I am willing to shame and humiliate myself even more than this! ¹  But with the slave girls whom you mentioned let me be distinguished!”

Now don’t let my lord the king be concerned about the report that has come saying, ‘All the king’s sons are dead.’ It is only Amnon who is dead.”

Judah did evil in the sight of ¹  the Lord. They made him more jealous by their sins than their ancestors had done. ² 

There were also male cultic prostitutes ¹  in the land. They committed the same horrible sins as the nations ²  that the Lord had driven out from before the Israelites.

Ahab also made an Asherah pole; he ¹  did more to anger the Lord God of Israel than all the kings of Israel who were before him.

When the Arameans realized they had been defeated by Israel, they sent for reinforcements from beyond the Euphrates River, ¹  led by Shophach the commanding general of Hadadezer’s army. ² 

When Hadadezer’s subjects saw they were defeated by Israel, they made peace with David and became his subjects. The Arameans were no longer willing to help the Ammonites.

“If your people Israel are defeated by an enemy ¹  because they sinned against you, then if they come back to you, renew their allegiance to you, ²  and pray for your help ³  before you in this temple,

They abandoned the temple of the Lord God of their ancestors, ¹  and worshiped ²  the Asherah poles and idols. Because of this sinful activity, God was angry with Judah and Jerusalem.

But Manasseh misled the people of ¹  Judah and the residents of Jerusalem so that they sinned more than the nations whom the Lord had destroyed ahead of the Israelites.

even when they made a cast image of a calf for themselves and said, ‘This is your God who brought you up from Egypt,’ or when they committed atrocious ¹  blasphemies.

“Nonetheless they grew disobedient and rebelled against you; they disregarded your law. ¹  They killed your prophets who had solemnly admonished them in order to cause them to return to you. They committed atrocious blasphemies.

The Lord will bring on you, your people, and your father’s family a time ¹  unlike any since Ephraim departed from Judah – the king of Assyria!” ² 

Indeed, the waters of Dimon ¹  are full of blood! Indeed, I will heap even more trouble on Dimon. ²  A lion will attack ³  the Moabite fugitives and the people left in the land.

So now, do not mock, or your chains will become heavier! For I have heard a message about decreed destruction, from the sovereign master, the Lord who commands armies, against the entire land. ¹ 

That is how ¹  they have grown fat and sleek. ²  There is no limit to the evil things they do. ³  They do not plead the cause of the fatherless in such a way as to win it. They do not defend the rights of the poor.

The prophets prophesy lies. The priests exercise power by their own authority. ¹  And my people love to have it this way. But they will not be able to help you when the time of judgment comes! ² 

The Lord says, ¹  “These people are like soldiers who have readied their bows. Their tongues are always ready to shoot out lies. ²  They have become powerful in the land, but they have not done so by honest means. ³  Indeed, they do one evil thing after another ⁴  and do not pay attention to me. ⁵ 

You may feel as secure as a bird nesting in the cedars of Lebanon. But oh how you ¹  will groan ²  when the pains of judgment come on you. They will be like those of a woman giving birth to a baby. ³ 

Then she defied my regulations and my statutes, becoming more wicked than the nations ¹  and the countries around her. ²  Indeed, they ³  have rejected my regulations, and they do not follow my statutes.