But they did not obey, ¹  and Manasseh misled them so that they sinned more than the nations whom the Lord had destroyed from before the Israelites.

The Lord was so furious with Uzzah, ¹  he killed him, because he reached out his hand and touched the ark. ²  He died right there before God. ³ 

When ¹  I close up the sky ²  so that it doesn’t rain, or command locusts to devour the land’s vegetation, ³  or send a plague among my people,

Now the Ammonites, Moabites, and men from Mount Seir are coming! ¹  When Israel came from the land of Egypt, you did not allow them to invade these lands. ²  They bypassed them and did not destroy them.

Eliezer son of Dodavahu from Mareshah prophesied against Jehoshaphat, “Because ¹  you made an alliance with Ahaziah, the Lord will shatter what you have made.” The ships were wrecked and unable to go to sea. ² 

But the Lord was unwilling to destroy David’s dynasty ¹  because of the promise ²  he had made to give David a perpetual dynasty. ³ 

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.

They gave money to the craftsmen and builders to buy chiseled stone and wood for the braces and rafters of the buildings that the kings of Judah had allowed to fall into disrepair. ¹ 

But after our ancestors ¹  angered the God of heaven, he delivered them into the hands ²  of King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, the Chaldean, who destroyed this temple and exiled the people to Babylon. ³ 

The Jews assembled themselves in their cities throughout all the provinces of King Ahasuerus to strike out against those who were seeking their harm. No one was able to stand before them, for dread of them fell on all the peoples.

Give sincere homage! ¹  Otherwise he ²  will be angry, ³  and you will die because of your behavior, ⁴  when his anger quickly ignites. ⁵  How blessed ⁶  are all who take shelter in him! ⁷ 

Condemn them, ¹  O God! May their own schemes be their downfall! ²  Drive them away ³  because of their many acts of insurrection, ⁴  for they have rebelled against you.

May those who are trying to snatch away my life be totally embarrassed and ashamed! ¹  May those who want to harm me be turned back and ashamed! ² 

For the music director; according to the yonath-elem-rechovim style; ²  a prayer ³  of David, written when the Philistines captured him in Gath. ⁴  Have mercy on me, O God, for men are attacking me! ⁵  All day long hostile enemies ⁶  are tormenting me. ⁷ 

May he send help from heaven and deliver me ¹  from my enemies who hurl insults! ²  (Selah) May God send his loyal love and faithfulness!

Those who hate me without cause are more numerous than the hairs of my head. Those who want to destroy me, my enemies for no reason, ¹  outnumber me. ²  They make me repay what I did not steal! ³ 

He threatened ¹  to destroy them, but ²  Moses, his chosen one, interceded with him ³  and turned back his destructive anger. ⁴ 

There is a generation whose teeth are like ¹  swords ²  and whose molars ³  are like knives to devour ⁴  the poor from the earth and the needy from among the human race.

While applying ¹  my mind ²  to everything ³  that happens in this world, ⁴  I have seen all this: Sometimes one person ⁵  dominates ⁶  other people ⁷  to their harm. ⁸ 

Your land is devastated, your cities burned with fire. Right before your eyes your crops are being destroyed by foreign invaders. ¹  They leave behind devastation and destruction. ²