When the righteous flourish, the people rejoice, but when the wicked rule, the people groan.
But the people did not listen and Manasseh led them astray, so that they did greater evil than the nations that the LORD had destroyed before the Israelites.
You have kept the statutes of Omri and all the practices of Ahab’s house; you have followed their counsel. Therefore I will make you a desolation, and your inhabitants an object of contempt; you will bear the scorn of the nations.”
The wicked wander freely, and vileness is exalted among men.
So in My anger I gave you a king, and in My wrath I took him away.
He will oppose and exalt himself above every so-called god or object of worship. So he will seat himself in the temple of God, proclaiming himself to be God.
Then I saw another beast rising out of the earth. This beast had two horns like a lamb, but spoke like a dragon.
After seeking advice, the king made two golden calves and said to the people, “Going up to Jerusalem is too much for you. Here, O Israel, are your gods, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt.”
One of the heads of the beast appeared to have been mortally wounded. But the mortal wound was healed, and the whole world marveled and followed the beast.
For His eyes are on the ways of a man, and He sees his every step.
Ephraim is oppressed, crushed in judgment, for he is determined to follow worthless idols.
Wisdom is better than weapons of war, but one sinner destroys much good.