¹³ Haven’t you heard, my lord, what I did while Jezebel was killing the prophets of the Lord? I hid a hundred of the Lord’s prophets in two caves, fifty in each, and supplied them with food and water.

²⁴ Then Zedekiah^(A) son of Kenaanah went up and slapped^(B) Micaiah in the face. “Which way did the spirit from^[a] the Lord go when he went from me to speak^(C) to you?” he asked.

²⁵ Micaiah replied, “You will find out on the day you go to hide^(D) in an inner room.”

²⁶ The king of Israel then ordered, “Take Micaiah and send him back to Amon the ruler of the city and to Joash the king’s son ²⁷ and say, ‘This is what the king says: Put this fellow in prison^(E) and give him nothing but bread and water until I return safely.’”

³¹ He said, “May God deal with me, be it ever so severely, if the head of Elisha son of Shaphat remains on his shoulders today!”

¹⁹ Although the Lord sent prophets to the people to bring them back to him, and though they testified against them, they would not listen.^(A)

²⁰ Then the Spirit^(B) of God came on Zechariah^(C) son of Jehoiada the priest. He stood before the people and said, “This is what God says: ‘Why do you disobey the Lord’s commands? You will not prosper.^(D) Because you have forsaken the Lord, he has forsaken^(E) you.’”

²¹ But they plotted against him, and by order of the king they stoned^(F) him to death^(G) in the courtyard of the Lord’s temple.^{(H) 22} King Joash did not remember the kindness Zechariah’s father Jehoiada had shown him but killed his son, who said as he lay dying, “May the Lord see this and call you to account.”^(I)

The Fall of Jerusalem^(A)(B)

¹⁵ The Lord, the God of their ancestors, sent word to them through his messengers^(C) again and again,^(D) because he had pity on his people and on his dwelling place.

¹⁶ But they mocked God’s messengers, despised his words and scoffed^(A) at his prophets until the wrath^(B) of the Lord was aroused against his people and there was no remedy.^(C)