2 Kings 21:12-15

21:12 So this is what the Lord God of Israel says, ‘I am about to bring disaster on Jerusalem and Judah. The news will reverberate in the ears of those who hear about it. ¹  21:13 I will destroy Jerusalem the same way I did Samaria ²  and the dynasty of Ahab. ³  I will wipe Jerusalem clean, just as one wipes a plate on both sides. ⁴  21:14 I will abandon this last remaining tribe among my people ⁵  and hand them over to their enemies; they will be plundered and robbed by all their enemies, ⁶  21:15 because they have done evil in my sight ⁷  and have angered me from the time their ancestors left Egypt right up to this very day!’”

2 Kings 21:2

21:2 He did evil in the sight of ⁸  the Lord and committed the same horrible sins practiced by the nations ⁹  whom the Lord drove out from before the Israelites.

2 Kings 1:1

Elijah Confronts the King and His Commanders

1:1 After Ahab died, Moab rebelled against Israel. ¹⁰ 

2 Kings 1:1

Elijah Confronts the King and His Commanders

1:1 After Ahab died, Moab rebelled against Israel. ¹¹ 

2 Kings 1:16-17

1:16 Elijah ¹²  said to the king, ¹³  “This is what the Lord says, ‘You sent messengers to seek an oracle from Baal Zebub, the god of Ekron. You must think there is no God in Israel from whom you can seek an oracle! ¹⁴  Therefore you will not leave the bed you lie on, for you will certainly die.’” ¹⁵ 

1:17 He died just as the Lord had prophesied through Elijah. ¹⁶  In the second year of the reign of King Jehoram son of Jehoshaphat over Judah, Ahaziah’s brother Jehoram replaced him as king of Israel, because he had no son. ¹⁷ 

Nehemiah 9:26-27

9:26 “Nonetheless they grew disobedient and rebelled against you; they disregarded your law. ¹⁸  They killed your prophets who had solemnly admonished them in order to cause them to return to you. They committed atrocious blasphemies. 9:27 Therefore you delivered them into the hand of their adversaries, who oppressed them. But in the time of their distress they called to you, and you heard from heaven. In your abundant compassion you provided them with deliverers to rescue them from ¹⁹  their adversaries.

Isaiah 59:1-2

Injustice Brings Alienation from God

59:1 Look, the Lord’s hand is not too weak ²⁰  to deliver you;

his ear is not too deaf to hear you. ²¹ 

59:2 But your sinful acts have alienated you from your God;

your sins have caused him to reject you and not listen to your prayers. ²² 

Jeremiah 5:29

5:29 I will certainly punish them for doing such things!” says the Lord.

“I will certainly bring retribution on such a nation as this! ²³ 

Daniel 9:5

9:5 we have sinned! We have done what is wrong and wicked; we have rebelled by turning away from your commandments and standards.

[21:12]  ¹ tn Heb “so that everyone who hears it, his two ears will quiver.”

[21:13]  ² map For location see Map2 B1; Map4 D3; Map5 E2; Map6 A4; Map7 C1.

[21:13]  ³ tn Heb “I will stretch out over Jerusalem the measuring line of Samaria, and the plumb line of the house of Ahab.” The measuring line and plumb line are normally used in building a structure, not tearing it down. But here they are used ironically as metaphors of judgment, emphasizing that he will give careful attention to the task of judgment.

[21:13]  ⁴ tn Heb “just as one wipes a plate, wiping and turning [it] on its face.” The word picture emphasizes how thoroughly the Lord will judge the city.

[21:14]  ⁵ tn Heb “the remnant of my inheritance.” In this context the Lord’s remnant is the tribe of Judah, which had been preserved when the Assyrians conquered and deported the northern tribes. See 17:18 and M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 269.

[21:14]  ⁶ tn Heb “they will become plunder and spoils of war for all their enemies.”

[21:15]  ⁷ tn Heb “in my eyes.”

[21:2]  ⁸ tn Heb “in the eyes of.”

[21:2]  ⁹ tn Heb “like the abominable practices of the nations.”

[1:1]  ¹⁰ sn This statement may fit better with the final paragraph of 1 Kgs 22.

[1:1]  ¹¹ sn This statement may fit better with the final paragraph of 1 Kgs 22.

[1:16]  ¹² tn Heb “he”; the referent (Elijah) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[1:16]  ¹³ tn Heb “him”; the referent (the king) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[1:16]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “Because you sent messengers to inquire of Baal Zebub, the god of Ekron, is there no God in Israel to inquire of his word?”

[1:16]  ¹⁵ sn For the third time in this chapter we read the Lord’s sarcastic question to king and the accompanying announcement of judgment. The repetition emphasizes one of the chapter’s main themes. Israel’s leaders should seek guidance from their own God, not a pagan deity, for Israel’s sovereign God is the one who controls life and death.

[1:17]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “according to the word of the Lord which he spoke through Elijah.”

[1:17]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “Jehoram replaced him as king…because he had no son.” Some ancient textual witnesses add “his brother,” which was likely added on the basis of the statement later in the verse that Ahaziah had no son.

[9:26]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “they cast your law behind their backs.”

[9:27]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “from the hand of” (so NASB, NIV); NAB “from the power of.”

[59:1]  ²⁰ tn Heb “short” (so NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV).

[59:1]  ²¹ tn Heb “or his ear too heavy [i.e., “dull”] to hear.”

[59:2]  ²² tn Heb “and your sins have caused [his] face to be hidden from you so as not to hear.”

[5:29]  ²³ tn Heb “Should I not punish…? Should I not bring retribution…?” The rhetorical questions function as emphatic declarations.