25 There was no king to compare with Josiah—neither before nor after—a king who turned in total and repentant obedience to God, heart and mind and strength, following the instructions revealed to and written by Moses. The world would never again see a king like Josiah.

26-27 But despite Josiah, God’s hot anger did not cool; the raging anger ignited by Manasseh burned unchecked. And God, not swerving in his judgment, gave sentence: “I’ll remove Judah from my presence in the same way I removed Israel. I’ll turn my back on this city, Jerusalem, that I chose, and even from this Temple of which I said, ‘My Name lives here.’”

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25 Neither before nor after Josiah was there a king like him who turned(A) to the Lord as he did—with all his heart and with all his soul and with all his strength, in accordance with all the Law of Moses.(B)

26 Nevertheless, the Lord did not turn away from the heat of his fierce anger,(C) which burned against Judah because of all that Manasseh(D) had done to arouse his anger. 27 So the Lord said, “I will remove(E) Judah also from my presence(F) as I removed Israel, and I will reject(G) Jerusalem, the city I chose, and this temple, about which I said, ‘My Name shall be there.’[a]

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Footnotes

  1. 2 Kings 23:27 1 Kings 8:29