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.

^6 (A)The ^[a]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 ^(B)the ^[b]hand of the kings of Assyria. ^7 (C)Do not be like your fathers and your brothers, who were untrue to the Lord God of their fathers, so that ^(D)He made them an object of horror, just as you see. ⁸ Now do not ^(E)stiffen your neck like your fathers, but ^[c]yield to the Lord and enter His sanctuary which He has consecrated forever, and serve the Lord your God, ^(F)that His burning anger may turn away from you. ⁹ For ^(G)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. ^(H)For the Lord your God is gracious and compassionate, and will not turn His face away from you if you return to Him.”