He did evil in the sight of the Lord; he did not turn from the [idolatrous] sins of Jeroboam [I] the son of Nebat, who made Israel sin.

He did evil in the sight of the Lord; he did not turn from the [idolatrous] sins of Jeroboam [I] the son of Nebat, who made Israel sin.

Only [the altars on] the high places were not removed; the people still sacrificed and burned incense on the high places [rather than in the temple]. He built the upper gate of the house of the Lord.

Now the rest of the acts of Jotham, and all that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of Judah’s Kings?

Ahaz was twenty years old when he became king, and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem. He did not do what was right in the sight of the Lord his God, as his father (ancestor) David had done.

Then Rezin the king of Aram (Syria) and Pekah the son of Remaliah, king of Israel, came up to Jerusalem to wage war. They besieged Ahaz, but could not overcome and conquer him.

Now the rest of the acts of Ahaz, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah?

He did evil in the sight of the Lord, but not as the kings of Israel who came before him.

The Israelites ascribed things to the Lord their God which were not true. They built for themselves high places [of worship] in all their towns, from [the lonely] lookout tower to the [populous] fortified city.

And they served idols, of which the Lord had said to them, “You shall not do this thing.”

However they did not listen, but stiffened their necks as did their fathers who did not believe (trust in, rely on, remain steadfast to) the Lord their God.

They rejected His statutes and His covenant which He made with their fathers, as well as His warnings that he gave them. And they followed vanity [that is, false gods, idols] and became vain (empty-headed). They followed the [pagan practices of the] nations which surrounded them, although the Lord had commanded that they were not to do as they did.

Judah did not keep the commandments of the Lord their God either, but walked in the customs which Israel introduced.

For the Israelites walked in all the [idolatrous] sins which Jeroboam committed; they did not turn from them

Now when they began to live there, they did not fear the Lord; therefore the Lord sent lions among them which killed some of them.

So the king of Assyria was told, “The nations whom you have sent into exile and settled in the cities of Samaria do not know the custom of the god of the land; so He has sent lions among them, and they are killing them because they do not know the manner of [worship demanded by] the god of the land.”

To this day they act in accordance with their former [pagan] customs: they do not [really] fear the Lord, nor do they obey their statutes and ordinances, nor the law, nor the commandments which the Lord commanded the sons (descendants) of Jacob, whom He named Israel;

with whom the Lord had made a covenant and commanded them, saying, “You shall not fear other gods or bow yourselves to them nor serve them, nor sacrifice to them.

The statutes and the ordinances and the law and the commandment which He wrote for you [by the hand of Moses], you shall observe and do forever. You shall not fear (worship, serve) other gods.

The covenant that I have made with you, you shall not forget; you shall not fear other gods.

However, they did not listen, but they acted in accordance with their former custom.

For he clung to the Lord; he did not turn away from [faithfully] following Him, but he kept His commandments, which the Lord had commanded Moses.

because they did not obey the voice of the Lord their God, but broke His covenant, everything that Moses the servant of the Lord had commanded; and they would not listen nor do it.

But if you tell me, ‘We trust in and rely on the Lord our God,’ is it not He whose high places and altars Hezekiah has removed, and has said to Judah and Jerusalem, ‘You shall worship [only] before this altar in Jerusalem’?

Then Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, and Shebna and Joah, said to the Rabshakeh, “Please speak to your servants in the Aramaic (Syrian) language, because we understand it; and do not speak with us in the Judean (Hebrew) language in the hearing of the people who are on the wall.”

But the Rabshakeh said to them, “Has my master sent me only to your master and to you to say these things? Has he not sent me to the men who sit on the wall, [who are doomed by the siege] to eat their own excrement and drink their own urine along with you?”

Thus says the king, ‘Do not let Hezekiah deceive you, for he will not be able to rescue you from my hand;

nor let Hezekiah make you trust in and rely on the Lord, saying, “The Lord will certainly rescue us, and this city [of Jerusalem] will not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria.”

Do not listen to Hezekiah, for thus says the king of Assyria: “Surrender to me and come out to [meet] me, and every man may eat from his own vine and fig tree, and every man may drink the waters of his own well,

until I come and take you away to a land like your own land, a land of grain and new wine, a land of bread and vineyards, a land of olive trees and honey, so that you may live and not die.” Do not listen to Hezekiah when he misleads and incites you, saying, “The Lord will rescue us!”

But the people kept silent and did not answer him, for the king had commanded, “Do not answer him.”

Isaiah said to them, “Say this to your master: ‘Thus says the Lord, “Do not be afraid because of the words that you have heard, with which the servants of the king of Assyria have reviled (blasphemed) Me.

“Say this to Hezekiah king of Judah, ‘Do not let your God on whom you rely deceive you by saying, “Jerusalem shall not be handed over to the king of Assyria.”

and have thrown their gods into the fire, for they were not [real] gods but [only] the work of men’s hands, wood and stone. So they [could destroy them and] have destroyed them.

‘Have you not heard [asks the God of Israel]?
Long ago I did it;
From ancient times I planned it.
Now I have brought it to pass,
That you [king of Assyria] should [be My instrument to] turn fortified cities into ruinous heaps.

‘Therefore thus says the Lord concerning the king of Assyria: “He will not come to this city [Jerusalem] nor shoot an arrow there; nor will he come before it with a shield nor throw up a siege ramp against it.

By the way that he came, by the same way he will return, and he will not come into this city,”’ declares the Lord.

Then it came to pass that night, that the angel of the Lord went forth and struck down 185,000 [men] in the camp of the Assyrians; when the survivors got up early in the morning, behold, all [185,000] of them were dead.

In those days [when Sennacherib first invaded Judah] Hezekiah became deathly ill. The prophet Isaiah the son of Amoz came and said to him, “Thus says the Lord, ‘Set your house in order, for you shall die and not recover.’”

Hezekiah listened to and welcomed them and [foolishly] showed them all his treasure house—the silver and gold and spices and precious oil and his armory and everything that was found in his treasuries. There was nothing in his house (palace) nor in all his realm that Hezekiah did not show them.

Isaiah said, “What have they seen in your house?” Hezekiah answered, “They have seen everything that is in my house (palace). There is nothing in my treasuries that I have not shown them.”

Then Hezekiah said to Isaiah, “The word of the Lord which you have spoken is good.” For he thought, “Is it not good, if [at least] there will be peace and security in my lifetime?”

The rest of the acts of Hezekiah and all his might, and how he made the [Siloam] pool and the aqueduct and brought water into the city, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah?

And I will not make the feet of Israel wander anymore from the land which I gave their fathers, if only they will be careful to act in accordance with everything that I have commanded them, and with all the law that My servant Moses commanded them.”

But they did not listen; and Manasseh seduced them to do more evil than the nations whom the Lord destroyed before the sons (descendants) of Israel.

Now the rest of the acts of Manasseh, everything that he did, and the sin that he committed, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah?

he abandoned the Lord, the God of his fathers, and did not walk in the way of the Lord.

Now the rest of the acts of Amon which he did, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah?

He did what was right in the sight of the Lord and walked in all the ways of his father (ancestor) David, and did not turn aside to the right or to the left.

“Go, inquire of the Lord for my sake and for the sake of the people and for all Judah concerning the words of this book which has been found, for great is the wrath of the Lord which has been kindled against us, because our fathers have not listened to and obeyed the words of this book, so as to act in accordance with everything that is written concerning us.”

Because they have abandoned (rejected) Me and have burned incense to other gods, that they might provoke Me to anger with all the work of their hands, therefore My wrath burns against this place, and it will not be quenched.”’

“Therefore, behold, [King Josiah,] I will gather you to your fathers, and you will be taken to your grave in peace, and your eyes will not see all the evil (catastrophe) which I will bring on this place.”’” So they brought back word to the king. Cross references: 2 Kings 22:4 : 2 Kin 12:4 end of crossrefs

However, the priests of the high places were not allowed to go up to the altar of the Lord in Jerusalem [to serve], but they ate unleavened bread among their brothers.

Indeed, such a Passover as this had not been held since the days of the judges who judged Israel, nor in all the days of the kings of Israel and the kings of Judah.

However, the Lord did not turn from the fierceness of His great wrath which was kindled against Judah because of all the despicable acts with which Manasseh had provoked Him.

Now the rest of the acts of Josiah, everything that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah?

Pharaoh Neco imprisoned him at Riblah in the land of Hamath, so that he would not reign in Jerusalem, and imposed a fine on the land of a hundred talents of silver and a talent of gold.

and also for the innocent blood that he shed, for he filled Jerusalem with innocent blood; and the Lord would not pardon it.

Now the rest of the acts of Jehoiakim, and everything that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah?

Then the city [wall] was broken into [and conquered]; all the men of war fled by night by way of the gate between the two walls by the king’s garden, though the Chaldeans (Babylonians) were all around the city. And they went by way of the Arabah (the plain of the Jordan).

Gedaliah swore [an oath] to them and their men, and said to them, “Do not be afraid of the servants (officials) of the Chaldeans. Live in the land and serve the king of Babylon, and it will be well with you.”

Jabez cried out to the God of Israel, saying, “Oh that You would indeed bless me and enlarge my border [property], and that Your hand would be with me, and You would keep me from evil so that it does not hurt me!” And God granted his request.

Shimei had sixteen sons and six daughters; but his brothers did not have many sons, neither did all their family multiply like the sons of Judah.

Now [we come to] the sons of Reuben the firstborn of Israel—for Reuben was the eldest, but because he defiled his father’s bed [with Bilhah his father’s concubine], his birthright was given to [Manasseh and Ephraim] the sons of Joseph [the favorite] son of Israel, so that he is not enrolled in the genealogy according to the birthright.

Their relatives the Levites [who were not descended from Aaron] were appointed for all the other kinds of service of the tabernacle of the house of God.

Now these are the singers, heads of the fathers’ households of the Levites, living in the temple chambers, free from other service because they were on duty day and night.

Then Saul said to his armor bearer, “Draw your sword and run me through with it, otherwise these uncircumcised [Philistines] will come and abuse and humiliate me.” But his armor bearer would not, for he was terrified. So Saul took his own sword and fell on it.

So Saul died for his trespass which he committed against the Lord, for his failure to keep the word of the Lord; and also because he consulted a medium [regarding a spirit of the dead], to inquire of her,

and did not inquire of the Lord [instead]. Therefore the Lord killed him and turned the kingdom over to David the son of Jesse.

Then the Jebusites said to David, “You shall not come in here.” But David captured the stronghold of Zion (that is, the City of David).

Then the three [mighty men] broke through the camp of the Philistines and drew water out of the well of Bethlehem which was next to the gate, and brought it to David. But David would not drink it; he poured it out to the Lord [as an offering];

and he said, “Far be it from me before my God that I would do this thing! Shall I drink the blood of these men who have put their lives in jeopardy? For they brought it at the risk of their lives.” So he would not drink it. These things the three mighty men did.

Of the three in the second [rank] he was the most honored and became their captain; however, he did not attain to the first three [Jashobeam, Eleazar, and Shammah].

He was honored among the thirty, but he did not attain to [the rank of] the [first] three. David appointed him over his bodyguard.

David went out to meet them and said to them, “If you have come peacefully to me to help me, my heart shall be united with you; but if you have come to betray me to my adversaries, since there is no violence or wrong in my hands, may the God of our fathers look on [what you are doing] and punish [you].”

Some [of the men] of Manasseh also defected to David when he came with the Philistines to go to battle against Saul. But David’s men did not [actually] assist the Philistines, for the lords (governors) of the Philistines after consultation sent him away, saying, “At the cost of our heads he may defect to his master Saul.”

of the tribe of Zebulun, there were 50,000 in military service who could draw up in battle formation with all kinds of weapons of war and helped David, men with an undivided heart.

and let us bring back the ark of our God to us, for we did not seek it during the days of Saul.”

So David did not bring the ark with him to the City of David, but took it aside to the house of Obed-edom the Gittite.

So David inquired again of God, and God said to him, “Do not go up after them; circle around behind them and come at them in front of the balsam trees.

Because you did not [carry it as God directed] the first time, the Lord our God made an [angry] outburst against us, for we did not seek Him in accordance with the ordinance.”

“Do not touch My anointed ones,
And do My prophets no harm.”

But it came about that same night that the word of God came to Nathan, saying,

“Go and tell David My servant, ‘Thus says the Lord, “You shall not build a house for Me to dwell in;

for I have not dwelt in a house since the day that I brought Israel up [from Egypt] until this day, but I have gone from tent to tent and from one dwelling place to another.

Wherever I have walked with all Israel, did I say a word to any of the judges of Israel, whom I commanded to shepherd My people, saying, ‘Why have you not built for Me a house of cedar?’”’

I will be his father and he shall be My son; and I will not take My steadfast love and mercy away from him, as I took it from him (King Saul) who was before you.

But the leaders of the Ammonites said to Hanun, “Do you think that David has sent people to console and comfort you because he honors your father? Have his servants not come to you to search and to overthrow and to spy out the land?”

Joab said, “May the Lord add to His people a hundred times as many as they are! But, my lord the king, are they not all my lord’s servants? Why then does my lord require this? Why will he bring guilt on Israel?”

But he did not count Levi and Benjamin among them, because the king’s order was detestable to Joab.

David said to Gad, “I am in great distress; please let me fall into the hands of the Lord, for His mercies are very great; but do not let me fall into the hand of man.”

David said to God, “Is it not I who commanded the people to be counted? I am the one who has sinned and done evil; but as for these sheep [the people of Israel], what have they done? O Lord my God, please let Your hand be against me and my father’s house, but not against Your people that they should be plagued.”

But King David said to Ornan, “No, I will certainly pay the full price; for I will not take what is yours for the Lord, nor offer a burnt offering which costs me nothing.”

But David could not go before it to inquire of God, for he was terrified by the sword of the angel of the Lord.

But the word of the Lord came to me, saying, ‘You have shed much blood and have waged great wars; you shall not build a house for My Name, because you have shed so much blood on the earth before me.

Then you will prosper, if you are careful to observe and fulfill the statutes and ordinances which the Lord commanded Moses concerning Israel. Be strong and courageous, do not fear nor be dismayed.

“Is not the Lord your God with you? And has He not given you rest and peace on every side? For He has given the inhabitants of the land into my hand, and the land is subdued before the Lord and before His people.

Jahath was the first and Zizah the second; but Jeush and Beriah did not have many sons [not enough for a father’s house or clan], so they were [counted together] as one father’s household, one working group.

Also, the Levites will no longer need to carry the tabernacle and all its utensils for its service.”

Also Hosah, one of the sons of Merari, had sons: Shimri the first and chief (although he was not the firstborn, his father made him first),