Hezekiah Succeeds Ahaz in Judah

29 ^(A)Hezekiah became king when he was twenty-five years old; and he reigned for twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. And his mother’s name was Abijah, the daughter of Zechariah. ^2 (B)He did what was right in the sight of the Lord, in accordance with everything that his father David had done.

³ In the first year of his reign, in the first month, he ^(C)opened the doors of the house of the Lord and repaired them. ⁴ He brought in the priests and the Levites and gathered them into the public square on the east.

Reforms Begun

⁵ Then he said to them, “Listen to me, you Levites. ^(D)Consecrate yourselves now, and consecrate the house of the Lord, the God of your fathers, and carry the uncleanness out of the holy place. ⁶ For our fathers have been unfaithful and have done evil in the sight of the Lord our God, and they have abandoned Him and ^(E)turned their faces away from the dwelling place of the Lord, and have ^[a]turned their backs. ⁷ They have also ^(F)shut the doors of the porch and extinguished the lamps, and have not burned incense nor offered burnt offerings in the holy place to the God of Israel. ⁸ Therefore ^(G)the wrath of the Lord was against Judah and Jerusalem, and He has made them an object of terror, of horror, and of ^(H)hissing, as you see with your own eyes. ⁹ For behold, ^(I)our fathers have fallen by the sword, and our sons, our daughters, and our wives are in captivity because of this. ¹⁰ Now it is in my heart ^(J)to make a covenant with the Lord God of Israel, so that His burning anger may turn away from us. ¹¹ My sons, do not be negligent now, for ^(K)the Lord has chosen you to stand before Him, to serve Him, and to be His ministers and burn incense.”

¹² Then the Levites arose: ^(L)Mahath the son of Amasai and Joel the son of Azariah, from the sons of ^(M)the Kohathites; and from the sons of Merari, Kish the son of Abdi and Azariah the son of Jehallelel; and from the Gershonites, Joah the son of Zimmah and Eden the son of Joah; ¹³ and from the sons of Elizaphan, Shimri and ^[b]Jeiel; and from the sons of Asaph, Zechariah and Mattaniah; ¹⁴ and from the sons of Heman, ^[c]Jehiel and Shimei; and from the sons of Jeduthun, Shemaiah and Uzziel. ¹⁵ They assembled their brothers, ^(N)consecrated themselves, and went in ^(O)to cleanse the house of the Lord, according to the commandment of the king ^(P)by the words of the Lord. ¹⁶ So the priests went into the inner part of the house of the Lord to cleanse it, and they brought every unclean thing which they found in the temple of the Lord out to the courtyard of the house of the Lord. Then the Levites received it to carry out to ^(Q)the Kidron ^[d]Valley. ¹⁷ Now they began ^[e]the consecration ^(R)on the first day of the first month, and on the eighth day of the month they entered the porch of the Lord. Then they consecrated the house of the Lord in eight days, and finished on the sixteenth day of the first month. ¹⁸ Then they went in to King Hezekiah and said, “We have cleansed the whole house of the Lord, the altar of burnt offering with all its utensils, and the table of the showbread with all of its utensils. ¹⁹ Moreover, ^(S)all the utensils which King Ahaz had discarded during his reign in his unfaithfulness, we have prepared and consecrated; and behold, they are before the altar of the Lord.”

Hezekiah Restores Temple Worship

²⁰ Then King Hezekiah got up early and assembled the princes of the city, and went up to the house of the Lord. ²¹ They brought seven bulls, seven rams, seven lambs, and seven male goats ^(T)as a sin offering for the kingdom, the sanctuary, and Judah. And he ordered the priests, the sons of Aaron, to offer them on the altar of the Lord. ²² So they slaughtered the bulls, and the priests took the blood and sprinkled it on the altar. They also slaughtered the rams and sprinkled the blood on the altar; they slaughtered the lambs as well, and ^(U)sprinkled the blood on the altar. ²³ Then they brought the male goats of the sin offering before the king and the assembly, and ^(V)they laid their hands on them. ²⁴ The priests slaughtered them and purified the altar with their blood ^(W)to atone for all Israel, because the king ordered the burnt offering and the sin offering for all Israel.

^25 (X)He then stationed the Levites in the house of the Lord with cymbals, harps, and lyres, ^(Y)according to the command of David and of ^(Z)Gad, the king’s seer, and of ^(AA)Nathan the prophet; for the command was from the Lord through His prophets. ²⁶ The Levites stood with ^(AB)the musical instruments of David, and ^(AC)the priests with the trumpets. ²⁷ Then Hezekiah gave the order to offer the burnt offering on the altar. When the burnt offering began, ^(AD)the song to the Lord also began with the trumpets, ^[f]accompanied by the instruments of David, king of Israel. ²⁸ While the whole assembly worshiped, the singers also sang and the trumpets sounded; all this continued until the burnt offering was finished.

²⁹ Now at the completion of the burnt offerings, ^(AE)the king and all who were present with him bowed down and worshiped. ³⁰ Moreover, King Hezekiah and the officials ordered the Levites to sing praises to the Lord with the words of David and Asaph the seer. ^(AF)So they sang praises with joy, and bowed down and worshiped.

³¹ Then Hezekiah said, “^(AG)Now that you have ^[g]consecrated yourselves to the Lord, come forward and bring sacrifices and thanksgiving offerings to the house of the Lord.” So the assembly brought sacrifices and thanksgiving offerings, and ^(AH)everyone who was ^[h]willing brought burnt offerings. ³² The number of the burnt offerings which the assembly brought was seventy bulls, a hundred rams, and two hundred lambs; all of these were for a burnt offering to the Lord. ³³ The consecrated offerings were six hundred bulls and three thousand sheep. ³⁴ But the priests were too few, so that they were unable to skin all the burnt offerings; ^(AI)therefore their brothers the Levites helped them until the work was finished and the other priests had consecrated themselves. For ^(AJ)the Levites were more ^[i]conscientious to consecrate themselves than the priests. ³⁵ There were also ^[j](AK)many burnt offerings with ^(AL)the fat of the peace offerings and ^(AM)the drink offerings for the burnt offerings. So the service of the house of the Lord was established again. ³⁶ Then Hezekiah and all the people rejoiced over what God had prepared for the people, because the thing came about suddenly.

All Israel Invited to the Passover

30 Now Hezekiah sent word to all Israel and Judah and also wrote letters to Ephraim and Manasseh, that they should come to the house of the Lord in Jerusalem to ^[k]celebrate the Passover to the Lord God of Israel. ² For the king and his princes and all the assembly in Jerusalem had decided ^(AN)to celebrate the Passover in the second month, ³ since they could not celebrate it ^(AO)at that time, because the priests had not consecrated themselves in sufficient numbers, nor had the people been gathered to Jerusalem. ⁴ So the ^[l]decision was right in the sight of the king and all the assembly. ⁵ So they established a decree to circulate a ^[m]proclamation throughout Israel ^(AP)from Beersheba to Dan, that they are to come to celebrate the Passover to the Lord God of Israel in Jerusalem. For they had not celebrated it in great numbers as was written. ^6 (AQ)The ^[n]couriers went throughout Israel and Judah with the letters from the hand of the king and his princes, even according to the command of the king, saying, “Sons of Israel, return to the Lord God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, that He may return to those of you who escaped and are left from ^(AR)the ^[o]hand of the kings of Assyria. ^7 (AS)Do not be like your fathers and your brothers, who were untrue to the Lord God of their fathers, so that ^(AT)He made them an object of horror, just as you see. ⁸ Now do not ^(AU)stiffen your neck like your fathers, but ^[p]yield to the Lord and enter His sanctuary which He has consecrated forever, and serve the Lord your God, ^(AV)that His burning anger may turn away from you. ⁹ For ^(AW)if you return to the Lord, your brothers and your sons will find compassion in the presence of those who led them captive, and will return to this land. ^(AX)For the Lord your God is gracious and compassionate, and will not turn His face away from you if you return to Him.”

¹⁰ So the ^[q]couriers passed from city to city through the country of Ephraim and Manasseh, and as far as Zebulun, but ^(AY)they laughed at them with scorn and mocked them. ¹¹ Nevertheless, ^(AZ)some men of Asher, Manasseh, and Zebulun humbled themselves and came to Jerusalem. ¹² The ^(BA)hand of God was also on Judah to give them one heart to do what the king and the princes commanded by the word of the Lord.

Passover Reinstituted

¹³ Now many people were gathered at Jerusalem to celebrate the Feast of Unleavened Bread ^(BB)in the second month, a very large assembly. ¹⁴ They got up and removed the altars which were in Jerusalem; they also ^(BC)removed all the incense altars and ^(BD)threw them into the brook Kidron. ¹⁵ Then ^(BE)they slaughtered the Passover lambs on the fourteenth of the second month. And ^(BF)the priests and Levites were ashamed of themselves, and consecrated themselves and brought burnt offerings to the house of the Lord. ^16 (BG)They stood at their stations following their custom, according to the Law of Moses the man of God; the priests sprinkled the blood which they received from the hand of the Levites. ¹⁷ For there were many in the assembly who had not consecrated themselves; therefore, ^(BH)the Levites were in charge of the slaughter of the Passover lambs for everyone who was unclean, in order to consecrate them to the Lord. ¹⁸ For a multitude of the people, ^(BI)many from Ephraim and Manasseh, and Issachar and Zebulun, had not purified themselves, ^(BJ)yet they ate the Passover ^(BK)contrary to what was written. For Hezekiah prayed for them, saying, “May the good Lord pardon ^19 (BL)everyone who prepares his heart to seek God, the Lord God of his fathers, though not according to the purification rules of the sanctuary.” ²⁰ So the Lord heard Hezekiah and ^(BM)healed the people. ²¹ The sons of Israel present in Jerusalem ^(BN)celebrated the Feast of Unleavened Bread for seven days with great joy, and the Levites and the priests were praising the Lord day after day with loud instruments to the Lord. ²² Then Hezekiah ^(BO)spoke ^[r]encouragingly to all the Levites who showed good insight in the things of the Lord. So they ate for the appointed seven days, sacrificing peace offerings and ^(BP)giving thanks to the Lord God of their fathers.

²³ Then the whole assembly ^(BQ)decided to celebrate the feast another seven days, so they celebrated the seven days with joy. ²⁴ For ^(BR)Hezekiah king of Judah had contributed to the assembly a thousand bulls and seven thousand sheep, and the princes had contributed to the assembly a thousand bulls and ten thousand sheep; and ^(BS)a large number of priests consecrated themselves. ²⁵ All the assembly of Judah rejoiced, with the priests and the Levites and ^(BT)all the assembly that came from Israel, both the strangers who came from the land of Israel and those living in Judah. ²⁶ So there was great joy in Jerusalem, because there was nothing like this in Jerusalem ^(BU)since the days of Solomon the son of David, king of Israel. ²⁷ Then ^(BV)the Levitical priests stood and ^(BW)blessed the people; and their voice was heard and their prayer came to ^(BX)His holy dwelling place, to heaven.

Sabbath Questions

12 ^[a](A)At that time Jesus went through the grainfields on the Sabbath, and His disciples became hungry and began to ^(B)pick the heads of grain and eat. ² Now when the Pharisees saw this, they said to Him, “Look, Your disciples are doing what ^(C)is not lawful to do on a Sabbath!” ³ But He said to them, “Have you not read what David did when he became hungry, he and his companions— ⁴ how he entered the house of God, and ^(D)they ate the ^[b]consecrated bread, which was not lawful for him to eat nor for those with him, but for the priests alone? ⁵ Or have you not read in the Law that on the Sabbath the priests in the temple ^[c]violate the Sabbath, and yet are innocent? ⁶ But I say to you that something ^(E)greater than the temple is here. ⁷ But if you had known what this ^[d]means: ‘^(F)I desire ^[e]compassion, ^[f]rather than sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned ^[g]the innocent.

Lord of the Sabbath

⁸ For ^(G)the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.”

^9 (H)Departing from there, He went into their synagogue. ¹⁰ And a man was there whose hand was withered. And they questioned ^[h]Jesus, asking, “^(I)Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?”—so that they might bring charges against Him. ¹¹ But He said to them, “^(J)What man ^[i]is there among you who ^[j]has a sheep, and if it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will he not take hold of it and lift it out? ^12 (K)How much more valuable then is a person than a sheep! So then, it is lawful to do ^[k]good on the Sabbath.” ¹³ Then He *said to the man, “Stretch out your hand!” ^(L)He stretched it out, and it was restored to ^[l]normal, like the other. ¹⁴ But the Pharisees went out and ^[m](M)conspired against Him, as to how they might destroy Him.

¹⁵ But Jesus, ^[n]aware of this, withdrew from there. Many followed Him, and ^(N)He healed them all, ¹⁶ and ^(O)warned them not to ^[o]tell who He was. ¹⁷ This happened so that what was spoken through Isaiah the prophet would be fulfilled:

The Pharisees Rebuked

^22 (W)Then a ^(X)demon-possessed man who was blind and unable to speak was brought to ^[x]Jesus, and He healed him so that the man who was unable to speak talked and ^[y]could see. ²³ And all the crowds were amazed and were saying, “This man cannot be the ^(Y)Son of David, can he?” ²⁴ But when the Pharisees heard this, they said, “This man ^(Z)casts out demons only by ^[z]Beelzebul the ruler of the demons.”

^25 (AA)And ^(AB)knowing their thoughts, Jesus said to them, “Every kingdom divided against itself is laid waste; and no city or house divided against itself will stand. ²⁶ And if ^(AC)Satan is casting out Satan, he ^[aa]has become divided against himself; how then will his kingdom stand? ²⁷ And if ^(AD)by ^[ab]Beelzebul I cast out the demons, ^(AE)by whom do your sons cast them out? Therefore, they will be your judges. ²⁸ But ^(AF)if I cast out the demons by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you. ²⁹ Or, how can anyone enter the strong man’s house and carry off his property, unless he first ties up the strong man? And then he will plunder his house.

The Unpardonable Sin

^30 (AG)The one who is not with Me is against Me; and the one who does not gather with Me scatters.

³¹ “^(AH)Therefore I say to you, every sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven people, but blasphemy against the Spirit shall not be forgiven. ^32 (AI)And whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man, it shall be forgiven him; but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it shall not be forgiven him, either in ^(AJ)this age or in the age to come.

Words Reveal Character

³³ “Either ^[ac]assume the tree to be good as well as its fruit good, or ^[ad]assume the tree to be bad as well as its fruit bad; for ^(AK)the tree is known by its fruit. ^34 (AL)You ^[ae]offspring of vipers, how can you, being evil, express any good things? ^(AM)For the mouth speaks from that which fills the heart. ^35 (AN)The good person brings out of his good treasure good things; and the evil person brings out of his evil treasure evil things. ³⁶ But I tell you that for every ^[af]careless word that people ^[ag]speak, they will give an account of it on the ^(AO)day of judgment. ³⁷ For ^[ah]by your words you will be justified, and ^[ai]by your words you will be condemned.”

The Desire for Signs

³⁸ Then some of the scribes and Pharisees said to Him, “Teacher, ^(AP)we want to see a ^[aj]sign from You.” ³⁹ But He answered and said to them, “^(AQ)An evil and adulterous generation craves a ^[ak]sign; and so no ^[al]sign will be given to it except the ^[am]sign of Jonah the prophet; ⁴⁰ for just as ^(AR)Jonah was in the stomach of the sea monster for three days and three nights, so will ^(AS)the Son of Man be in the heart of the earth for ^(AT)three days and three nights. ^41 (AU)The men of Nineveh will stand up with this generation at the judgment, and will condemn it because ^(AV)they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and behold, something ^(AW)greater than Jonah is here. ^42 (AX)The Queen of the South will rise up with this generation at the judgment and will condemn it, because she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and behold, something ^(AY)greater than Solomon is here.

⁴³ “^(AZ)Now when the unclean spirit comes out of a person, it passes through waterless places seeking rest, and does not find it. ⁴⁴ Then it says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came’; and when it comes, it finds it unoccupied, swept, and put in order. ⁴⁵ Then it goes and brings along with it seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they come in and live there; and ^(BA)the last condition of that person becomes worse than the first. That is the way it will also be with this evil generation.”

Changed Relationships

^46 (BB)While He was still speaking to the crowds, behold, His ^(BC)mother and ^(BD)brothers were standing outside, seeking to speak to Him. ⁴⁷ [^[an]Someone said to Him, “Look, Your mother and Your brothers are standing outside, seeking to speak to You.”] ⁴⁸ But ^[ao]Jesus replied to the one who was telling Him and said, “Who is My mother, and who are My brothers?” ⁴⁹ And extending His hand toward His disciples, He said, “Behold: My mother and My brothers! ⁵⁰ For whoever does the will of My Father who is in heaven, he is My brother, and sister, and mother.”