The LORD spoke to me when King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylonia and his army, supported by troops from all the nations and races that were subject to him, were attacking Jerusalem and its nearby towns.

Blow the trumpet throughout the land! Shout loud and clear! Tell the people of Judah and Jerusalem to run to the fortified cities.

"Why are we sitting still?" God's people ask. "Come on, we will run to the fortified cities and die there. The LORD our God has condemned us to die; he has given us poison to drink, because we have sinned against him.

Then the people of Judah and of Jerusalem will go to the gods to whom they offer sacrifices and will cry out to them for help. But those gods will not be able to save them when this destruction comes.

They will attack every town in the land that the LORD your God is giving you, and the high, fortified walls in which you trust will fall.

So Adonizedek sent the following message to King Hoham of Hebron, King Piram of Jarmuth, King Japhia of Lachish, and to King Debir of Eglon:

While the Amorites were running down the pass from the Israelite army, the LORD made large hailstones fall down on them all the way to Azekah. More were killed by the hailstones than by the Israelites.

Jarmuth, Lachish,

Jarmuth, Adullam, Socoh, Azekah,

Lachish, Bozkath, Eglon,

In the fourteenth year of the reign of King Hezekiah, Sennacherib, the emperor of Assyria, attacked the fortified cities of Judah and conquered them.

Hezekiah sent a message to Sennacherib, who was in Lachish: "I have done wrong; please stop your attack, and I will pay whatever you demand." The emperor's answer was that Hezekiah should send him ten tons of silver and one ton of gold.

The Assyrian official learned that the emperor had left Lachish and was fighting against the nearby city of Libnah; so he went there to consult him.

You that live in Lachish, hitch the horses to the chariots. You imitated the sins of Israel and so caused Jerusalem to sin.

Rehoboam remained in Jerusalem and had fortifications built for the following cities of Judah and Benjamin:

Bethzur, Soco, Adullam,

Adoraim, Lachish, Azekah,

In the mountains of Judah he built cities, and in the forests he built forts and towers.