until the Lord removed the Israelites from his presence, just as he had said through all his servants the prophets. So the Israelites were taken out of their land to Assyria, and they have been there to this day.
Manasseh also killed many innocent people, filling Jerusalem from one end to the other with their blood. This was besides the sin he led Judah to do; he led Judah to do what the Lord said was wrong.
All this happened in Jerusalem and Judah because the Lord was angry with them. Finally, he threw them out of his presence. Zedekiah turned against the king of Babylon.
The Aramean army came with only a small group of men, but the Lord handed over to them a very large army from Judah, because the people of Judah had left the Lord, the God of their ancestors. So Joash was punished.
As the prophet spoke, Amaziah said to him, “We never gave you the job of advising the king. Stop, or you will be killed.” The prophet stopped speaking except to say, “I know that God has decided to destroy you because you have done this. You did not listen to my advice.”
You must not worship or serve any idol, because I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God. If you hate me, I will punish your children, and even your grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
“ ‘This is what the Lord God says: How terrible it will be for the city of murderers! How terrible it will be for the rusty pot whose rust will not come off! Take the meat out of it, piece by piece. Don’t choose any special piece.
Just as the Lord was once happy with you and gave you good things and made you grow in number, so then the Lord will be happy to ruin and destroy you, and you will be removed from the land you are entering to take as your own.
Every good promise that the Lord your God made has come true, and in the same way, his other promises will come true. He promised that evil will come to you and that he will destroy you from this good land that he gave you.