Study Desk

Manasseh's father, Hezekiah, had destroyed the places where gods were worshiped, but Manasseh rebuilt them. He built altars for Baal, and he made an Asherah idol as Ahab king of Israel had done. Manasseh also worshiped all the stars of the sky and served them.

The Lord had said about the Temple, "I will be worshiped in Jerusalem," but Manasseh built altars in the Temple of the Lord .

I will never again make the Israelites wander out of the land I gave their ancestors. But they must obey everything I have commanded them and all the teachings my servant Moses gave them."

But the people did not listen. Manasseh led them to do more evil than the nations the Lord had destroyed ahead of the Israelites.

The kings of Judah had chosen priests for these gods. These priests burned incense in the places where gods were worshiped in the cities of Judah and the towns around Jerusalem. They burned incense to Baal, the sun, the moon, the planets, and all the stars of the sky. But Josiah took those priests away.

The priests at the places where gods were worshiped were not allowed to serve at the Lord 's altar in Jerusalem. But they could eat bread made without yeast with their brothers.

While Josiah was king, Neco king of Egypt went to help the king of Assyria at the Euphrates River. King Josiah marched out to fight against Neco, but at Megiddo, Neco faced him and killed him.

King Neco made Josiah's son Eliakim the king in place of Josiah his father. Then Neco changed Eliakim's name to Jehoiakim. But Neco took Jehoahaz to Egypt, where he died.

But the Babylonian army chased King Zedekiah and caught up with him in the plains of Jericho. All of his army was scattered from him,

But the commander left behind some of the poorest people of the land to take care of the vineyards and fields.

(But Geshur and Aram captured the Towns of Jair, as well as Kenath and the small towns around it—sixty towns in all.) All these were descendants of Makir, the father of Gilead.

Shimei had sixteen sons and six daughters, but his brothers did not have many children, so there were not as many people in their family group as there were in Judah.

Reuben was Israel's first son. Reuben should have received the special privileges of the oldest son, but he had sexual relations with his father's slave woman. So those special privileges were given to Joseph's sons. (Joseph was a son of Israel.) In the family history Reuben's name is not listed as the first son.

Judah became stronger than his brothers, and a leader came from his family. But Joseph's family received the privileges that belonged to the oldest son.

But they sinned against the God that their ancestors had worshiped. They began worshiping the gods of the people in that land, and those were the people God was destroying.

but the fields farther from the city and the villages near Hebron were given to Caleb son of Jephunneh.

but some of the priests took care of mixing the spices.

Then Saul said to the officer who carried his armor, "Pull out your sword and stab me. If you don't, these Philistines who are not circumcised will come and hurt me." But Saul's officer refused, because he was afraid. So Saul took his own sword and threw himself on it.

They said to David, "You can't get inside our city." But David did take the city of Jerusalem with its strong walls, and it became the City of David.

but they stopped in the middle of that field and fought for it and killed the Philistines. The Lord gave them a great victory.