I will let you live fifteen years longer. I will rescue you and this city Jerusalem from the emperor of Assyria. I will defend this city, for the sake of my own honor and because of the promise I made to my servant David."

God is in that city, and it will never be destroyed; at early dawn he will come to its aid.

Nations are terrified, kingdoms are shaken; God thunders, and the earth dissolves.

Zion, the mountain of God, is high and beautiful; the city of the great king brings joy to all the world.

The kings gathered together and came to attack Mount Zion.

There they were seized with fear and anguish, like a woman about to bear a child,

We have heard what God has done, and now we have seen it in the city of our God, the LORD Almighty; he will keep the city safe forever.

Just as a bird hovers over its nest to protect its young, so I, the LORD Almighty, will protect Jerusalem and defend it."

I will rescue you and this city of Jerusalem from the emperor of Assyria, and I will continue to protect the city."

But I could not let their enemies boast that they had defeated my people, when it was I myself who had crushed them.'

And yet, I am the God who forgives your sins, and I do this because of who I am. I will not hold your sins against you.

"In order that people will praise my name, I am holding my anger in check; I am keeping it back and will not destroy you.

What I do is done for my own sake--- I will not let my name be dishonored or let anyone else share the glory that should be mine and mine alone."

"Now then, give the Israelites the message that I, the Sovereign LORD, have for them: What I am going to do is not for the sake of you Israelites, but for the sake of my holy name, which you have disgraced in every country where you have gone.

Let us praise God for his glorious grace, for the free gift he gave us in his dear Son!

The Spirit is the guarantee that we shall receive what God has promised his people, and this assures us that God will give complete freedom to those who are his. Let us praise his glory!

However, for the sake of your father David I will not do this in your lifetime, but during the reign of your son.

And I will not take the whole kingdom away from him; instead, I will leave him one tribe for the sake of my servant David and for the sake of Jerusalem, the city I have made my own."

But for David's sake the LORD his God gave Abijah a son to rule after him in Jerusalem and to keep Jerusalem secure.

His royal power will continue to grow; his kingdom will always be at peace. He will rule as King David's successor, basing his power on right and justice, from now until the end of time. The LORD Almighty is determined to do all this.

The LORD says, "The time is coming when I will choose as king a righteous descendant of David. That king will rule wisely and do what is right and just throughout the land.

When he is king, the people of Judah will be safe, and the people of Israel will live in peace. He will be called 'The LORD Our Salvation.'

In the same way I have made a covenant with my servant David that he would always have a descendant to be king, and I have made a covenant with the priests from the tribe of Levi that they would always serve me; and those covenants can never be broken.

And just as surely as I have done this, so I will maintain my covenant with Jacob's descendants and with my servant David. I will choose one of David's descendants to rule over the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. I will be merciful to my people and make them prosperous again."