Hezekiah Reigns over Judah

18 Now it came about ^(A)in the third year of Hoshea, the son of Elah king of Israel, that ^(B)Hezekiah the son of Ahaz king of Judah became king. ² He was ^(C)twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned twenty-nine years in Jerusalem; and his mother’s name was Abi the daughter of Zechariah. ^3 (D)He did right in the sight of the Lord, according to all that his father David had done. ^4 (E)He removed the high places and broke down the sacred pillars and cut down the ^[a]Asherah. He also broke in pieces ^(F)the bronze serpent that Moses had made, for until those days the sons of Israel burned incense to it; and it was called ^[b]Nehushtan. ^5 (G)He trusted in the Lord, the God of Israel; ^(H)so that after him there was none like him among all the kings of Judah, nor among those who were before him. ⁶ For he ^(I)clung to the Lord; he did not depart from following Him, but kept His commandments, which the Lord had commanded Moses.

Hezekiah Victorious

^7 (J)And the Lord was with him; wherever he went he prospered. And ^(K)he rebelled against the king of Assyria and did not serve him. ^8 (L)He ^[c]defeated the Philistines as far as Gaza and its territory, from ^(M)watchtower to fortified city.

⁹ Now in the fourth year of King Hezekiah, which was the seventh year of Hoshea son of Elah king of Israel, ^(N)Shalmaneser king of Assyria came up against Samaria and besieged it. ¹⁰ At the end of three years they captured it; in the sixth year of Hezekiah, which was ^(O)the ninth year of Hoshea king of Israel, Samaria was captured. ¹¹ Then the king of Assyria carried Israel away into exile to Assyria, and put them in ^(P)Halah and on the Habor, the river of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes, ¹² because they ^(Q)did not obey the voice of the Lord their God, but transgressed His covenant, even all that Moses the servant of the Lord commanded; they would neither listen nor do it.

Invasion of Judah

^13 (R)Now in the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah, Sennacherib king of Assyria came up against all the fortified cities of Judah and seized them. ¹⁴ Then Hezekiah king of Judah sent to the king of Assyria at Lachish, saying, “^(S)I have done wrong. ^[d]Withdraw from me; whatever you ^[e]impose on me I will bear.” So the king of Assyria ^[f]required of Hezekiah king of Judah three hundred talents of silver and thirty talents of gold. ^15 (T)Hezekiah gave him all the silver which was found in the house of the Lord, and in the treasuries of the king’s house. ¹⁶ At that time Hezekiah cut off the gold from the doors of the temple of the Lord, and from the doorposts which Hezekiah king of Judah had overlaid, and gave it to the king of Assyria.

¹⁷ Then the king of Assyria sent ^(U)Tartan and Rab-saris and Rabshakeh from Lachish to King Hezekiah with a large army to Jerusalem. So they went up and came to Jerusalem. And when they went up, they came and stood by the ^(V)conduit of the upper pool, which is on the highway of the ^[g]fuller’s field. ¹⁸ When they called to the king, ^(W)Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, who was over the household, and ^(X)Shebnah the scribe and Joah the son of Asaph the recorder, came out to them.

¹⁹ Then Rabshakeh said to them, “Say now to Hezekiah, ‘Thus says the great king, the king of Assyria, “^(Y)What is this confidence that you ^[h]have? ²⁰ You say (but they are ^[i]only empty words), ‘I have counsel and strength for the war.’ Now on whom do you rely, ^(Z)that you have rebelled against me? ²¹ Now behold, you ^[j](AA)rely on the staff of this crushed reed, even on Egypt; on which if a man leans, it will go into his ^[k]hand and pierce it. So is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all who rely on him. ²² But if you say to me, ‘We trust in the Lord our God,’ is it not He whose high places and ^(AB)whose altars Hezekiah has taken away, and has said to Judah and to Jerusalem, ‘You shall worship before this altar in Jerusalem’? ²³ Now therefore, ^[l]come, make a bargain with my master the king of Assyria, and I will give you two thousand horses, if you are able on your part to set riders on them. ²⁴ How then can you ^[m]repulse one ^[n]official of the least of my master’s servants, and ^[o]rely on Egypt for chariots and for horsemen? ²⁵ Have I now come up ^[p]without the Lord’s approval against this place to destroy it? The Lord said to me, ‘Go up against this land and destroy it.’”’”

²⁶ Then Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, and Shebnah and Joah, said to Rabshakeh, “Speak now to your servants in Aramaic, for we ^[q]understand it; and do not speak with us in ^[r](AC)Judean in the hearing of the people who are on the wall.” ²⁷ But Rabshakeh said to them, “Has my master sent me only to your master and to you to speak these words, and not to the men who sit on the wall, doomed to eat their own dung and drink their own urine with you?”

²⁸ Then Rabshakeh stood and cried with a loud voice in Judean, ^[s]saying, “Hear the word of the great king, the king of Assyria. ²⁹ Thus says the king, ‘^(AD)Do not let Hezekiah deceive you, for he will not be able to deliver you from ^[t]my hand; ³⁰ nor let Hezekiah make you trust in the Lord, saying, “The Lord will surely deliver us, and this city will not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria.” ³¹ Do not listen to Hezekiah, for thus says the king of Assyria, “^[u]Make your peace with me and come out to me, and eat ^(AE)each of his vine and each of his fig tree and drink each of the waters of his own cistern, ³² until I come and take you away ^(AF)to a land like your own land, a land of grain and new wine, a land of bread and vineyards, a land of olive trees and honey, that you may live and not die.” But do not listen to Hezekiah when he misleads you, saying, “The Lord will deliver us.” ^33 (AG)Has any one of the gods of the nations delivered his land from the hand of the king of Assyria? ^34 (AH)Where are the gods of Hamath and ^(AI)Arpad? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim, Hena and ^[v](AJ)Ivvah? Have they delivered Samaria from my hand? ³⁵ Who among all the gods of the lands ^[w]have delivered their land from my hand, ^(AK)that the Lord should deliver Jerusalem from my hand?’”

³⁶ But the people were silent and answered him not a word, for the king’s commandment was, “Do not answer him.” ³⁷ Then ^(AL)Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, who was over the household, and Shebna the scribe and Joah the son of Asaph, the recorder, came to Hezekiah ^(AM)with their clothes torn and told him the words of Rabshakeh.

Isaiah Encourages Hezekiah

19 ^(AN)And when King Hezekiah heard it, he ^(AO)tore his clothes, ^(AP)covered himself with sackcloth and entered the house of the Lord. ² Then he sent Eliakim who was over the household with Shebna the scribe and the elders of the priests, ^(AQ)covered with sackcloth, to ^(AR)Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz. ³ They said to him, “Thus says Hezekiah, ‘This day is a day of distress, rebuke, and rejection; for children have come to birth and there is no strength to deliver. ^4 (AS)Perhaps the Lord your God will hear all the words of Rabshakeh, whom his master the king of Assyria has sent ^(AT)to reproach the living God, and will rebuke the words which the Lord your God has heard. Therefore, offer a prayer for ^(AU)the remnant that is left.’” ⁵ So the servants of King Hezekiah came to Isaiah. ⁶ Isaiah said to them, “Thus you shall say to your master, ‘Thus says the Lord, “Do not be afraid because of the words that you have heard, with which the ^(AV)servants of the king of Assyria ^(AW)have blasphemed Me. ⁷ Behold, I will put a spirit in him so that ^(AX)he will hear a rumor and return to his own land. And ^(AY)I will make him fall by the sword in his own land.”’”

Sennacherib Defies God

⁸ Then Rabshakeh returned and found the king of Assyria fighting against ^(AZ)Libnah, for he had heard that ^[x]the king had left ^(BA)Lachish. ⁹ When he heard them say concerning Tirhakah king of ^[y]Cush, “Behold, he has come out to fight against you,” he sent messengers again to Hezekiah saying, ¹⁰ “Thus you shall say to Hezekiah king of ^[z]Judah, ‘Do not ^(BB)let your God in whom you trust deceive you saying, “^(BC)Jerusalem will not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria.” ¹¹ Behold, you have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all the lands, destroying them completely. So will you be ^[aa]spared? ^12 (BD)Did the gods of ^[ab]those nations which my fathers destroyed deliver them, even ^(BE)Gozan and ^(BF)Haran and Rezeph and ^(BG)the sons of Eden who were in Telassar? ^13 (BH)Where is the king of Hamath, the king of Arpad, the king of the city of Sepharvaim, and of Hena and Ivvah?’”

Hezekiah’s Prayer

¹⁴ Then ^(BI)Hezekiah took the ^[ac]letter from the hand of the messengers and read it, and he went up to the house of the Lord and ^[ad]spread it out before the Lord. ¹⁵ Hezekiah prayed before the Lord and said, “O Lord, the God of Israel, ^(BJ)who are ^[ae]enthroned above the cherubim, ^(BK)You are the God, You alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made heaven and earth. ^16 (BL)Incline Your ear, O Lord, and hear; ^(BM)open Your eyes, O Lord, and see; and listen to the words of Sennacherib, which he has sent ^(BN)to reproach the living God. ¹⁷ Truly, O Lord, the kings of Assyria have devastated the nations and their lands ¹⁸ and have cast their gods into the fire, ^(BO)for they were not gods but the work of men’s hands, wood and stone. So they have destroyed them. ¹⁹ Now, O Lord our God, I pray, deliver us from his hand ^(BP)that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that You alone, O ^(BQ)Lord, are God.”

God’s Answer through Isaiah

²⁰ Then Isaiah the son of Amoz sent to Hezekiah saying, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘Because you have prayed to Me about Sennacherib king of Assyria, ^(BR)I have heard you.’ ²¹ This is the word that the Lord has spoken against him:

²⁹ ‘Then this shall be ^(CG)the sign for you: ^[al]you will eat this year what grows of itself, in the second year what springs from the same, and in the third year sow, reap, plant vineyards, and eat their fruit. ^30 (CH)The surviving remnant of the house of Judah will again take root downward and bear fruit upward. ³¹ For out of Jerusalem will go forth a remnant, and ^(CI)out of Mount Zion ^[am]survivors. ^(CJ)The zeal of ^[an]the Lord will perform this.

³² ‘Therefore thus says the Lord concerning the king of Assyria, “^(CK)He will not come to this city or shoot an arrow there; and he will not come before it with a shield or throw up a siege ramp against it. ^33 (CL)By the way that he came, by the same he will return, and he shall not come to this city,”’ declares the Lord. ³⁴ ‘^(CM)For I will defend this city to save it for My own sake and ^(CN)for My servant David’s sake.’”

^35 (CO)Then it happened that night that the angel of the Lord went out and struck 185,000 in the camp of the Assyrians; and when ^[ao]men rose early in the morning, behold, all of them were ^[ap]dead. ³⁶ So ^(CP)Sennacherib king of Assyria departed and returned home, and lived at ^(CQ)Nineveh. ³⁷ It came about as he was worshiping in the house of Nisroch his god, that ^[aq](CR)Adrammelech and Sharezer killed him with the sword; and they escaped into ^(CS)the land of Ararat. And ^(CT)Esarhaddon his son became king in his place.

Hezekiah’s Illness and Recovery

20 ^(CU)In those days Hezekiah became ^[ar]mortally ill. And Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz came to him and said to him, “Thus says the Lord, ‘^(CV)Set your house in order, for you shall die and not live.’” ² Then he turned his face to the wall and prayed to the Lord, saying, ³ “^(CW)Remember now, O Lord, I beseech You, ^(CX)how I have walked before You in truth and with a whole heart and have done what is good in Your sight.” And ^(CY)Hezekiah wept ^[as]bitterly. ⁴ Before Isaiah had gone out of the middle court, the word of the Lord came to him, saying, ⁵ “Return and say to ^(CZ)Hezekiah the leader of My people, ‘Thus says the Lord, the God of your father David, “^(DA)I have heard your prayer, ^(DB)I have seen your tears; behold, I will heal you. On the third day you shall go up to the house of the Lord. ⁶ I will add fifteen years to your ^[at]life, and I will deliver you and this city from the hand of the king of Assyria; and ^(DC)I will defend this city for My own sake and for My servant David’s sake.”’” ⁷ Then Isaiah said, “Take a cake of figs.” And they took and laid it on the boil, and he recovered.

⁸ Now Hezekiah said to Isaiah, “What will be the sign that the Lord will heal me, and that I shall go up to the house of the Lord the third day?” ⁹ Isaiah said, “^(DD)This shall be the sign to you from the Lord, that the Lord will do the thing that He has spoken: shall the shadow go forward ten steps or go back ten steps?” ¹⁰ So Hezekiah ^[au]answered, “It is easy for the shadow to decline ten steps; no, but let the shadow turn backward ten steps.” ¹¹ Isaiah the prophet cried to the Lord, and ^(DE)He brought the shadow on the ^[av]stairway back ten steps by which it had gone down on the ^[aw]stairway of Ahaz.

Hezekiah Shows Babylon His Treasures

^12 (DF)At that time ^[ax]Berodach-baladan a son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent letters and a present to Hezekiah, for he heard that Hezekiah had been sick. ¹³ Hezekiah listened to them, and showed them ^(DG)all his treasure house, the silver and the gold and the spices and the precious oil and the house of his armor and all that was found in his treasuries. There was nothing in his house nor in all his dominion that Hezekiah did not show them. ¹⁴ Then Isaiah the prophet came to King Hezekiah and said to him, “What did these men say, and from where have they come to you?” And Hezekiah said, “They have come from a far country, from Babylon.” ¹⁵ He said, “What have they seen in your house?” So Hezekiah ^[ay]answered, “They have seen all that is in my house; there is nothing among my treasuries that I have not shown them.”

¹⁶ Then Isaiah said to Hezekiah, “Hear the word of the Lord. ¹⁷ ‘Behold, the days are coming when ^(DH)all that is in your house, and all that your fathers have laid up in store to this day will be carried to Babylon; nothing shall be left,’ says the Lord. ¹⁸ ‘Some ^(DI)of your sons who shall issue from you, whom you will beget, will be taken away; and they will become ^(DJ)officials in the palace of the king of Babylon.’” ¹⁹ Then Hezekiah said to Isaiah, “The word of the Lord which you have spoken is ^(DK)good.” For he ^[az]thought, “Is it not so, if there will be peace and truth in my days?”

^20 (DL)Now the rest of the acts of Hezekiah and all his might, and how he ^(DM)made the pool and the conduit and brought water into the city, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah? ^21 (DN)So Hezekiah slept with his fathers, and Manasseh his son became king in his place.

Hezekiah Succeeds Ahaz in Judah

29 ^(A)Hezekiah became king when he was twenty-five years old; and he reigned twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. And his mother’s name was Abijah, the daughter of Zechariah. ^2 (B)He did right in the sight of the Lord, according to all 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 square on the east.

Reforms Begun

⁵ Then he said to them, “Listen to me, O Levites. ^(D)Consecrate yourselves now, and consecrate the house of the Lord, the God of your fathers, and carry the uncleanness out from the holy place. ⁶ For our fathers have been unfaithful and have done evil in the sight of the Lord our God, and have forsaken 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 put out the lamps, and have not burned incense or 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 and our daughters and our wives are in captivity for this. ¹⁰ Now it is in my heart ^(J)to make a covenant with the Lord God of Israel, 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 minister to 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 in to the inner part of the house of the Lord to cleanse it, and every unclean thing which they found in the temple of the Lord they brought out to the court 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 of its utensils, and the table of 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 arose 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)for 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 also 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 purged the altar with their blood ^(W)to atone for all Israel, for 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, with harps and with 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 near and bring sacrifices and thank offerings to the house of the Lord.” And the assembly brought sacrifices and thank offerings, and ^(AH)all those who were ^[h]willing brought burnt offerings. ³² The number of the burnt offerings which the assembly brought was 70 bulls, 100 rams, and 200 lambs; all these were for a burnt offering to the Lord. ³³ The consecrated things were 600 bulls and 3,000 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 completed and until 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 with ^(AM)the libations for the burnt offerings. Thus 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 to all Israel and Judah and wrote letters also to Ephraim and Manasseh, that they should come to the house of the Lord at 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 Thus the thing was right in the sight of the king and ^[l]all the assembly. ⁵ So they established a decree to circulate a ^[m]proclamation throughout all Israel ^(AP)from Beersheba even to Dan, that they should come to celebrate the Passover to the Lord God of Israel at Jerusalem. For they had not celebrated it in great numbers as it was ^[n]prescribed. ^6 (AQ)The ^[o]couriers went throughout all Israel and Judah with the letters from the hand of the king and his princes, even according to the command of the king, saying, “O 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 ^[p]hand of the kings of Assyria. ^7 (AS)Do not be like your fathers and your brothers, who were unfaithful to the Lord God of their fathers, so that ^(AT)He made them a horror, as you see. ⁸ Now do not ^(AU)stiffen your neck like your fathers, but ^[q]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 before 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 ^[r]couriers passed from city to city through the country of Ephraim and Manasseh, and as far as Zebulun, but ^(AY)they laughed them to 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 arose and removed the altars which were in Jerusalem; they also ^(BC)removed all the incense altars and ^(BD)cast 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 after 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 over 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)even many from Ephraim and Manasseh, Issachar and Zebulun, had not purified themselves, ^(BJ)yet they ate the Passover ^(BK)otherwise than ^[s]prescribed. 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 praised the Lord day after day with loud instruments to the Lord. ²² Then Hezekiah ^(BO)spoke ^[t]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 1,000 bulls and 7,000 sheep, and the princes had contributed to the assembly 1,000 bulls and 10,000 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 sojourners 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 arose and ^(BW)blessed the people; and their voice was heard and their prayer came to ^(BX)His holy dwelling place, to heaven.

Idols Are Destroyed

31 Now when all this was finished, all Israel who were present went out to the cities of Judah, ^(BY)broke the pillars in pieces, cut down the ^[u]Asherim and pulled down the high places and the altars throughout all Judah and Benjamin, as well as in Ephraim and Manasseh, ^[v]until they had destroyed them all. Then all the sons of Israel returned to their cities, each to his possession.

² And Hezekiah appointed ^(BZ)the divisions of the priests and the Levites by their divisions, each according to his service, both the priests and the Levites, ^(CA)for burnt offerings and for peace offerings, to minister and to give thanks and to praise in the gates of the camp of the Lord.

Reforms Continued

³ He also appointed ^(CB)the king’s portion of his goods for the burnt offerings, namely, for the morning and evening burnt offerings, and the burnt offerings for the sabbaths and for the new moons and for the fixed festivals, ^(CC)as it is written in the law of the Lord. ⁴ Also he ^[w]commanded the people who lived in Jerusalem to give ^(CD)the portion due to the priests and the Levites, that they might devote themselves to ^(CE)the law of the Lord. ⁵ As soon as the ^[x]order spread, the sons of Israel provided in abundance the first fruits of grain, new wine, oil, honey and of all the produce of the field; and they brought in abundantly ^(CF)the tithe of all. ⁶ The sons of Israel and Judah who lived in the cities of Judah also brought in the tithe of oxen and sheep, and ^(CG)the tithe of ^[y]sacred gifts which were consecrated to the Lord their God, and placed them in heaps. ⁷ In the third month they began to ^[z]make the heaps, and finished them by the seventh month. ⁸ When Hezekiah and the rulers came and saw the heaps, they blessed the Lord and ^(CH)His people Israel. ⁹ Then Hezekiah questioned the priests and the Levites concerning the heaps. ¹⁰ Azariah the chief priest ^(CI)of the house of Zadok said to ^[aa]him, “^(CJ)Since the contributions began to be brought into the house of the Lord, we have had enough to eat with plenty left over, for the Lord has blessed His people, and this great quantity is left over.”

¹¹ Then Hezekiah commanded them to prepare ^(CK)rooms in the house of the Lord, and they prepared them. ¹² They faithfully brought in the contributions and the tithes and the consecrated things; and Conaniah the Levite was the officer in charge ^(CL)of them and his brother Shimei was second. ¹³ Jehiel, Azaziah, Nahath, Asahel, Jerimoth, Jozabad, Eliel, Ismachiah, Mahath and Benaiah were overseers ^[ab]under the authority of Conaniah and Shimei his brother by the appointment of King Hezekiah, and ^(CM)Azariah was the chief officer of the house of God. ¹⁴ Kore the son of Imnah the Levite, the keeper of the eastern gate, was over the freewill offerings of God, to apportion the contributions for the Lord and the most holy things. ^15 [ac]Under his authority were ^(CN)Eden, Miniamin, Jeshua, Shemaiah, Amariah and Shecaniah in ^(CO)the cities of the priests, to distribute faithfully their portions to their brothers by divisions, whether great or small, ¹⁶ without regard to their genealogical enrollment, to the males from ^[ad](CP)thirty years old and upward—everyone who entered the house of the Lord ^(CQ)for his daily obligations—for their work in their duties according to their divisions; ¹⁷ as well as the priests who were enrolled genealogically according to their fathers’ households, and the Levites ^(CR)from twenty years old and upwards, by their duties and their divisions. ¹⁸ The genealogical enrollment included ^[ae]all their little children, their wives, their sons and their daughters, for the whole assembly, for they consecrated themselves ^[af]faithfully in holiness. ¹⁹ Also for the sons of Aaron the priests who were in ^(CS)the pasture lands of their cities, or in each and every city, ^(CT)there were men who were designated by name to distribute portions to every male among the priests and to everyone genealogically enrolled among the Levites.

²⁰ Thus Hezekiah did throughout all Judah; and ^(CU)he did what was good, right and true before the Lord his God. ²¹ Every work which he began in the service of the house of God in law and in commandment, seeking his God, he did with all his heart and ^(CV)prospered.

Sennacherib Invades Judah

32 After these ^[ag]acts of faithfulness ^(CW)Sennacherib king of Assyria came and invaded Judah and besieged the fortified cities, and ^[ah]thought to break into them for himself. ² Now when Hezekiah saw that Sennacherib had come and that ^[ai]he intended to make war on Jerusalem, ³ he decided with his officers and his warriors to cut off the supply of water from the springs which were outside the city, and they helped him. ⁴ So many people assembled ^(CX)and stopped up all the springs and ^(CY)the stream which flowed ^[aj]through the region, saying, “Why should the kings of Assyria come and find abundant water?” ⁵ And he took courage and ^(CZ)rebuilt all the wall that had been broken down and ^[ak]erected towers on it, and built ^(DA)another outside wall and strengthened the ^(DB)Millo in the city of David, and made weapons and shields in great number. ⁶ He appointed military officers over the people and gathered them to him in the square at the city gate, and ^(DC)spoke ^[al]encouragingly to them, saying, ⁷ “^(DD)Be strong and courageous, do not fear or be dismayed because of the king of Assyria nor because of all the horde that is with him; ^(DE)for the one with us is greater than the one with him. ⁸ With him is only ^(DF)an arm of flesh, but ^(DG)with us is the Lord our God to help us and to fight our battles.” And the people relied on the words of Hezekiah king of Judah.

Sennacherib Undermines Hezekiah

⁹ After this ^(DH)Sennacherib king of Assyria sent his servants to Jerusalem while he was ^[am]besieging Lachish with all his forces with him, against Hezekiah king of Judah and against all Judah who were at Jerusalem, saying, ¹⁰ “Thus says Sennacherib king of Assyria, ‘On what are you trusting that you are remaining in Jerusalem under siege? ¹¹ Is not Hezekiah misleading you to give yourselves over to die by hunger and by thirst, saying, “The Lord our God will deliver us from the ^[an]hand of the king of Assyria”? ^12 (DI)Has not the same Hezekiah taken away His high places and His altars, and said to Judah and ^[ao]Jerusalem, “You shall worship before one altar, and on it you shall ^[ap]burn incense”? ¹³ Do you not know what I and my fathers have done to all the peoples of the lands? ^(DJ)Were the gods of the nations of the lands able at all to deliver their land from my hand? ^14 (DK)Who was there among all the gods of those nations which my fathers utterly destroyed who could deliver his people out of my hand, that your God should be able to deliver you from my hand? ¹⁵ Now therefore, do not let Hezekiah deceive you or mislead you like this, and do not believe him, for ^(DL)no god of any nation or kingdom was able to deliver his people from my hand or from the hand of my fathers. How much less will your God deliver you from my hand?’”

¹⁶ His servants spoke further against the Lord God and against His servant Hezekiah. ¹⁷ He also wrote letters to insult the Lord God of Israel, and to speak against Him, saying, “^(DM)As the gods of the nations of the lands ^[aq]have not delivered their people from my hand, so the God of Hezekiah will not deliver His people from my hand.” ^18 (DN)They called this out with a loud voice in the language of Judah to the people of Jerusalem who were on the wall, to frighten and terrify them, so that they might take the city. ¹⁹ They spoke ^[ar]of the God of Jerusalem as of ^(DO)the gods of the peoples of the earth, the work of men’s hands.

Hezekiah’s Prayer Is Answered

²⁰ But King Hezekiah and Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz, prayed about this and cried out to heaven. ²¹ And the Lord sent an angel who destroyed every mighty warrior, commander and officer in the camp of the king of Assyria. So he returned ^[as]in shame to his own land. And when he had entered the temple of his god, some of his own children killed him there with the sword. ²² So the Lord ^(DP)saved Hezekiah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem from the hand of Sennacherib the king of Assyria and from the hand of all others, and ^[at]guided them on every side. ²³ And ^(DQ)many were bringing gifts to the Lord at Jerusalem and choice presents to Hezekiah king of Judah, so that ^(DR)he was exalted in the sight of all nations thereafter.

^24 (DS)In those days Hezekiah became ^[au]mortally ill; and he prayed to the Lord, and ^[av]the Lord spoke to him and gave him a sign. ²⁵ But Hezekiah gave no return for the benefit ^[aw]he received, ^(DT)because his heart was ^[ax]proud; ^(DU)therefore wrath came on him and on Judah and Jerusalem. ²⁶ However, ^(DV)Hezekiah ^[ay]humbled the pride of his heart, both he and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so that the wrath of the Lord did not come on them in the days of Hezekiah.

²⁷ Now Hezekiah had immense riches and honor; and he made for himself treasuries for silver, gold, precious stones, spices, shields and all kinds of valuable articles, ²⁸ storehouses also for the produce of grain, wine and oil, pens for all kinds of cattle and ^[az]sheepfolds for the flocks. ²⁹ He made cities for himself and acquired flocks and herds in abundance, for ^(DW)God had given him very great ^[ba]wealth. ³⁰ It was Hezekiah who ^(DX)stopped the upper outlet of the waters of ^(DY)Gihon and directed them to the west side of the city of David. And Hezekiah prospered in all that he did. ³¹ Even in the matter of ^(DZ)the envoys of the rulers of Babylon, who sent to him to inquire of ^(EA)the wonder that had happened in the land, God left him alone only ^(EB)to test him, that He might know all that was in his heart.

³² Now the rest of the acts of Hezekiah and his deeds of devotion, behold, they are written in the vision of Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz, in the Book of the Kings of Judah and Israel. ³³ So Hezekiah slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the ^[bb]upper section of the tombs of the sons of David; and all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem ^(EC)honored him at his death. And his son Manasseh became king in his place.