2 Kings 21 Cross References - LEB

¹ Manasseh was twelve years old when he began to reign, and he reigned fifty-five years in Jerusalem. The name of his mother was Hephzibah. ² He did evil in the eyes of Yahweh, according to the detestable things of the nations that Yahweh had driven out from the presence of the _⌊Israelites_⌋.* ³ He returned and rebuilt the high places which Hezekiah his father had destroyed. He erected altars for Baal and made a pole of Asherah worship just as Ahab king of Israel had made, and he bowed down to all of the host of heaven and served them. ⁴ He built altars in the temple of Yahweh about which Yahweh had said, "I will put my name in Jerusalem." ⁵ He built an altar to all of the host of heaven in the two courtyards of the temple of Yahweh. ⁶ He made his son pass through the fire, practiced soothsaying and divination, and dealt with mediums and spiritists. He increased the doing of evil in the eyes of Yahweh to provoke him. ⁷ He put the image of the Asherah that he had made in the temple which Yahweh had said to David and to Solomon his son, "In this temple and in Jerusalem which I have chosen from all of the tribes of Israel, I will put my name forever. ⁸ I will not again make the feet of Israel wander from the land which I have given to their ancestors,* if they only observe to do according to all that I have commanded them, as far as the law that Moses my servant commanded them." ⁹ But Manasseh did not listen and tempted them to do evil more than the nations that Yahweh destroyed before the presence of the _⌊Israelites_⌋.* ¹⁰ So Yahweh spoke by the hand of his servants the prophets, saying, ¹¹ "Because Manasseh the king of Judah committed these detestable things and did evil more than the Amorites did who were before him and caused even Judah to sin with his idols, ¹² therefore, thus says Yahweh the God of Israel, 'Look, I am bringing disaster upon Jerusalem and Judah about which the two ears of all who hear it will tingle. ¹³ I will stretch out over Jerusalem the measuring line of Samaria and the plumb line of the house of Ahab, and I will wipe Jerusalem as one wipes the dish; he wipes it and turns it on its face. ¹⁴ I will give up the remainder of my inheritance, and I will give them into the hand of their enemies. They shall become as prey and as spoil for all their enemies, ¹⁵ because they have done evil in my eyes and were provoking me from the day that their ancestors* came out from Egypt up to this day.'" ¹⁶ Moreover, Manasseh shed very much innocent blood until he filled Jerusalem _⌊from one end to another_⌋,* apart from his sin which he caused Judah to sin by doing evil in the eyes of Yahweh. ¹⁷ The remainder of the acts of Manasseh and all that he did and his sin that he committed, are they not written on the scroll of the events of the days of the kings of Judah? ¹⁸ Then Manasseh slept with his ancestors* and was buried in the garden of his palace, in the garden of Uzza. Amon his son became king in his place. ¹⁹ Amon was twenty-two years old when he began to reign, and he reigned two years in Jerusalem. The name of his mother was Meshullemeth the daughter of Haruz from Jotbah. ²⁰ He did evil in the eyes of Yahweh as Manasseh his father had done. ²¹ He walked in all of the way which his father had walked, and he served the idols which his father had served and bowed down to them. ²² He abandoned Yahweh the God of his ancestors* and did not walk in the way of Yahweh. ²³ The servants of Amon conspired against him and killed the king in his palace. ²⁴ But the people of the land killed all who conspired against the king and made Josiah his son king in his place. ²⁵ The remainder of the acts of Amon that he did, are they not written on the scroll of the events of the days of the kings of Judah? ²⁶ They buried him in his tomb in the garden of Uzza, and Josiah his son became king in place of him.

²¹ Then Hezekiah slept with his ancestors,* and Manasseh his son became king in his place.

¹³ Ahaz was his son, Hezekiah was his son, Manasseh was his son,

³³ And Hezekiah slept with his ancestors,* and they buried him in the upper part of the burial sites of the descendants* of David. And all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem did him honor at his death. And Manasseh his son became king in his place.

¹⁹ She is a deer of love and a doe of grace; may her breasts satisfy you _⌊always_⌋;* by her love may you be intoxicated continually.

⁴ It shall no longer be said of you, "Forsaken," and it shall no longer be said of your land, "Desolation!" but _⌊you will_⌋* be called "My Delight Is In Her," and your land, "Married," for Yahweh delights in you, and your land shall be married.

¹⁰ and Hezekiah became the father of Manasseh, and Manasseh became the father of Amon,* and Amon became the father of Josiah,

²⁵ So* the land became unclean, and _⌊I have brought the punishment of_⌋* its guilt upon it, and the land has vomited out its inhabitants. ²⁶ But* you (neither the native nor* the alien who is dwelling in your midst) shall keep my statutes and my regulations, and you shall not _⌊practice_⌋* any of these detestable things ²⁷ (because the people of the land, who were _⌊before you_⌋,* did all these detestable things, so the land became unclean), ²⁸ so that the land will not vomit you out when you make it unclean just as it vomited out the nation that was _⌊before you_⌋.* ²⁹ Indeed, anyone who does any of these detestable things, even* those persons who do so shall be cut off from the midst of their people.

³¹ You must not do so toward Yahweh your God, because of every detestable thing they have done for their gods Yahweh hates, for even their sons and their daughters they would burn in the fire to their gods.

² Ahaz was twenty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem. He did not do right in the eyes of Yahweh his God as David his ancestor.* ³ He walked in the way of the kings of Israel; he even let his son pass through the fire according to the detestable things of the nations which Yahweh drove out from before the _⌊Israelites_⌋.* ⁴ He sacrificed and offered incense on the high places, on the hills, and under every green tree.

⁷ He put the image of the Asherah that he had made in the temple which Yahweh had said to David and to Solomon his son, "In this temple and in Jerusalem which I have chosen from all of the tribes of Israel, I will put my name forever.

¹⁶ Moreover, Manasseh shed very much innocent blood until he filled Jerusalem _⌊from one end to another_⌋,* apart from his sin which he caused Judah to sin by doing evil in the eyes of Yahweh.

¹⁷ because they have abandoned me and they have burned incense to other gods, provoking me to anger with all of the works of their hands. My wrath shall be kindled against this place and not be quenched.'"

² And he did evil in the eyes of Yahweh according to the detestable things of the nations whom Yahweh drove out before the _⌊Israelites_⌋.* ³ And _⌊he rebuilt_⌋* the high places that Hezekiah his father broke down, and he set up altars for the Baals, made Asherahs, and bowed down to the host of heaven and served them. ⁴ And he built altars in the house of Yahweh, of which Yahweh had said, "In Jerusalem my name shall be forever."

¹⁴ All the leaders of the priests and the people likewise increased in unfaithfulness according to all the detestable things of the nations. And they polluted the house of Yahweh that he had consecrated in Jerusalem.

⁴ And I will make them a terror to all of the kingdoms of the earth because of Manasseh, the son of Hezekiah, the king of Judah, because of what he did in Jerusalem.

⁵¹ And Samaria did not sin _⌊according to even half of your sins_⌋,* and you caused your detestable things to increase more than they, and you made your sister righteous in comparison with all of your detestable things that you did.*

¹⁹ _⌊And do this so that you do not lift_⌋* your eyes toward heaven and _⌊observe_⌋* the sun and the moon and the stars, all the host of the heaven, and be led astray and bow down to them and serve them, things that Yahweh your God has allotted to all of the peoples under all of the heaven.

³ and by going and serving other gods and so he bows down to them and to the sun or to the moon or to any of the host of heaven _⌊which I have forbidden_⌋,*

³¹ _⌊If it wasn't enough that he went_⌋* after the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, he also took as wife Jezebel the daughter of Ethbaal the king of the Sidonians. He went and served Baal and bowed down to him. ³² And he built an altar to Baal in the house of Baal which he had built in Samaria. ³³ Ahab also made the sacred pole, and _⌊he continued to provoke_⌋* Yahweh the God of Israel more than all the kings of Israel who were before him.

²¹ Elijah approached to all the people and said, "How long will you go limping over two opinions? If Yahweh is God, go after him; but if Baal, go after him." But the people did not answer him a word.

²⁶ So they took the bull that he allowed to them, prepared it, and called upon the name of Baal from morning until noon, saying, "O Baal, answer us!" But there was no voice and there was no answer, so they limped* about the altar which they had made.

¹⁸ He walked in the way of the kings of Israel as the house of Ahab had done, for the daughter of Ahab became his wife, and he did evil in the eyes of Yahweh.

²⁷ He walked in the way of the house of Ahab and did evil in the eyes of Yahweh, as the house of Ahab; for he was the son-in-law of the house of Ahab.

¹⁸ Then Jehu assembled all of the people and said to them, "Ahab served Baal a little, but Jehu will worship him greatly. ¹⁹ So then, summon to me all of the prophets of Baal and all of his servants and his priests; no man should fail to come, for I have a great sacrifice for Baal. Anyone who fails to come shall not live!" Now Jehu was acting with cunning in order to destroy the servants of Baal. ²⁰ Then Jehu said, "Sanctify a solemn assembly for Baal!" So they proclaimed it.

¹⁶ They abandoned all the commands of Yahweh their God and made for themselves two molten calf-shaped idols; they made a pole of Asherah worship and bowed down to the army of the heavens and served Baal.

⁴ He removed the high places, and he smashed the stone pillars; he cut down the poles of Asherah worship and demolished the bronze serpent which Moses had made, for up to those days the _⌊Israelites_⌋* were offering incense to it and called it Nehushtan.

²² But if you say to me, 'On Yahweh our God we trust,' is it not he whose high places and altars Hezekiah removed, and he had said to Judah and to Jerusalem, 'In the presence of this altar you shall bow down only in Jerusalem?'

⁴ Then the _⌊king_⌋* commanded Hilkiah the high priest, the second priests, and the keepers of the threshold, to bring out of the temple of Yahweh all of the objects made for Baal and for the Asherah and for all the host of heaven, and he burned them outside of Jerusalem in the fields of the Kidron, and then he carried their ashes to Bethel. ⁵ He removed the priests whom the kings of Judah had ordained to burn incense on the high places at the cities of Judah and around Jerusalem and who offered incense to, to the sun, to the moon, to the constellations, and to all the host of heaven.

¹² Has not Hezekiah himself removed his high places and his altars and said to Judah and to Jerusalem, saying, "You must bow down before one altar and upon it you must make offerings"?

³ And _⌊he rebuilt_⌋* the high places that Hezekiah his father broke down, and he set up altars for the Baals, made Asherahs, and bowed down to the host of heaven and served them. ⁴ And he built altars in the house of Yahweh, of which Yahweh had said, "In Jerusalem my name shall be forever." ⁵ And he built altars to all the host of heaven in the two courtyards of the house of Yahweh.

³ In the eighth year of his reign, while he was still a boy, he began to seek the God of David his ancestor.* And in the twelfth year he began to cleanse Judah and Jerusalem of the high places, the Asherahs, the idols, and the images.

²⁶ if I looked at the sun when it shone or* at the moon moving in splendor,

¹⁶ For you have observed the regulations of Omri and all the works of the house of Ahab. And you have walked in their counsels, so that I am making you a desolation and your inhabitants an object of scorn. So you will bear the scorn of my people.

²⁴ An altar of earth you will make for me, and you will sacrifice on it your burnt offerings and your fellowship offerings, your sheep and your cattle. In every place where I cause my name to be remembered,* I will come to you, and I will bless you.

⁵ _⌊But only_⌋* to the place that Yahweh your God will choose from all of your tribes to place his name there as his dwelling shall you seek, and there you shall go.

¹³ He will build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever.

²⁹ so that your eyes will be open to this house night and day, to the place which you said, 'My name will be there,' to hear the prayer that your servant prays toward this place.

³ Yahweh said to him, "I have heard your prayer and your plea which you have made before me. I have consecrated this house which you have built, by putting my name there forever. My eyes and my heart will always be there.

¹⁰ So King Ahaz went to meet Tiglath-Pileser the king of Assyria in Damascus, and he saw the altar which was in Damascus, so King Ahaz sent to Uriah the priest the builder's plan of the altar and the _⌊exact model of how it had been made_⌋.* ¹¹ So Uriah the priest built the altar according to all that King Ahaz had sent from Damascus; thus Uriah the priest did before King Ahaz came from Damascus. ¹² When the king came from Damascus, the king saw the altar, so he went near to the altar and went up on it. ¹³ Then he offered his burnt offerings and his grain offerings, he poured his libations and dashed the blood of his fellowship offerings against the altar. ¹⁴ Now the bronze altar which was before Yahweh, he brought over from the front of the temple, from between his altar and the temple of Yahweh, and he placed it at the side of his altar to the north. ¹⁵ Then King Ahaz commanded Uriah the priest, saying, "On the great altar burn the morning burnt offering and the grain offering of the evening, the burnt offering of the king and his grain offering, the burnt offering of all of the people of the land, their offerings, their libations, and all of the blood of the burnt offerings, the blood of the sacrifices you must dash on it. But the bronze altar shall be for me to inquire by." ¹⁶ So Uriah the priest did according to all that King Ahaz commanded.

⁶⁸ but chose the tribe of Judah, _⌊Mount Zion_⌋* that he loved. ⁶⁹ And he built his sanctuary like the heights, like the earth that he established forever.

¹³ For Yahweh has chosen Zion; he has desired it for his habitation. ¹⁴ "This is my resting place forever; here I will dwell, for I have desired it.

³⁴ And they set up their abominations in the house that is called by my name, to defile it.

³⁶ Then he built the inner courtyard with three rows of dressed stone and a row of cedar beams.

¹² The great courtyard all around had three rows of dressed stones and a row of cedar beams; for both the courtyard of the inner house* of Yahweh and for the porch of the house.

⁴ Then the _⌊king_⌋* commanded Hilkiah the high priest, the second priests, and the keepers of the threshold, to bring out of the temple of Yahweh all of the objects made for Baal and for the Asherah and for all the host of heaven, and he burned them outside of Jerusalem in the fields of the Kidron, and then he carried their ashes to Bethel.

⁶ He brought out the Asherah image from the temple of Yahweh outside of Jerusalem to the Wadi of the Kidron and burnt it _⌊there_⌋;* then he pulverized it to dust and threw its dust upon the tombs of the children of the people.

¹² The altars which were on the roof of the upper room of Ahaz, which the kings of Judah had made, and the altars which Manasseh had made in the two courtyards of the temple of Yahweh, the king tore down and ran from there and threw their ashes into the Wadi Kidron.

⁵ And he built altars to all the host of heaven in the two courtyards of the house of Yahweh.

¹⁵ And he removed the foreign gods and the carved image from the house of Yahweh and all the altars which he built on the mountain of the house of Yahweh and in Jerusalem, and he threw them outside the city.

²⁸ And he brought me to the inner courtyard through* the gate of the south, and he measured the south gate, and it had measurements like _⌊the others_⌋.*

³² And he brought me to the inner courtyard by way of the east gate, and he measured the gate as just like _⌊the other measurements_⌋.*

³⁷ And its pilasters _⌊faced the outer courtyard_⌋,* and _⌊it had palm tree images on its pilasters_⌋* _⌊on each side_⌋;* and eight steps served as its stairs.

⁴⁷ And he measured the courtyard as to its length, a hundred cubits,* and a hundred cubits* wide, squared, and the altar _⌊is in front of_⌋* the temple.

³ Opposite the twenty cubits _⌊of the inner courtyard_⌋,* and opposite the pavement that was to the outer courtyard was a gallery _⌊facing_⌋* a gallery in the three stories.

⁵ And the Spirit lifted me and it brought me to the inner courtyard and, look! The glory of Yahweh filled the temple!

¹⁹ When they go out to the outer courtyard to the people, they must take off their garment in which they were serving, and they must place them _⌊in the holy chambers_⌋,* and they must put on other garments, so that they will not make the people holy with their garments.

¹³ Now the men of Sodom _⌊were extremely wicked sinners against Yahweh_⌋.*

²¹ " 'And you shall not give _⌊any of_⌋* your offspring* in order to sacrifice them to Molech, nor* shall you profane the name of your God; I am Yahweh.

²⁶ " 'You* must not eat anything with the blood; you* shall not practice divination, nor shall you* interpret signs.

³¹ " 'You* shall not turn to the mediums and to the soothsayers; you* shall not seek them to become unclean with them; I am Yahweh your* God.

² "And to the _⌊Israelites_⌋* you shall say, 'If there is _⌊anyone_⌋* from the _⌊Israelites_⌋* or* from the alien who is dwelling in Israel, who gives _⌊any of_⌋* his offspring to Molech, he must surely be put to death; the people of the land must stone him with stones.* ³ And I myself will set my face against that man, and I will cut him off from the midst of his people, because he has given _⌊some of_⌋* his offspring to Molech, so that _⌊he makes my sanctuary unclean_⌋* and profanes* _⌊my holy name_⌋.*

¹⁰ There shall not be found among you one who makes his son or his daughter go through the fire, or _⌊one who practices divination_⌋,* or an interpreter of signs,* or an augur,* or sorcerer, ¹¹ or one who casts magic spells, or one who consults a spirit of the dead,* or spiritist, or one who inquires of the dead.* ¹² For everyone doing these things is detestable to Yahweh, and because of these detestable things Yahweh your God is driving them out from _⌊before you_⌋.* ¹³ You must be blameless before Yahweh your God. ¹⁴ For these nations that you are about to dispossess listen to interpreters of signs* and to diviners, but Yahweh your God has not allowed you to do the same.

³ He walked in the way of the kings of Israel; he even let his son pass through the fire according to the detestable things of the nations which Yahweh drove out from before the _⌊Israelites_⌋.*

¹⁷ They made their sons and their daughters pass through the fire, they practiced divination and read omens, and they sold themselves to do evil in the eyes of Yahweh to provoke him.

³ Surely, it was _⌊on the command_⌋* of Yahweh against Judah to remove them from his sight because of the sins of Manasseh, according to all that he had done. ⁴ Also, for the blood of the innocent that he had shed—and he filled Jerusalem with innocent blood—Yahweh was not willing to forgive.

¹³ So Saul died on account of his sin which he had sinned against Yahweh concerning the command of Yahweh that he did not keep. He also consulted a medium to seek guidance.

³ And he himself burned incense in the valley of Ben-Hinnom and burned his sons in the fire, according to the detestable practices of the nations whom Yahweh drove out before the Israelites.

⁶ And he himself burned his sons in the fire in the Valley of Ben-Hinnom. And he practiced sorcery and divination, and he engaged in witchcraft and dealt with mediums and spiritists. And he did much evil in the eyes of Yahweh, to provoke him to anger.

¹⁹ Now if they tell you, "Consult the ghosts and the spirits, those who chirp and those who mutter. Should not a people consult its gods, the dead on behalf of the living,

³ And the spirit of _⌊the Egyptians_⌋* will be disturbed in his midst, and I will _⌊confuse_⌋* his plans,* and they will consult the idols and the spirits of the dead, and the ghosts and the spiritists.

⁷ Will Yahweh be pleased with thousands of rams, with myriads of rivers of oil? Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?

¹⁶ And it happened that as* we were going to the place of prayer, a certain female slave who had a spirit of divination* met us, who was bringing a large profit to her owners by* fortune-telling.

²¹ You shall not plant for yourselves* _⌊an Asherah pole_⌋* beside the altar of Yahweh your God that you make for yourselves.*

⁴⁴ If your people go out to battle against his enemy in the way that you shall send them and they pray to Yahweh, toward the city which you have chosen and the house which I have built for your name,

⁷ then I will cut Israel off from the face of the land that I have given to them, even the house which I have consecrated for my name I will cast away from my face; and Israel shall become a proverb and an object of taunting among all the peoples.

⁴ He built altars in the temple of Yahweh about which Yahweh had said, "I will put my name in Jerusalem."

²⁷ Yahweh had said, "Even Judah I will remove from my face, as I have removed Israel; I will reject this city that I have chosen, even Jerusalem and the house of which I said, 'My name shall be there'!"

¹² Then Yahweh appeared to Solomon at night and said to him, "I have heard your prayer and have chosen this place for myself as a house of sacrifice.

¹⁶ And now I have chosen and consecrated this house for my name to be there forever. My eyes and my heart will be there _⌊for all time_⌋.*

²⁰ then I will uproot them from upon my land that I have given to them, and this house that I have consecrated for my name I will send away from before my face, and I will make it a proverb and a taunt among all the nations.

⁷ And he placed the carved image of the idol that he had made in the house of God, of which God had said to David and to Solomon his son, "In this house and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen from all the tribes of Israel, I will put my name forever.

⁹ But if you return to me and keep my commandments and do them, even though all of your outcasts are at the furthest parts of heaven, I will gather them and bring them to the place which I have chosen to make my name dwell.'

² Remember your congregation that you bought long ago, when you redeemed the tribe of your inheritance. Remember _⌊Mount Zion_⌋* where you have dwelt.

³ " 'If you walk in my statutes and you keep my commands and you do them, ⁴ then* I will give you rains in their time, and the land shall give its produce, and the trees of the field shall give their fruit. ⁵ And for you the threshing season shall overtake the grape harvest, and the grape harvest shall overtake the sowing, and you shall eat your food _⌊to your fill_⌋* and you shall live _⌊securely_⌋* in your land. ⁶ And I will give peace in the land, and you shall lie down, and there shall not be _⌊anybody who makes you afraid_⌋,* and I will remove harmful animals from the land, and _⌊no sword shall pass through your land_⌋.* ⁷ And you shall pursue your enemies, and they shall fall by the sword _⌊before you_⌋.* ⁸ And five of* you shall pursue a hundred, and a hundred of* you shall pursue a myriad;* and your enemies shall fall by the sword _⌊before you_⌋.* ⁹ And I will turn to you, and I will make you fruitful, and I will make you numerous; and I will keep my covenant with you. ¹⁰ And you shall eat _⌊old grain_⌋,* and _⌊you shall clear away the old before the new_⌋.* ¹¹ And I will put my dwelling place in your midst, and my inner self* shall not abhor you. ¹² And I will walk about in your midst, and I shall be your God,* and you shall be my people.* ¹³ I am Yahweh, your God who brought you out from the land of Egypt, from being their slaves; and I broke the bars of your yoke, and I caused you to walk erectly.

²⁸ "And Yahweh heard the sound of your words _⌊when you spoke to me_⌋,* and Yahweh said to me, 'I have heard the sound of the words of this people that they have spoken to you; they are right with respect to all that they have spoken. ²⁹ _⌊If only_⌋* _⌊they had such a mind_⌋';* that is, to fear me and to keep all my commandments _⌊at all times_⌋,* so that _⌊it will go well_⌋* for them and for their children _⌊forever_⌋.*

¹ "And it will happen that if you indeed listen to the voice of Yahweh your God, _⌊to diligently observe_⌋* all his commandments that I am commanding you _⌊today_⌋,* then Yahweh your God will set you above all the nations of the earth. ² And all of these blessings shall come upon you, and _⌊they shall have an effect on you_⌋* if you listen to the voice of Yahweh your God: ³ "You will be blessed in the city, and you will be blessed in the field. ⁴ "Blessed will be the fruit of your womb and the fruit of your ground and the fruit of your livestock, _⌊the calf of your cattle and the lambs of your flock_⌋.* ⁵ "Blessed will be your basket and your kneading trough. ⁶ "Blessed will you be _⌊when you come in and blessed will you be when you go out_⌋.* ⁷ "Yahweh will cause your enemies _⌊who rise up against you to be defeated before you_⌋;* on one road* they shall come out against you, but on seven roads* they shall flee _⌊before you_⌋.* ⁸ Yahweh will command _⌊concerning you_⌋* the blessing to be in your barns and _⌊in all your endeavors_⌋;* and he will bless you in the land that Yahweh your God is giving to you. ⁹ Yahweh will establish you for _⌊himself_⌋* as a holy people as he has sworn to you, if you keep the commandments of Yahweh your God and you walk in his ways. ¹⁰ And all of the peoples of the earth shall see that _⌊by the name of Yahweh you are called_⌋,* and _⌊they shall fear you_⌋.* ¹¹ And _⌊Yahweh will make you successful and prosperous_⌋,* in the fruit of your womb and on the land that Yahweh swore to your ancestors* to give to you. ¹² Yahweh shall open for you his _⌊rich_⌋* storehouse, even the heavens, to give the rain for* your land in its time and to bless all of the work of your hand, and you will lend to many nations; you will not borrow from them. ¹³ And Yahweh shall make you* as head and not the tail, and you shall be only at the top of the nations, and you shall not be at the bottom, if you listen to the commandments of Yahweh your God that I am commanding you _⌊today_⌋* _⌊and diligently observe them_⌋.* ¹⁴ And you shall not turn aside from _⌊any of_⌋* the words that I am commanding you _⌊today_⌋* to the right or left by going after other gods to serve them.

¹¹ Take utmost care for the sake of your life to love Yahweh your God, ¹² for if indeed you turn back and join these remaining nations _⌊among you_⌋,* and you intermarry with them, _⌊marrying their women and they yours_⌋,* ¹³ know for certain that Yahweh your God _⌊will not continue to drive out_⌋* these nations from before you; they will be for you a snare and a trap, a whip on your sides and thorns in your eyes, until you perish from this good land that Yahweh your God has given to you.

¹⁰ I will make a place for my people Israel, and I will plant them* so that they* can dwell _⌊in their own place_⌋.* They will not tremble any longer, and the children of wickedness will not afflict them again, as in the former days.

¹¹ Then the king of Assyria deported Israel to Assyria and settled them in Halah, in Habor, in the river regions of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes, ¹² because they did not listen to the voice of Yahweh their God, and they transgressed his covenant; all that he had commanded Moses, the servant of Yahweh, they did not listen to nor did they obey.

⁹ And I will appoint a place for my people Israel, and I will plant them,* and they* shall dwell in their* place and be in anguish no longer. And wicked men will no longer wear them down as before,

⁸ And I will _⌊never_⌋* remove the foot of Israel from upon the land that I appointed to your ancestors,* if only you will take care to do all that I have commanded them, all the law, the regulations, and the judgments by the hand of Moses."

³ Trust Yahweh and do good. Abide in the land and feed on faithfulness.*

¹¹ But my people did not listen to my voice, and Israel did not yield to me. ¹² So I let them* go in the stubbornness of their heart; they walked in their counsels. ¹³ Oh that my people would listen to me; that Israel would walk in my ways. ¹⁴ I would subdue their enemies quickly, and turn my hand against their adversaries. ¹⁵ Those who hate Yahweh would cringe before him, and their fate* would be forever. ¹⁶ But he would feed him* from the choicest wheat,* and I would satisfy you with honey from a rock."

¹⁹ If you are willing and you are obedient, you shall eat the good of the land.

³ Thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel, "Make your ways and your deeds good and let me dwell with you in this place. ⁴ Do not trust in _⌊the deceitful words_⌋,* _⌊saying_⌋,* 'The temple of Yahweh, the temple of Yahweh, they are the temple of Yahweh.' ⁵ For if you truly make your ways and your deeds good, if you truly do justice between a man and his neighbor, ⁶ you do not oppress the alien, the orphan, and the widow, you do not shed innocent blood in this place, and you do not go after other gods _⌊to your harm_⌋,* ⁷ then I will let you dwell in this place, in the land that I gave to your ancestors* _⌊forever and ever_⌋.*

²³ But I only commanded them this word, _⌊saying_⌋,* 'Obey my voice, and I will be to you God, and you will be to me people, and you must walk in all of the way that I command you, so that it goes well with you.'

²⁰ And you must say to them, 'Hear the word of Yahweh, kings of Judah, and all Judah, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem who enter through these gates. ²¹ Thus says Yahweh, "Be on your guard for the sake of yourselves, that you must not carry a burden on the day of the Sabbath, and you must not bring it* through the gates of Jerusalem. ²² And you must not carry a burden from your houses on the day of the Sabbath, and you must not do any work. But you must declare holy the day of Sabbath, just as I commanded your ancestors.* ²³ Yet they did not listen, and they did not incline their ear, and they hardened their neck so as to not hear, nor to receive discipline. ²⁴ "And it will happen, if you carefully listen to me," _⌊declares_⌋* Yahweh, "to bring no burden through the gates of this city on the day of the Sabbath, but to declare holy the day of Sabbath, not to do on it any work, ²⁵ then kings and officials who sit on the throne of David will enter through the gates of this city riding in chariots* and on horses, they, and their officials, the people of Judah, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and this city will be inhabited _⌊forever_⌋.* ²⁶ And they will come from the towns of Judah, and from all around Jerusalem, and from the land of Benjamin, and from the Shephelah, and from the hill country, and from the Negev, bringing burnt offerings,* and sacrifices,* and grain offerings,* and frankincense, and bringing thank offerings* to the house of Yahweh. ²⁷ But if you do not listen to me, to declare holy the day of the Sabbath, and to not carry a burden and enter through the gates of Jerusalem on the day of the Sabbath, then I will kindle a fire in its gates, and it will devour the palaces of Jerusalem, and it will not be quenched." '"

² "And you, son of man,* will you judge? Will you judge the _⌊bloody city_⌋?* Then you must make known to her all of her detestable things! ³ And you must say, 'Thus says the Lord Yahweh: "A city pouring out blood in the midst of her; _⌊its time has come_⌋,* and it made idols for itself, becoming unclean. ⁴ By your blood that you poured out you have become guilty, and by your idols that you made you have become unclean, and you have brought your days near, _⌊and your appointed years have come_⌋.* Therefore I have made you a disgrace for the nations and a laughingstock to all of the countries. ⁵ The people near and the people far from you will make fun of you, _⌊the unclean and the terrified_⌋.* ⁶ Look! The princes of Israel, each one according to his strength,* they are in you _⌊for the shedding of blood_⌋.* ⁷ They have treated father and mother with contempt in you; _⌊they violated_⌋* the alien with* extortion; in the midst of you they mistreated the orphan and widow. ⁸ You despised my holy objects; my Sabbaths you profaned. ⁹ Slanderous men are _⌊among you_⌋* to shed blood, and they, _⌊among you_⌋,* eat upon the mountains; they do wickedness in the midst of you. ¹⁰ They uncover the nakedness of a father among* you; they violate a woman unclean of menstruation among* you. ¹¹ And a man does a detestable thing with the wife of his neighbor, and a man defiles his daughter-in-law in wickedness, and a man sexually violates among* you his sister, the daughter of his father. ¹² They take a bribe among* you in order to shed blood; and you take usury, and you make gain from your neighbors by extortion, and so you have forgotten me, _⌊declares_⌋* the Lord Yahweh. ¹³ And look! I strike my hand for your ill-gotten gain that you have made and at your blood that was in the midst of you. ¹⁴ Can your heart endure,* or can your hands be strong at the days in which I am dealing with you? I, Yahweh, I have spoken, and I will act! ¹⁵ I will scatter you among the nations, and I will disperse you through the countries, and I will purge your uncleanness from you. ¹⁶ And I will be profaned by you before the eyes of the nations, and you will know that I am Yahweh." '"

²⁵ Therefore say to them, 'Thus says the Lord Yahweh: "You eat blood in your meat, and you raise your eyes to your idols and you pour out blood, and yet you want to take possession of the land?* ²⁶ You rely on your sword, you do a detestable thing, and _⌊each man defiles_⌋* the wife of his neighbor, and yet you want to take possession of the land?" '* ²⁷ "Thus you must say to them, 'Thus says the Lord Yahweh: "_⌊As I live_⌋,* _⌊surely_⌋* whoever is in the ruins, by the sword they will fall, and whoever is on the surface of the open field, I will give him to the animals* to eat him, and whoever is in the stronghold and in the cave, they will die by the plague. ²⁸ And I will make the land a desolation and a wasteland, and the pride of its strength will come to an end, and the mountains of Israel will be desolate _⌊with no one traveling through them_⌋." '* ²⁹ And they will know that I am Yahweh when I make my land a desolation and a wasteland, because of all of their detestable things that they have done.

¹⁶ He will give up Israel because of the sin of Jeroboam which he sinned and which he caused Israel to sin."

⁹ And Manasseh seduced Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to do evil more than the nations that Yahweh destroyed before the _⌊Israelites_⌋.*

¹⁶ But they were mocking the messengers of God and despising his words and scoffing at his prophets until the wrath of Yahweh rose against his people until there was no remedy.

¹⁰ "And now our God what shall we say after this? For we have forsaken your commandments, ¹¹ which you commanded by the hand of your servants the prophets saying, 'The land that you are entering to possess is a land of impurity with the impurity of the peoples of the lands, with their detestable things which they have filled from end to end with their uncleanness.

²⁶ "But they rebelled and were rebellious against you and cast your law* behind their back and killed your prophets, who had warned them to turn back to you, and they did great blasphemies.

²⁹ You warned them so that they would return to your law.* Yet they acted arrogantly and did not listen to your commandments but sinned against your judgments that a person must do so that they may live. They turned a stubborn shoulder and stiffened their neck and would not listen. ³⁰ You were patient toward them for many years, and you have warned them by your spirit through the hand of your prophets, but they did not listen. So you gave them into the hand of the nations of the lands.

⁸ The wicked prowl about when vileness is exalted among the children of humankind.

¹⁰ I am Yahweh your God, who brought you up from the land of Egypt. Open wide your mouth and I will fill it.

¹² A ruler listening to a word of falsehood, all his officials are wicked.

⁴⁷ And you have not only gone in their ways, but* you also did according to their detestable things. _⌊In such a short time_⌋* you behaved more corruptly than they in all of your ways.

⁵¹ And Samaria did not sin _⌊according to even half of your sins_⌋,* and you caused your detestable things to increase more than they, and you made your sister righteous in comparison with all of your detestable things that you did.* ⁵² Also,* you bear your disgrace, by which you furnished justification to your sisters* through your sins by which you acted more abominably than they; they were more righteous than you, and also,* you be ashamed and bear your disgrace through your making your sister righteous.

⁶ We have not listened to your servants the prophets, who spoke in your name to our kings, our princes and our ancestors* and to all the people of the land.

¹⁰ and we have not listened to the voice of Yahweh our God, by following his law _⌊which he placed before us_⌋* by the hand of his servants the prophets. ¹¹ "And all Israel transgressed your law and turned aside so as not to listen to your voice, and so the curse and the oath which was written in the law of Moses, the servant of God, has been poured out upon us, because we have sinned against him.

¹¹ Ephraim is oppressed, crushed in judgment, because he was determined to go after filth.*

³⁴ "Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How many times I wanted to gather your children together _⌊the way_⌋* a hen gathers* her own brood under her* wings, and you were not willing!

²² If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not have sin. But now they do not have a valid excuse for their sin.

¹⁷ Therefore, to the one who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin.

²⁰ But I have against you that you tolerate the woman Jezebel, the one who calls herself a prophetess, and teaches and deceives my slaves to commit sexual immorality and to eat food sacrificed to idols.

¹⁰ And Yahweh spoke to Manasseh and to his people, but they would not listen.

¹⁵ And Yahweh, the God of their ancestors,* had repeatedly and persistently sent to them by the hand of his messengers, because he had compassion on his people and on his dwelling place.

³⁰ You were patient toward them for many years, and you have warned them by your spirit through the hand of your prophets, but they did not listen. So you gave them into the hand of the nations of the lands.

³⁴ For this reason, behold, I am sending to you prophets and wise men and scribes. Some of them you will kill and crucify, and some of them you will flog in your synagogues and will pursue from town to town, ³⁵ so that upon you will come all the righteous blood shed on the earth from the blood of righteous Abel up to the blood of Zechariah son of Barachiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar. ³⁶ Truly I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation! ³⁷ "Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How many times I wanted to gather your children together _⌊the way_⌋* a hen gathers her young together under her* wings, and you were not willing!

¹⁶ And the fourth generation shall return here, for the guilt of the Amorites _⌊is not yet complete_⌋."*

³⁰ because of the sins of Jeroboam that he had committed and that he had caused Israel to commit and because of his anger with which he had provoked Yahweh the God of Israel.

¹⁹ This happened because of his sin which he committed by doing evil in the eyes of Yahweh, by going the way of Jeroboam and in his sin which he did by causing Israel to sin.

²⁶ Also, he acted very abominably by going after idols like all the Amorites had done whom Yahweh had driven out from before the _⌊Israelites_⌋."*

² He did evil in the eyes of Yahweh, according to the detestable things of the nations that Yahweh had driven out from the presence of the _⌊Israelites_⌋.*

⁹ But Manasseh did not listen and tempted them to do evil more than the nations that Yahweh destroyed before the presence of the _⌊Israelites_⌋.*

²¹ He walked in all of the way which his father had walked, and he served the idols which his father had served and bowed down to them.

²⁶ However, Yahweh did not turn from the fierceness of his great anger which was kindled against Judah because of all of the provocations with which Manasseh had provoked him. ²⁷ Yahweh had said, "Even Judah I will remove from my face, as I have removed Israel; I will reject this city that I have chosen, even Jerusalem and the house of which I said, 'My name shall be there'!"

³ and you must say, 'Thus says the Lord Yahweh to Jerusalem: Your origin and your birth were from the land of the Canaanites,* your father was an Amorite, and your mother was a Hittite.

⁴⁵ You are a daughter of your mother who abhorred her husband and her children, and you are a sister of your sisters who abhorred their husbands and their children. Your mother was a Hittite, and your father was an Amorite.

¹¹ So Yahweh said to Samuel, "Look, I am doing something in Israel _⌊which will cause_⌋* the two ears of everyone who hears it to tingle.

¹⁶ "Thus says Yahweh, 'Look I am bringing evil to this place and upon its inhabitants, according to all of the words of that scroll that the king of Judah has read

¹⁶ Therefore the Lord Yahweh says this:
"Look! I am laying a stone in Zion, a _⌊tested_⌋* stone, a precious cornerstone, a founded foundation:
'The one who trusts will not _⌊panic_⌋.'*

³ And you shall say, 'Hear the word of Yahweh, O kings of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem. Thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel: "Look, I am about to bring disaster upon this place so that _⌊everyone who hears it_⌋,* his ears will ring.

¹² And so he has carried out his words which he spoke against us and against our rulers who ruled us, to bring upon us a great calamity which was not done under all of heaven as it was done in Jerusalem.

² "You only have I _⌊chosen_⌋* of all the clans of the earth. Therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities.

¹² Therefore on account of you Zion will be plowed as a field, and Jerusalem will be a heap of rubble, and _⌊the temple mount_⌋* as a high place in a forest.

²¹ For at that time there will be great tribulation, such as has not happened from the beginning of the world until now, nor ever will happen. ²² And unless those days had been shortened, _⌊no human being would be saved_⌋.* But for the sake of the elect, those days will be shortened.

²⁸ But turning to them, Jesus said, "Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me, but weep for yourselves and for your children! ²⁹ For behold, days are coming in which they will say, 'Blessed are the barren, and the wombs that did not give birth, and the breasts that did not nurse!'

¹⁵ And the kings of the earth, and the most important people, and the military leaders, and the rich, and the powerful, and every slave and free person hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains, ¹⁶ And they said to the mountains and to the rocks, "Fall on us and hide us from the face of the one who is seated on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb, ¹⁷ because the great day of their wrath has come, and who is able to stand?"

¹⁰ Therefore, look, I am about to bring disaster upon the house of Jeroboam, and I will cut off _⌊males_⌋* from Jeroboam, bond or free, in Israel. I will burn after the house of Jeroboam as one burns after the manure, until it is finished.

²¹ 'Look, I am bringing disaster on you, and I will sweep away after you. I will cut off for Ahab _⌊every male_⌋* in Israel, bond or free. ²² I will make your house like the house of Jeroboam the son of Nebat and like the house of Baasha the son of Ahijah, _⌊because you made me angry_⌋* and have caused Israel to sin.' ²³ Moreover, concerning Jezebel, Yahweh has said, 'The dogs will eat Jezebel in the outer rampart of Jezreel.' ²⁴ The one who dies for Ahab in the city, the dogs will eat; the one who dies in the open country, the birds of heaven will eat."

¹¹ Then Jehu killed all of the remainder of the house of Ahab in Jezreel, all of his leaders, his close friends, and his priests, until there was no survivor left for him.

⁶ In the ninth year of Hoshea, the king of Assyria captured Samaria and deported Israel to Assyria. He placed them in Halah, in Habor, in the river regions of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes.

²² For though your people Israel was like the sand of the sea, only a remnant of it will return. Annihilation is determined, overflowing with righteousness.

²³ "And I will make her a possession of the hedgehog, and pools of water, and I will sweep her away with the broom of destruction,"
_⌊declares_⌋* Yahweh of hosts.

¹⁷ And I will make justice the measuring line, and righteousness the plumb line; and hail will sweep away the refuge of lies,* and waters will flood over the hiding place.

¹¹ But* the large bird and the hedgehog shall take possession of it, and the owl and the raven shall live in it. And he shall stretch the measuring line of confusion out over it, and the plumb line of emptiness.

⁹ look, I am going to send and take all the clans* of the north,' _⌊declares_⌋* Yahweh, 'and I will send* to Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, my servant, and I will bring them against this land, and against its inhabitants, and against all these nations all around, and I will destroy them, and I will make them a horror, and an object of hissing, and _⌊everlasting ruins_⌋.*

⁸ Yahweh has planned to destroy the wall of the daughter of Zion. He measured with a line; he has not restrained his hand from destroying; he caused rampart and wall to mourn; together they have languished away.

³¹ You went in the same way of your sister, and I will give her cup into your hand." ' ³² Thus says the Lord Yahweh: "You will drink the deep and wide* cup of your sister; you will be as laughter and as scorn; _⌊the cup holds so much_⌋!* ³³ You will be filled with drunkenness and sorrow, for a cup of horror and desolation is the cup of your sister, Samaria. ³⁴ And you will drink it, and you will drain it, and its potsherds you will gnaw, and you will tear out your breasts, for _⌊I myself_⌋* spoke," _⌊declares_⌋* the Lord Yahweh.

¹⁰ Pile up the logs; kindle the fire; finish cooking the meat, and mix in the spices, and let the bones be burned.* ¹¹ And _⌊make it stand_⌋* empty upon its burning coals so that it may become hot, and its copper may become molten and be melted in the midst of it,* so that its uncleanness and its rust be consumed.

⁷ This is what he showed me: Behold, my Lord was standing beside a wall built with a plummet, and a plummet was in his hand. ⁸ And Yahweh said to me, "What do you see?" And I said, "A plummet." And my Lord said, "Look, I am going to set a plummet in the midst of my people, Israel. I will not pass them by again.

¹⁶ Therefore, thus says Yahweh: "I have returned to Jerusalem with compassion. My temple* will be built in it," _⌊declares_⌋* Yahweh of hosts, "and a measuring line will be stretched out over Jerusalem." '

²¹ And one powerful angel picked up a stone like a great millstone and threw it into the sea, saying,
"In this way Babylon the great city will be thrown down with violence, and will never be found again! ²² And the sound of harpists and musicians and flute players and trumpeters will never be heard in you again! And every craftsman of every trade will never be found in you again! And the sound of a mill will never be heard in you again! ²³ And the light of a lamp will never shine in you again! And the sound of a bridegroom and bride will never be heard in you again! For your merchants were the most important people of the earth, because with your sorcery they deceived all the nations.

¹⁷ And I will set my face against you, and you shall be defeated _⌊before_⌋* your enemies; and your haters shall rule over you, and you shall flee away, but* there shall not be _⌊anybody who is pursuing_⌋* you.

³⁶ As for* the ones who remain among you, I will bring* fearfulness in their hearts in the land of their enemies; and a sound of a windblown leaf shall pursue them, and they shall flee like flight _⌊before_⌋* a sword, and they shall fall, but* there shall not be a pursuer. ³⁷ And they shall stumble over _⌊one another_⌋* as _⌊from before_⌋* a sword, but* there shall not be a pursuer; and _⌊you shall have no resistance_⌋* _⌊before_⌋* your enemies. ³⁸ And you shall perish among the nations, and the land of your enemies shall eat you.

²⁶ I call* to witness against you today the heaven and the earth, that you will perish soon and completely from the land that you are crossing the Jordan into it to take possession of it; _⌊you will not live long on it_⌋,* but you will be completely destroyed. ²⁷ And Yahweh will scatter you among the peoples, and you will be left _⌊few in number_⌋* among the nations _⌊to where Yahweh will lead you_⌋.*

²⁵ "Yahweh shall cause you to be defeated _⌊before_⌋* your enemies; on one road you shall go _⌊against_⌋* them,* but you will flee on seven roads _⌊before_⌋* them,* and you shall become a thing of horror to all of the kingdoms of the earth.

³¹ Your ox shall be slaughtered before your eyes, and you shall not eat it; your donkey shall be stolen right _⌊before you_⌋,* and it shall not be returned to you; your sheep and your goats shall be given to your enemies, and _⌊there shall not be anyone who rescues you_⌋.* ³² Your sons and your daughters shall be given to other people, and _⌊you will be looking on_⌋* _⌊longingly_⌋* for* them all day, _⌊but you will be powerless to do anything_⌋.* ³³ A people that you do not know shall consume the harvest of your land and all your labor, and you will be only oppressed and crushed _⌊for the rest of your lives_⌋.*

⁴⁸ then you shall serve your enemies, whom Yahweh will send against you under conditions of famine, in thirst, in nakedness, and in a lack of everything; and he shall place* a yoke of iron on your neck _⌊until he has destroyed you_⌋.*

¹⁷ And _⌊my anger shall flare up against them_⌋* on that day, and I will forsake them, and I will hide my face from them, and they* shall become as prey, and disasters and troubles shall find* them,* and they* shall say on that day, 'Is it not because our* God is not in our* midst that these disasters have found* us?'*

¹⁴ So _⌊the anger of Yahweh was kindled_⌋* against Israel, and he gave them into the hand of plunderers; and they plundered them, and he sold them into the hand of their enemies from all sides. They were unable to withstand their enemies any longer. ¹⁵ _⌊Whenever_⌋* they went out, the hand of Yahweh was against them to harm them, just as Yahweh warned, and just as Yahweh had sworn to them. And _⌊they were very distressed_⌋.*

⁴ Perhaps Yahweh your God will hear all of the words of the chief commander whom his master the king of Assyria has sent to insult the living God, and he will rebuke the words which Yahweh your God has heard. Therefore lift up a prayer for the remainder who are left.'"

³⁰ The remainder of the house of Judah which survives will again take root below and bear fruit above. ³¹ For from Jerusalem a remnant shall go out and survivors from Mount Zion; the zeal of Yahweh will do this.

² So Yahweh sent against him raiding bands of Chaldeans, raiding bands of Aram, raiding bands of Moab, and raiding bands of the _⌊Ammonites_⌋.* He had sent them against Judah to destroy it, according to the word of Yahweh that he had spoken by the hand of his servants the prophets.

² And he went out before Asa and said to him, "Hear me, O Asa and all of Judah and Benjamin! Yahweh is with you while you are with him. And if you will seek him he will be found by you. But if you forsake him he will forsake you.

¹⁶ But they were mocking the messengers of God and despising his words and scoffing at his prophets until the wrath of Yahweh rose against his people until there was no remedy. ¹⁷ Therefore he brought against them the king of the Chaldeans, and he killed their young men with the sword in the house of their sanctuary. He showed no mercy on a young man, a virgin, the elderly, or decrepit. He delivered all into his hand.

²⁷ Therefore you gave them into the hand of their enemy, and they brought trouble to them. Then in the time of their trouble they cried out to you, and you heard from the heavens, and according to your great compassions, you gave them saviors, and you saved them from the hand of their enemies. ²⁸ But when they had rest they returned to doing evil before you, and you abandoned them in the hand of their enemies, and they ruled over them. Then they returned and cried out to you, and from the heavens you heard and many times rescued them according to your compassions. ²⁹ You warned them so that they would return to your law.* Yet they acted arrogantly and did not listen to your commandments but sinned against your judgments that a person must do so that they may live. They turned a stubborn shoulder and stiffened their neck and would not listen. ³⁰ You were patient toward them for many years, and you have warned them by your spirit through the hand of your prophets, but they did not listen. So you gave them into the hand of the nations of the lands. ³¹ But in your great compassions you did not put an end to them, and you did not abandon them. For you are a gracious and compassionate God. ³² "And now our God, the great, mighty, and awesome God who keeps his covenant and loyal love, do not belittle in your presence all of the hardship that is found in us, our kings, our officials, our priests, our prophets, our ancestors,* and all of our people, from the days of the kings of Assyria until this day. ³³ You are righteous in everything that has come on us, for you dealt faithfully, and we have acted wickedly. ³⁴ Our kings, our officials, our priests, and our ancestors* did not keep your law* and did not listen to your commandments and statutes that you declared to them. ³⁵ And in their kingdom and in the greatness you gave to them, and in the wide and fertile land that you gave before them, they did not serve you and did not turn from their evil deeds. ³⁶ Behold, we are slaves to this day, and the land that you have given to our ancestors* to eat its fruits and enjoy its goodness—behold, we are slaves in it! ³⁷ Its rich yield goes to the kings whom you have given over us because of our sins, and they are ruling over our dead bodies and our livestock at their pleasure. We are in great trouble.

²⁸ For Yahweh loves justice and will not forsake his faithful ones. They are protected forever. But the children of the wicked will be cut off.

¹ In you, O Yahweh, I have taken refuge; let me never be put to shame. ² In your righteousness deliver me and rescue me; incline your ear to me and save me. ³ Be for me a rock of refuge to resort to always; you have ordained* to save me, because you are my rock and my fortress. ⁴ My God, rescue me from the hand of the wicked, from the _⌊grasp_⌋* of the evildoer and the oppressor, ⁵ because you are my hope, O Lord Yahweh, my confidence from my youth. ⁶ Upon you I have leaned _⌊from birth_⌋.* It was you who _⌊took_⌋* me from the womb of my mother. My praise is of you continually. ⁷ I have become a wonder to many, but you are my strong refuge.

³⁸ But you have spurned and rejected; you are very angry with your anointed one. ³⁹ You have repudiated the covenant with your servant; you have defiled* his crown in* the dirt. ⁴⁰ You have broken down all his walls; you have made his fortifications a ruin. ⁴¹ All passing along the road plunder him; he has become a taunt to his neighbors. ⁴² You have raised the right hand* of his adversaries. You have made all his enemies rejoice. ⁴³ You have also turned back the edge of his sword and have not helped him stand his ground in the battle. ⁴⁴ You have made his splendor to cease, and cast his throne to the ground. ⁴⁵ You have cut short the days of his youth; you have covered him with shame. Selah

⁴⁰ So Yahweh's anger burned against his people, and he abhorred his inheritance. ⁴¹ Then he gave them into the hand of the nations, and those who hated them ruled over them. ⁴² And their enemies oppressed them, and they were subdued under their hand. ⁴³ Many times he delivered them, but they rebelled in their counsel, and were brought low by their iniquity.

⁶ I send him against a godless nation, and I command him against the people of my wrath, to capture spoil and to carry off plunder, and to make them* a trampling place, like the clay of the streets.

⁷ I have forsaken my house, I have abandoned my inheritance. I have given the beloved one of my _⌊heart_⌋* into the hand of her enemies.

³³ "Now when this people, or a prophet, or a priest, ask you, _⌊saying_⌋,* 'What is the burden* of Yahweh?' then you shall say to them, '_⌊You are the burden_⌋,* and I will forsake you,'" _⌊declares_⌋* Yahweh.

⁵ Her foes have become her _⌊master_⌋,* her enemies are at ease; Yahweh has made her suffer because of the greatness of her transgressions. Her children have gone away, captive before the foe.

¹⁰ The enemy has stretched out his hand over all her treasures; for she has seen the nations, they entered her sanctuary, those whom you commanded not to enter in your assembly.

²⁰ Why have you forgotten us forever? Why have you forsaken us _⌊for so long_⌋?*

² Virgin Israel has fallen and will not rise again. She is deserted on her land; there is no one to raise her up.

²¹ And your sinful thing that you had made, the molten calf, I took and I burned it with fire, and I crushed it, grinding it thoroughly until it was crushed to dust, and I threw its dust into _⌊the stream that flowed down the mountain_⌋.*

²⁷ For I know your rebellion and your stiff neck even now while I am still alive with you _⌊today_⌋,* rebelling against Yahweh, and _⌊how much more_⌋* after my death.

²⁹ For I know that after my death you will certainly act corruptly, and you will turn aside from the way that I have commanded you, and the disaster in the future days will befall you, because you will do evil* in the eyes of Yahweh, _⌊provoking him with the work of your hands_⌋."*

¹¹ The _⌊Israelites_⌋* did evil in the eyes of Yahweh, and _⌊they served_⌋* the Baals. ¹² They abandoned Yahweh the God of their ancestors,* who brought them out from the land of Egypt. They _⌊followed_⌋* other gods from the gods of the people who were around them; and they bowed down to them, and they provoked the anger of Yahweh. ¹³ They abandoned Yahweh, and they served Baal and the Ashtaroth.

³⁴ They did not exterminate the peoples, as Yahweh had commanded them, * ³⁵ but they mingled with the nations and learned their works, ³⁶ and served their idols, which became* a snare to them. ³⁷ They even sacrificed their sons and daughters to the demons, ³⁸ and they poured out innocent blood, the blood of their sons and daughters, whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan, and so the land was defiled with the blood.* ³⁹ And they became unclean by their works, and were unfaithful in their deeds. ⁴⁰ So Yahweh's anger burned against his people, and he abhorred his inheritance.

¹⁵ 'And you trusted in your beauty, and you prostituted on account of your name, and you poured out your fornication on every one passing by, saying, "Let it be his." ¹⁶ And you took from your clothes and you made for yourself colorful* shrines, and you prostituted on them; _⌊this had not happened before_⌋,* and it _⌊will not continue to happen_⌋.* ¹⁷ And you took _⌊your beautiful jewelry_⌋* made from my gold and from my silver that I had given to you, and you made for yourself _⌊male images_⌋,* and you prostituted with them. ¹⁸ And you took the clothes of your beautiful finished cloth, and you covered them and my oil and my incense you set _⌊before them_⌋.* ¹⁹ And my bread that I gave to you, finely milled flour and oil and honey with which I fed you, then you set it _⌊before them_⌋* as a _⌊pleasing odor_⌋,* and so it was,' _⌊declares_⌋* the Lord Yahweh. ²⁰ 'And you took your sons and your daughters whom you had borne for me, and you sacrificed them to them to be eaten,* _⌊as if your whorings were not enough_⌋.* ²¹ And you slaughtered my children, and you gave them _⌊to be sacrificed to them_⌋.* ²² And in all of your detestable things and your fornication you did not remember the days of your childhood _⌊when you were naked and bare_⌋,* when you were kicking about in your blood.

⁴ Will you judge them? Will you judge them, son of man?* Make known to them the detestable things of their ancestors.*

¹³ "But* in the desert the house of Israel rebelled against me; _⌊they did not walk in my statutes_⌋,* and they rejected my regulations, which, if a person does them, he will live by them, and they greatly profaned my Sabbaths, and I decided to pour out my rage on them in the desert to destroy them,

²¹ But the children rebelled against me; _⌊they did not walk in my statutes_⌋,* and _⌊they did not observe my regulations_⌋,* which if a person does them, then he will live by them. My Sabbaths they desecrated, and I decided to pour out my rage on them, to finish my anger against them in the desert.

³⁰ Therefore thus say to the house of Israel, 'Thus says the Lord Yahweh: "In the way of your ancestors* will you defile yourself, and after their vile idols will you prostitute yourselves?

³ and they prostituted themselves in Egypt in their childhood; they were prostituting themselves there, and their breasts were fondled, and there they caressed the bosoms of their virginity.

⁸ And her whorings from the time of Egypt she did not abandon, for they slept with her in her childhood, and they caressed the bosoms of her virginity, and they poured out their fornication on her. ⁹ Therefore I gave her into the hand of her lovers, into the hand of the _⌊Assyrians_⌋* _⌊after whom she lusted_⌋.* ¹⁰ They uncovered her nakedness; they took her sons and her daughters, and they killed her with the sword. And she became a name for the women, and they executed judgments against her. ¹¹ "And though Oholibah her sister saw, yet in her lust _⌊she behaved more corruptly than her_⌋,* and her whoring was more than the prostitution of her sister. ¹² She lusted after the _⌊Assyrians_⌋,* governors and prefects, warriors* clothed in* perfection,* _⌊expert horsemen_⌋,* all of them _⌊handsome young men_⌋.* ¹³ And I saw that she was defiled; _⌊they had both taken the same path_⌋!* ¹⁴ And she increased her whorings, and she saw men carved* on the wall, images of Chaldeans* carved in red, ¹⁵ belted with a belt at* their waist with turbans on their heads, all of them giving the appearance of adjutants,* the image* of the _⌊Babylonians_⌋;* Chaldea was the land of their birth. ¹⁶ And she lusted for them _⌊when her eyes saw them_⌋,* and she sent messengers to them at Chaldea. ¹⁷ And so the _⌊Babylonians_⌋* came to her for the bed of lovemaking; and they defiled her with their fornication, and she was defiled by them, and she turned from them. ¹⁸ And she revealed her whorings, and she revealed her nakedness, and so I turned from her _⌊just as_⌋* I turned from her sister. ¹⁹ Yet* she increased her whorings, _⌊recalling_⌋* the days of her childhood when she was prostituted* in the land of Egypt. ²⁰ And she lusted after her male lovers whose genitalia were the genitalia of male donkeys and their seminal emission was the seminal emission of horses. ²¹ And you longed after the obscene conduct of your youth when your bosom was caressed by Egypt, fondling your young breasts.

⁵ we have sinned and we have done wrong and we acted wickedly and we rebelled and have been turning aside from your commandments and from your ordinances. ⁶ We have not listened to your servants the prophets, who spoke in your name to our kings, our princes and our ancestors* and to all the people of the land. ⁷ "_⌊Righteousness belongs to you, O Lord_⌋,* and on us is open shame, just as it is this day to the people of Judah and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem and to all Israel, _⌊those who are near and those who are far off_⌋* in all the lands to which you have driven them,* because of their infidelity which they displayed against you. ⁸ Yahweh, on us is open shame, on our kings, on our princes, and on our ancestors,* because we have sinned against you. ⁹ _⌊Compassion and forgiveness belong to the Lord, our God_⌋,* for we have rebelled against him,

²¹ And Moses said to Aaron, "What did this people do to you that you brought on them such a great sin?"

³³ So you will not pollute the land in which you are; because blood pollutes the land, and no atonement can be made for the land for the blood that is poured out on it except with the blood of the one who poured it out.

⁸ Forgive your people, Israel, whom you redeemed, Yahweh, and do not _⌊allow_⌋* the guilt of innocent blood in the midst of your people Israel, and let them be forgiven with regard to blood.' ⁹ And so you shall purge the innocent blood from your midst, because you must do the right thing in the eyes of Yahweh.

¹⁵ Yahweh will strike Israel as one shakes the reed plant in the water, and he will root Israel up from this good land that he gave to their ancestors.* He will scatter them beyond the River* because they have made their sacred poles which are provoking Yahweh. ¹⁶ He will give up Israel because of the sin of Jeroboam which he sinned and which he caused Israel to sin."

¹¹ "Because Manasseh the king of Judah committed these detestable things and did evil more than the Amorites did who were before him and caused even Judah to sin with his idols,

³⁴ Also on your skirts is found the blood of the life of the innocent, the poor. You did not find them in the act of breaking into a house. But in spite of all these things,

⁶ you do not oppress the alien, the orphan, and the widow, you do not shed innocent blood in this place, and you do not go after other gods _⌊to your harm_⌋,*

⁴ Because they have forsaken me, and they have defaced this place, and they have made smoke offerings in it to other gods whom they have not known, they, nor their ancestors,* nor the kings of Judah, and they have filled up this place with the blood of the innocent,

³⁰ and you say, 'If we had lived in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partners with them in the blood of the prophets!' ³¹ Thus you testify against yourselves that you are descendants of those who murdered the prophets!

⁶ But the chief priests took the silver coins and* said, "It is not permitted to put them into the temple treasury, because it is _⌊blood money_⌋."*

³⁷ They were stoned, they were sawed in two, they died by murder with a sword, they wandered about in sheepskins, in goatskins, impoverished, afflicted, mistreated,

²⁰ Now the remainder of the acts of Hezekiah, all of his powerful deeds, and how he made the pool and the conduit and brought the water into the city, are they not written in the scroll of the events of the days of the kings of Judah? ²¹ Then Hezekiah slept with his ancestors,* and Manasseh his son became king in his place.

¹ Manasseh was twelve years old when he began to reign, and he reigned fifty-five years in Jerusalem. ² And he did evil in the eyes of Yahweh according to the detestable things of the nations whom Yahweh drove out before the _⌊Israelites_⌋.* ³ And _⌊he rebuilt_⌋* the high places that Hezekiah his father broke down, and he set up altars for the Baals, made Asherahs, and bowed down to the host of heaven and served them. ⁴ And he built altars in the house of Yahweh, of which Yahweh had said, "In Jerusalem my name shall be forever." ⁵ And he built altars to all the host of heaven in the two courtyards of the house of Yahweh. ⁶ And he himself burned his sons in the fire in the Valley of Ben-Hinnom. And he practiced sorcery and divination, and he engaged in witchcraft and dealt with mediums and spiritists. And he did much evil in the eyes of Yahweh, to provoke him to anger. ⁷ And he placed the carved image of the idol that he had made in the house of God, of which God had said to David and to Solomon his son, "In this house and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen from all the tribes of Israel, I will put my name forever. ⁸ And I will _⌊never_⌋* remove the foot of Israel from upon the land that I appointed to your ancestors,* if only you will take care to do all that I have commanded them, all the law, the regulations, and the judgments by the hand of Moses." ⁹ And Manasseh seduced Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to do evil more than the nations that Yahweh destroyed before the _⌊Israelites_⌋.* ¹⁰ And Yahweh spoke to Manasseh and to his people, but they would not listen. ¹¹ So Yahweh brought the commanders of the army of the king of Assyria upon them, and they took Manasseh captive with hooks, and they bound him with bronze fetters and brought him to Babylon. ¹² And when he was in distress he entreated Yahweh his God and greatly humbled himself before the God of his ancestors* ¹³ and prayed to him. And God responded to him and heard his plea and let him return to Jerusalem to his kingdom. And Manasseh knew that Yahweh was God. ¹⁴ Then afterward he built an outer wall for the city of David west of the Gihon in the valley, and for the entrance into the Gate of the Fishes. And it encircled the Ophel and raised it very high. Then he placed strong commanders in all the fortified cities of Judah. ¹⁵ And he removed the foreign gods and the carved image from the house of Yahweh and all the altars which he built on the mountain of the house of Yahweh and in Jerusalem, and he threw them outside the city. ¹⁶ And he restored the altar of Yahweh and offered sacrifices of peace offerings and thank offerings upon it. And he commanded Judah to serve Yahweh, the God of Israel. ¹⁷ Nevertheless, the people offered at the high places, but only to Yahweh their God. ¹⁸ Now the remainder of the words of Manasseh and his prayer to his God and the words of the seers who spoke to him in the name of Yahweh, the God of Israel, behold, they are in the words of the kings of Israel. ¹⁹ And his prayer, and how he* responded to him, all his sin and his unfaithful acts, and the places where he built the high places and set up Asherahs and idols before he humbled himself, behold, they are written in the words of the seers. ²⁰ And Manasseh slept with his ancestors,* and they buried him in his house. And Amon his son became king in his place.

²⁶ They buried him in his tomb in the garden of Uzza, and Josiah his son became king in place of him.

²⁰ He was thirty-two years old when he began to reign, and he reigned eight years in Jerusalem. And he departed* with no one's regret. And they buried him in the city of David, but not in the burial sites of the kings.

¹⁶ And they buried him in the city of David with the kings, for he did good in Israel and with respect to God and his house.

²⁵ And when they were going away from him (for they had left him with many wounds), his servants conspired against him on account of the blood of the sons* of Jehoiada the priest. So they killed him on his bed and he died. And they buried him in the city of David, but they did not bury him at the burial sites of the kings.

²⁷ And Ahaz slept with his ancestors,* and they buried him in the city, in Jerusalem, for they did not bring him to the burial site of the kings of Israel. And Hezekiah his son became king in his place.

³³ And Hezekiah slept with his ancestors,* and they buried him in the upper part of the burial sites of the descendants* of David. And all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem did him honor at his death. And Manasseh his son became king in his place.

²⁰ And Manasseh slept with his ancestors,* and they buried him in his house. And Amon his son became king in his place.

¹⁹ He will be buried with the burial of a donkey. He will be* dragged away and thrown _⌊outside_⌋* the gates of Jerusalem.

²⁵ Nadab the son of Jeroboam began to reign over Israel in the second year of Asa king of Judah, and he reigned over Israel two years.

⁸ In the twenty-sixth year of Asa king of Judah, Elah the son of Baasha became king over Israel for two years.

⁵¹ Ahaziah son of Ahab became king over Israel in Samaria in the seventeenth year of Jehoshaphat king of Judah, and he reigned over Israel two years.

²³ In the fiftieth year of Azariah king of Judah, Pekahiah the son of Menahem began to reign over Israel in Samaria for two years.

¹⁴ Amon was his son, Josiah was his son.

²¹ Amon was twenty-two years old when he began to reign, and he reigned two years in Jerusalem. ²² And he did what was evil in the eyes of Yahweh as Manasseh his father had done. And Amon sacrificed to all the idols that Manasseh his father had made, and he served them. ²³ And he did not humble himself before Yahweh, as Manasseh his father humbled himself, but Amon himself multiplied his guilt.

¹⁴ Behold, you stand in the place of your fathers, a brood of sinful men, to increase still more _⌊Yahweh's fierce anger_⌋* against Israel.

² He did evil in the eyes of Yahweh, according to the detestable things of the nations that Yahweh had driven out from the presence of the _⌊Israelites_⌋.* ³ He returned and rebuilt the high places which Hezekiah his father had destroyed. He erected altars for Baal and made a pole of Asherah worship just as Ahab king of Israel had made, and he bowed down to all of the host of heaven and served them. ⁴ He built altars in the temple of Yahweh about which Yahweh had said, "I will put my name in Jerusalem." ⁵ He built an altar to all of the host of heaven in the two courtyards of the temple of Yahweh. ⁶ He made his son pass through the fire, practiced soothsaying and divination, and dealt with mediums and spiritists. He increased the doing of evil in the eyes of Yahweh to provoke him. ⁷ He put the image of the Asherah that he had made in the temple which Yahweh had said to David and to Solomon his son, "In this temple and in Jerusalem which I have chosen from all of the tribes of Israel, I will put my name forever.

³² And you—fill up the measure of your fathers!

⁵¹ "You stiff-necked people and uncircumcised in hearts and in your* ears! You constantly resist the Holy Spirit! As your fathers did, so also do you!

¹⁵ And Jeshurun grew fat, and he kicked; you grew fat, you bloated, and you became obstinate; and he abandoned God, his maker, and he scoffed at the rock of his salvation.

³³ because he has forsaken me, and they bowed down to Ashtoreth, the god of the Sidonians, to Chemosh, the god of Moab, and to Molech, the god of the _⌊Ammonites_⌋.* They did not walk in my ways to do right in my eyes, my ordinances, or my judgments, as did David his father.

⁹ "And you, Solomon my son, know the God of your father and serve him with a whole heart and a willing mind, for Yahweh searches all hearts and understands every plan and all thoughts. If you seek him, he will be found by you, but if you abandon him, he will reject you forever.

¹³ "For my people have committed two evils: they have forsaken me, the source* of living water, to hew out for themselves cisterns, cracked cisterns that can hold no water.

⁸ Those who worship vain idols forsake their loyal love.*

²⁷ Baasha son of Ahijah of the house of Issachar conspired against him, and Baasha struck him down at Gibbethon, which belonged to the Philistines. Now Nadab and all of Israel were laying siege to Gibbethon,

⁹ His servant Zimri the commander of half of the chariots conspired against him. Now he had been in Tirzah drinking himself drunk in the house of Arza who was over the palace in Tirzah.

²⁰ Then his servants arose and conspired and killed Joash in the house of the Millo as he was going down toward Silla.

¹⁹ They conspired against him in Jerusalem, so he fled to Lachish. But they sent men after him to Lachish, and they killed him there.

²⁵ Pekah the son of Remaliah, his captain, conspired against him, so he attacked him in Samaria in the citadel fortress of the palace of the king, with Argob and Arieh. With him also were fifty men from the children of the Gileadites, and he killed him and became king in his place.

³⁰ Hoshea the son of Elah conspired against Pekah the son of Remaliah, and he attacked and killed him. He reigned in place of him in the twentieth year of Jotham the son of Uzziah.

²⁴ And his servants conspired against him and killed him in his house. ²⁵ But the people of the land struck down all who conspired against King Amon. And the people of the land made his son Josiah king in his place.

¹⁵ So all the people went to Gilgal and they made Saul king there before Yahweh in Gilgal. They sacrificed fellowship offerings there before Yahweh. Then Saul rejoiced there greatly along with all the men of Israel.

³ All the elders of Israel came to the king at Hebron, and King David _⌊made a covenant_⌋* with them at Hebron in the presence of Yahweh; then they anointed David as king over Israel.

¹ Then Rehoboam went to Shechem, for all of Israel had come to Shechem to make him king.

²⁰ It happened that just when all of Israel heard that Jeroboam had returned, they sent and called him to the assembly and made him king over all of Israel. Not one followed after the house of David except the tribe of Judah alone.

¹⁷ Then Jehoiada _⌊made_⌋* a covenant between Yahweh and the king and the people, that the people should be as a people for Yahweh, and also a covenant between the king and the people.

⁵ It happened that when the kingdom was firmly in his hand, he killed his servants who had killed his father the king.

²¹ All of the people of Judah took sixteen-year-old Azariah and made him king in place of this father Amaziah.

¹ And the inhabitants of Jerusalem made Ahaziah his youngest son king in his place, for the band of men who had come with the Arabs to the camp had murdered all the older sons. And Ahaziah the son of Jehoram, the king of Judah, reigned.

¹ Then all the people of Judah took Uzziah (now he was sixteen years old) and made him king in the place of his father Amaziah.

²⁵ But the people of the land struck down all who conspired against King Amon. And the people of the land made his son Josiah king in his place.

²⁰ Now the remainder of the acts of Hezekiah, all of his powerful deeds, and how he made the pool and the conduit and brought the water into the city, are they not written in the scroll of the events of the days of the kings of Judah?

¹⁷ The remainder of the acts of Manasseh and all that he did and his sin that he committed, are they not written on the scroll of the events of the days of the kings of Judah?

⁵ Then the altar was torn apart and the ashes from the altar poured out according to the sign which the man of God had announced by the word of Yahweh.

¹⁸ Then Manasseh slept with his ancestors* and was buried in the garden of his palace, in the garden of Uzza. Amon his son became king in his place.