leave the land the Lord gave me. They have told me, ‘Go and serve other gods.’