Then the prophet went to King Ahab and said, "Go back and build up your forces and make careful plans, because the king of Syria will attack again next spring."

The following spring he called up his men and marched with them to the city of Aphek to attack the Israelites.

The LORD will take revenge and punish them; the time will come when they will fall; the day of their doom is near.

At that time King Hazael of Syria attacked the city of Gath and conquered it; then he decided to attack Jerusalem.

King Joash of Judah took all the offerings that his predecessors Jehoshaphat, Jehoram, and Ahaziah had dedicated to the LORD, added to them his own offerings and all the gold in the treasuries of the Temple and the palace, and sent them all as a gift to King Hazael, who then led his army away from Jerusalem.

But once Jehoiada was dead, the leaders of Judah persuaded King Joash to listen to them instead.

And so the people stopped worshiping in the Temple of the LORD, the God of their ancestors, and began to worship idols and the images of the goddess Asherah. Their guilt for these sins brought the LORD's anger on Judah and Jerusalem.

Now listen to this warning, you kings; learn this lesson, you rulers of the world:

Serve the LORD with fear; tremble

The righteous will be glad when they see sinners punished; they will wade through the blood of the wicked.

People will say, "The righteous are indeed rewarded; there is indeed a God who judges the world."

'You are gods,' I said; 'all of you are children of the Most High.'

But you will die like mortals; your life will end like that of any prince."