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 for twenty-nine years in Jerusalem; and his mother’s name was Abi the daughter of Zechariah. ^3 (D)He did what was right in the sight of the Lord, in accordance with everything that his father David had done. ^4 (E)He removed the high places and smashed the memorial stones to pieces, and cut down the ^[a]Asherah. He also crushed to pieces ^(F)the bronze serpent that Moses had made, for until those days the sons of Israel had been burning incense to it; and it was called ^[b]Nehushtan. ^5 (G)He trusted in the Lord, the God of Israel; and ^(H)after him there was no one like him among all the kings of Judah, nor among those who came before him. ⁶ For he ^(I)clung to the Lord; he did not desist 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 was successful. And ^(K)he revolted 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.

The Blessings of Redemption

1 Paul, ^(A)an apostle of ^(B)Christ Jesus ^[a](C)by the will of God,

To the ^[b](D)saints who are ^[c]at ^(E)Ephesus and ^(F)are faithful in ^(G)Christ Jesus: ^2 (H)Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

^3 (I)Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in ^(J)the heavenly places in Christ, ⁴ just as ^(K)He chose us in Him before ^(L)the foundation of the world, that we would be ^(M)holy and blameless before ^[d]Him. ^(N)In love ^5 [e]He ^(O)predestined us to ^(P)adoption as sons and daughters through Jesus Christ to Himself, ^(Q)according to the good pleasure of His will, ^6 (R)to the praise of the glory of His grace, with which He favored us in ^(S)the Beloved. ^7 (T)In ^[f]Him we have ^(U)redemption ^(V)through His blood, the ^(W)forgiveness of our wrongdoings, according to ^(X)the riches of His grace ⁸ which He ^[g]lavished on ^[h]us. In all wisdom and insight ⁹ He ^[i](Y)made known to us the mystery of His will, ^(Z)according to His good pleasure which He ^(AA)set forth in Him, ¹⁰ regarding His plan of ^(AB)the fullness of the times, ^(AC)to bring all things together in Christ, things ^[j]in the heavens and things on the earth. ^11 [k]In Him we also ^(AD)have obtained an inheritance, having been ^(AE)predestined ^(AF)according to the purpose of Him who works all things ^(AG)in accordance with the plan of His will, ¹² to the end that ^[l]we who were the first to hope in the ^[m]Christ would be ^(AH)to the praise of His glory. ¹³ In ^[n]Him, ^[o]you also, after listening to ^(AI)the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation—having also ^[p]believed, you were ^(AJ)sealed in ^[q]Him with ^(AK)the Holy Spirit of the promise, ¹⁴ who is a ^(AL)first installment of ^(AM)our inheritance, in regard to the ^(AN)redemption of ^(AO)God’s own possession, ^(AP)to the praise of His glory.

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 ^[a]celebrate the Passover to the Lord God of Israel. ² For the king and his princes and all the assembly in Jerusalem had decided ^(A)to celebrate the Passover in the second month, ³ since they could not celebrate it ^(B)at that time, because the priests had not consecrated themselves in sufficient numbers, nor had the people been gathered to Jerusalem. ⁴ So the ^[b]decision was right in the sight of the king and all the assembly. ⁵ So they established a decree to circulate a ^[c]proclamation throughout Israel ^(C)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 (D)The ^[d]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 ^(E)the ^[e]hand of the kings of Assyria. ^7 (F)Do not be like your fathers and your brothers, who were untrue to the Lord God of their fathers, so that ^(G)He made them an object of horror, just as you see. ⁸ Now do not ^(H)stiffen your neck like your fathers, but ^[f]yield to the Lord and enter His sanctuary which He has consecrated forever, and serve the Lord your God, ^(I)that His burning anger may turn away from you. ⁹ For ^(J)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. ^(K)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 ^[g]couriers passed from city to city through the country of Ephraim and Manasseh, and as far as Zebulun, but ^(L)they laughed at them with scorn and mocked them. ¹¹ Nevertheless, ^(M)some men of Asher, Manasseh, and Zebulun humbled themselves and came to Jerusalem. ¹² The ^(N)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 ^(O)in the second month, a very large assembly. ¹⁴ They got up and removed the altars which were in Jerusalem; they also ^(P)removed all the incense altars and ^(Q)threw them into the brook Kidron. ¹⁵ Then ^(R)they slaughtered the Passover lambs on the fourteenth of the second month. And ^(S)the priests and Levites were ashamed of themselves, and consecrated themselves and brought burnt offerings to the house of the Lord. ^16 (T)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, ^(U)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, ^(V)many from Ephraim and Manasseh, and Issachar and Zebulun, had not purified themselves, ^(W)yet they ate the Passover ^(X)contrary to what was written. For Hezekiah prayed for them, saying, “May the good Lord pardon ^19 (Y)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 ^(Z)healed the people. ²¹ The sons of Israel present in Jerusalem ^(AA)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 ^(AB)spoke ^[h]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 ^(AC)giving thanks to the Lord God of their fathers.

²³ Then the whole assembly ^(AD)decided to celebrate the feast another seven days, so they celebrated the seven days with joy. ²⁴ For ^(AE)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 ^(AF)a large number of priests consecrated themselves. ²⁵ All the assembly of Judah rejoiced, with the priests and the Levites and ^(AG)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 ^(AH)since the days of Solomon the son of David, king of Israel. ²⁷ Then ^(AI)the Levitical priests stood and ^(AJ)blessed the people; and their voice was heard and their prayer came to ^(AK)His holy dwelling place, to heaven.

²⁷ And at this point His ^(A)disciples came, and they were amazed that He had been speaking with a woman, yet no one said, “What are You seeking?” or, “Why are You speaking with her?” ²⁸ So the woman left her waterpot and went into the city, and *said to the people, ²⁹ “Come, see a man ^(B)who told me all the things that I have done; ^(C)this is not the ^[a]Christ, is He?” ³⁰ They left the city and were coming to Him.

³¹ Meanwhile the disciples were urging Him, saying, “^(D)Rabbi, eat something.” ³² But He said to them, “I have food to eat that you do not know about.” ³³ So the ^(E)disciples were saying to one another, “No one brought Him anything to eat, did he?” ³⁴ Jesus *said to them, “My food is to ^(F)do the will of Him who sent Me, and to ^(G)accomplish His work. ³⁵ Do you not say, ‘There are still four months, and then comes the harvest’? Behold, I tell you, raise your eyes and observe the fields, that they are white ^(H)for harvest. ³⁶ Already the one who reaps is receiving ^(I)wages and is gathering ^(J)fruit for ^(K)eternal life, so that the one who sows and the one who reaps may rejoice together. ³⁷ For in this case the saying is true: ‘^(L)One sows and another reaps.’ ³⁸ I sent you to reap that for which you have not labored; others have labored, and you have ^[b]come into their labor.”

The Samaritans

³⁹ Now from ^(M)that city many of the Samaritans believed in Him because of the word of the woman who testified, “^(N)He told me all the things that I have done.” ⁴⁰ So when the Samaritans came to ^[c]Jesus, they were asking Him to stay with them; and He stayed there two days. ⁴¹ Many more believed because of His word; ⁴² and they were saying to the woman, “It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves and know that this One truly is ^(O)the Savior of the world.”

⁴³ And after ^(P)the two days, He departed from there for Galilee. ⁴⁴ For Jesus Himself testified that ^(Q)a prophet has no honor in his own country. ⁴⁵ So when He came to Galilee, the Galileans received Him, only because ^(R)they had seen all the things that He did in Jerusalem at the feast; for they themselves also went to the feast.

Healing an Official’s Son

⁴⁶ Therefore He came again to ^(S)Cana of Galilee, ^(T)where He had made the water into wine. And there was a royal official whose son was sick at ^(U)Capernaum. ⁴⁷ When he heard that Jesus had come ^(V)from Judea into Galilee, he went to Him and began asking Him to come down and heal his son; for he was at the point of death. ⁴⁸ Then Jesus said to him, “Unless you people see ^[d](W)signs and ^(X)wonders, you simply will not believe.” ⁴⁹ The royal official *said to Him, “^[e]Sir, come down before my child dies.” ⁵⁰ Jesus *said to him, “^(Y)Go; your son ^[f]is alive.” The man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him and went home. ⁵¹ And as he was now going down, his slaves met him, saying that his ^[g]son was ^[h]alive. ⁵² So he inquired of them the hour when he began to get better. Then they said to him, “Yesterday at the ^[i]seventh hour the fever left him.” ⁵³ So the father knew that it was at that hour in which Jesus said to him, “Your son is alive”; and he himself believed, and ^(Z)his entire household. ⁵⁴ This is again a ^(AA)second ^[j]sign that Jesus performed when He had ^(AB)come from Judea into Galilee.