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But Hezekiah did not respond appropriately to the kindness shown him, and he became proud. So the Lord 's anger came against him and against Judah and Jerusalem.

But Manasseh led the people of Judah and Jerusalem to do even more evil than the pagan nations that the Lord had destroyed when the people of Israel entered the land.

The Lord spoke to Manasseh and his people, but they ignored all his warnings.

But while in deep distress, Manasseh sought the Lord his God and sincerely humbled himself before the God of his ancestors.

But unlike his father, he did not humble himself before the Lord . Instead, Amon sinned even more.

But the people of the land killed all those who had conspired against King Amon, and they made his son Josiah the next king.

"But go to the king of Judah who sent you to seek the Lord and tell him: ‘This is what the Lord , the God of Israel, says concerning the message you have just heard:

But King Neco sent messengers to Josiah with this message: "What do you want with me, king of Judah? I have no quarrel with you today! I am on my way to fight another nation, and God has told me to hurry! Do not interfere with God, who is with me, or he will destroy you."

But Josiah refused to listen to Neco, to whom God had indeed spoken, and he would not turn back. Instead, he disguised himself and led his army into battle on the plain of Megiddo.

But the enemy archers hit King Josiah with their arrows and wounded him. He cried out to his men, "Take me from the battle, for I am badly wounded!"

But Zedekiah did what was evil in the sight of the Lord his God, and he refused to humble himself when the prophet Jeremiah spoke to him directly from the Lord .

But the people mocked these messengers of God and despised their words. They scoffed at the prophets until the Lord 's anger could no longer be restrained and nothing could be done.

Here is the list of the Jewish exiles of the provinces who returned from their captivity. King Nebuchadnezzar had deported them to Babylon, but now they returned to Jerusalem and the other towns in Judah where they originally lived.

They searched for their names in the genealogical records, but they were not found, so they were disqualified from serving as priests.

But many of the older priests, Levites, and other leaders who had seen the first Temple wept aloud when they saw the new Temple's foundation. The others, however, were shouting for joy.

But Zerubbabel, Jeshua, and the other leaders of Israel replied, "You may have no part in this work. We alone will build the Temple for the Lord , the God of Israel, just as King Cyrus of Persia commanded us."

But Tattenai, governor of the province west of the Euphrates River, and Shethar-bozenai and their colleagues soon arrived in Jerusalem and asked, "Who gave you permission to rebuild this Temple and restore this structure?"

But because their God was watching over them, the leaders of the Jews were not prevented from building until a report was sent to Darius and he returned his decision.

But because our ancestors angered the God of heaven, he abandoned them to King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, who destroyed this Temple and exiled the people to Babylonia.

But it was at the fortress at Ecbatana in the province of Media that a scroll was found. This is what it said: "Memorandum: