Ahaz slept with his fathers in Jerusalem, but not in the tombs of the kings of Israel. His son, Hezekiah, succeeded him as king.

Hezekiah, son of Abijah (Zechariah’s daughter), became king when he was 25 years old and reigned 29 years in Jerusalem.

Hezekiah’s first action when he began to reign was reopening and repairing the Eternal’s temple.

Hezekiah (to the Levites): Listen to me. First, you must sanctify yourselves so that you can sanctify the temple of the Eternal One, the True God of your ancestors, and remove the immoral and ungodly items that are there.

Then they told King Hezekiah all they had done. Levites: We have cleansed all of the Eternal’s temple: the altar of burnt offering, the table of unleavened bread, and all of the utensils.

King Hezekiah woke up early and assembled the city leaders at the Eternal’s house.

The men brought seven bulls, seven rams, seven lambs, and seven male goats as sin offerings representing the atonement of the entire kingdom, the sanctuary, and Judah. Hezekiah then ordered the priests, the sons of Aaron, to sacrifice for the Southern Kingdom’s sins on the Eternal’s altar,

slaughtering the bulls, rams, and lambs and sprinkling their blood on the altar. Then they sacrificed for the atonement of all of Israel, the North and the South, as Hezekiah requested by offering the male goats. The priests brought the goats before the king and the leaders, laid their hands on the animals, slaughtered them, and covered the altar with their blood.

He assigned the priests to play their trumpets and the Levites to play King David’s cymbals, harps, and lyres in the Eternal’s temple as the Eternal had commanded them to do through the words of David, Gad (David’s seer), and Nathan the prophet.

Then Hezekiah commanded the burnt offering be offered on the altar. During the offering, the musicians played their trumpets and David’s instruments, performing the song to the Eternal.

Hezekiah and the Leaders (to the Levites): Sing the songs of David the king and Asaph the seer, praising the Eternal One with their lyrics. So the Levites praised Him joyously and bowed before Him in worship.

Hezekiah (to the people): Now that you have cleansed yourselves with the blood offerings, show your gratitude by bringing your sacrifices and thanksgiving and burnt offerings to the Eternal’s temple. The people did as Hezekiah suggested,

so Hezekiah and all the people rejoiced over how quickly the True God had changed the hearts of the people and brought them back to following Him.

Since the people could not gather in Jerusalem immediately and since not enough priests were sanctified in time to celebrate the Passover holiday during the first month of his reign, Hezekiah, the leaders, and the people of Jerusalem decided to celebrate during the second month. So he decided to send word to everyone—from Beersheba in the far south to Dan in the far north—to come to the Eternal’s temple in Jerusalem and celebrate the Passover honoring the Eternal One, True God of Israel. Until Hezekiah, Judah had not celebrated as frequently as they should have.

So messengers carried letters written by the king and his leaders throughout the kingdoms. Hezekiah’s Letter: People of Israel, return to the ways of the Eternal One, True God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, and He will return to those of you who escaped the conquering kings of Assyria to follow Him.

When the messengers took this message throughout the Northern Kingdom, most of the Northerners ridiculed and ignored the message. But some people from the Northern tribes of Asher, Manasseh, and Zebulun obeyed Hezekiah and the leaders and humbly traveled to Jerusalem just as all of the Southern Kingdom were given one mind and obeyed under the guidance of the True God via the command of the king and his officials.

Many of the people from the tribes of Ephraim, Manasseh, Issachar, and Zebulun, had not cleansed themselves as prescribed, but they were able to eat the Passover feast because Hezekiah prayed on their behalf. Hezekiah: Eternal One, because You are good, cover their sins for

The Eternal One heard Hezekiah’s prayer and healed them from the threat of disease for not approaching God as instructed.

Hezekiah commended the Levites who had remained faithful and prudent toward the Eternal, and everyone celebrated for seven days: feasting, sacrificing peace offerings, and offering praise to the Eternal One, True God of their ancestors.

By the time the festival ended, Hezekiah, king of the Southern Kingdom, had donated 1,000 bulls and 7,000 sheep, and the leaders had donated 1,000 bulls and 10,000 sheep for the people to sacrifice. Also many priests had sanctified themselves.

When the Passover was finished, all the Israelites who had attended the festival left Jerusalem for the cities of Judah, Benjamin, Ephraim, and Manasseh. There they continued Hezekiah’s zeal by destroying all cultic statues and carved images of Asherah. Having purged the nation of idolatrous symbols like the high places and altars, the Israelites returned to their own homes.

Meanwhile Hezekiah continued structuring the temple activities. He reorganized the divisions of priests and Levites according to their duties, such as making burnt or peace offerings, ministering, worshiping, or praising near the gates to the Eternal’s camp.

Just as his ancestors David and Solomon did before him, Hezekiah donated a portion of his animals for the morning, evening, Sabbath, new moon, and other festival burnt offerings as the Eternal’s law requires.

Once everyone had heard Hezekiah’s request, the Israelites in Jerusalem gave more than was required from their best grain, wine, oil, honey, and produce, creating a surplus of offerings.

Seeing the heaps of tithes, Hezekiah and his officers praised the Eternal and blessed the Israelites who had answered their obligations.