They rejected his rules, the covenant he had made with their ancestors, and the laws he had commanded them to obey. They paid allegiance to worthless idols, and so became worthless to the Lord. They copied the practices of the surrounding nations in blatant disregard of the Lord's command.

These also are proverbs of Solomon, which the men of King Hezekiah of Judah copied:

There were two copies of the deed of purchase. One was sealed and contained the order of transfer and the conditions of purchase. The other was left unsealed.

I took both copies of the deed of purchase and gave them to Baruch son of Neriah, the son of Mahseiah. I gave them to him in the presence of my cousin Hanamel, the witnesses who had signed the deed of purchase, and all the Judeans who were housed in the courtyard of the guardhouse.

"After I had given the copies of the deed of purchase to Baruch son of Neriah, I prayed to the Lord,

Have you not copied their behavior and practiced their abominable deeds? In a short time you became even more depraved in all your conduct than they were!