“Now the Lord has ·kept his promise [^Lestablished the word he spoke]. I am the king now in place of David my father. Now I ·rule [^Lsit on the throne of] Israel as the Lord promised, and I have built the ·Temple [^Lhouse] for ·the [^Lthe name of the] Lord, the God of Israel.

So the king ·did not [refused to] listen to the people. God caused this ·to happen [turn of events] so that the Lord could ·keep the promise he had made [fulfill/establish the word he spoke] to Jeroboam son of Nebat through Ahijah, a prophet from Shiloh.

But the Lord spoke his word to Shemaiah, a man of God, saying,

As the prophet spoke, Amaziah said to him, “·We never gave you the job of advising the king [^LWho made you the royal counselor?]. Stop, or you will be killed.” The prophet stopped speaking except to say, “I know that God has ·decided [advised/counseled himself; ^Ca play on words since the king had rejected God’s counsel through the prophet] to destroy you because you have done this. You did not listen to my ·advice [counsel].”

King Hezekiah and his ·officers [officials] ordered the Levites to ·praise [sing praises to] the Lord, using the words David and Asaph the ·seer [prophet] had used. So they praised God with ·joy [gladness] and bowed down and worshiped.

And ·God united all the people of [^LGod’s hand was on] Judah ·in obeying [^Lgiving them one heart to do the commands of] King Hezekiah and his ·officers [officials], because their command ·had come from [^Lwas the word of] the Lord.

He only has ·men [human strength; ^Lan arm of flesh], but we have the Lord our God to help us and to fight our battles.” The people were encouraged by the words of Hezekiah king of Judah.

Tell the king of Judah, who sent you to ·ask [inquire of] the Lord, ‘This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says about the ·words [message] you heard:

But Josiah did not ·go [^Lturn his face] away. He ·wore different clothes [disguised himself] ·so no one would know who he was [in order to fight him]. Refusing to listen to ·what Neco said at God’s command [^Lthe words Neco received from God’s mouth], Josiah went to fight on the plain of Megiddo.

But they ·made fun of [mocked] God’s ·prophets [^Lmessengers] and hated God’s ·messages [^Lwords]. They ·refused to listen to the [ridiculed/scoffed at his] prophets until, finally, the Lord became so angry with his people that ·he could not be stopped [there was no remedy/^Lhealer].