The Lord made an agreement with them and instructed them, “You must not worship other gods. Do not bow down to them, serve them, or offer sacrifices to them.

He trusted in the Lord God of Israel; in this regard there was none like him among the kings of Judah either before or after.

This is what the king says: ‘Don’t let Hezekiah mislead you, for he is not able to rescue you from my hand!

The people were silent and did not respond, for the king had ordered, “Don’t respond to him.”

They have burned the gods of the nations, for they are not really gods, but only the product of human hands manufactured from wood and stone. That is why the Assyrians could destroy them.

Hezekiah answered, “It is easy for the shadow to lengthen ten steps, but not for it to go back ten steps.”

(Now the priests of the high places did not go up to the altar of the Lord in Jerusalem, but they did eat unleavened cakes among their fellow priests.)

He issued this edict because a Passover like this had not been observed since the days of the judges; it was neglected for the entire period of the kings of Israel and Judah.

Yet the Lord’s great anger against Judah did not subside; he was still infuriated by all the things Manasseh had done.

The bronze of the items that King Solomon made for the Lord’s temple – including the two pillars, the big bronze basin called “The Sea,” the twelve bronze bulls under “The Sea,” and the movable stands – was too heavy to be weighed.

Shimei had sixteen sons and six daughters. But his brothers did not have many sons, so their whole clan was not as numerous as the sons of Judah.

So Saul died because he was unfaithful to the Lord and did not obey the Lord’s instructions; he even tried to conjure up underworld spirits.

The residents of Jebus said to David, “You cannot invade this place!” But David captured the fortress of Zion (that is, the City of David).

He received honor from the thirty warriors, though he was not one of the three elite warriors. David put him in charge of his bodyguard.

So David again asked God what he should do. This time God told him, “Don’t march up after them; circle around them and come against them in front of the trees.

“Go, tell my servant David: ‘This is what the Lord says: “You must not build me a house in which to live.

For I have not lived in a house from the time I brought Israel up from Egypt to the present day. I have lived in a tent that has been in various places.

I will become his father and he will become my son. I will never withhold my loyal love from him, as I withheld it from the one who ruled before you.

Jahath was the oldest and Zizah the second oldest. Jeush and Beriah did not have many sons, so they were considered one family with one responsibility.

Hosah, one of the descendants of Merari, had sons: The firstborn Shimri (he was not actually the firstborn, but his father gave him that status),