Lyrics · 2 Chronicles
Why Transgress Ye the Commandments?
2 Chronicles 24:15-28:27
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About this song
About this song
This song belongs to the 2 Chronicles collection. One recording is available to play here, with the complete lyrics below.
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- 2 Chronicles
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- 2 Chronicles
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- World Music
Named in this songDamascus
About the passage
2 Chronicles 24: The king repairs the temple, then sheds blood in its court
Joash's reign begins with an almost painful promise. The child once hidden in the temple grows into a king determined to repair that same house, and after an ineffective collection system is replaced by a public chest, the work proceeds with abundance, skilled labor, and shared oversight. Yet the opening verdict contains its warning: Joash does right during the days of Jehoiada. When the old priest dies and is buried among the kings for his good work, Judah's princes gain the king's ear. The restored building remains standing while the restored allegiance collapses. Prophets are ignored, and Zechariah, Jehoiada's son, is stoned by royal command in the temple court. The Book of 2 Chronicles explicitly calls this a failure to remember Jehoiada's kindness. A small Syrian force then defeats Judah's much greater host, and Joash's own servants kill him. The burial reversal is severe: Jehoiada the priest lies among the kings; Joash the king is denied the royal sepulchres.
Study 2 Chronicles 24 in depth2 Chronicles 25: A king brings home gods that could not defend their own people
Amaziah's reign begins with a deliberately mixed verdict: he does what is right, but not with a whole heart. Early decisions show real obedience. He limits vengeance to his father's actual killers and, when warned by a man of God, sends home a costly force of hired northern soldiers even after paying them. Victory over Edom follows, but the turning point is almost absurd in its contradiction. Amaziah brings home the gods of the people he has just defeated and bows before them. When a prophet points out that those gods could not save their own worshippers, the king threatens the prophet instead of changing course. He then welcomes other counsel and challenges Israel to war. Joash of Israel answers with the cutting image of a thistle addressing a cedar, but Amaziah refuses the warning. Defeat follows, Jerusalem is breached, treasure is removed, and hostages are taken. Fifteen further years do not revise the chapter's trajectory. Amaziah eventually dies by conspiracy, leaving the opening judgment intact: obedience was present, but allegiance did not remain whole.
Study 2 Chronicles 25 in depth2 Chronicles 26: Strong enough to build towers, not entitled to burn incense
Uzziah's fifty-two-year reign accumulates the kinds of achievements that can make a king look almost unassailable. He rebuilds, defeats enemies, receives tribute, fortifies Jerusalem, digs wells, develops agriculture, organizes a large army, and equips the capital with ingenious defensive devices. The Book of 2 Chronicles repeatedly insists that this strength was received through help: as long as Uzziah sought the LORD, he prospered, and he was "marvellously helped, till he was strong." The final phrase becomes the hinge. Once strong, his heart is lifted to his destruction. He enters the temple to burn incense, claiming a priestly function the crown does not give him. Azariah and eighty priests withstand him, and leprosy appears on his forehead while he angrily holds the censer. The king leaves quickly and spends the rest of his life in a separate house while Jotham governs. The reign does not collapse because Uzziah failed to build enough power. It turns when power convinces him that a boundary no longer applies to him.
Study 2 Chronicles 26 in depth


