Jotham Succeeds Uzziah in Judah

27 ^(A)Jotham was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem. And his mother’s name was Jerushah the daughter of Zadok. ² He did right in the sight of the Lord, according to all that his father Uzziah had done; ^(B)however he did not enter the temple of the Lord. But the people continued acting corruptly. ³ He built the upper gate of the house of the Lord, and he built extensively the wall of ^(C)Ophel. ⁴ Moreover, he built ^(D)cities in the hill country of Judah, and he built fortresses and towers on the wooded hills. ⁵ He fought also with the king of the Ammonites and prevailed over them so that the Ammonites gave him during that year one hundred talents of silver, ten thousand ^[a]kors of wheat and ten thousand of barley. The Ammonites also paid him this amount in the second and in the third year. ^6 (E)So Jotham became mighty because he ordered his ways before the Lord his God. ^7 (F)Now the rest of the acts of Jotham, even all his wars and his acts, behold, they are written in the Book of the Kings of Israel and Judah. ⁸ He was ^(G)twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem. ⁹ And Jotham slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the city of David; and Ahaz his son became king in his place.

Ahaz Succeeds Jotham in Judah

28 ^(H)Ahaz was twenty years old when he became king, and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem; and ^(I)he did not do right in the sight of the Lord as David his father had done. ^2 (J)But he walked in the ways of the kings of Israel; he also ^(K)made molten images for the Baals. ³ Moreover, ^(L)he burned incense in the valley of Ben-hinnom and ^(M)burned his sons in fire, ^(N)according to the abominations of the nations whom the Lord had driven out before the sons of Israel. ⁴ He sacrificed and ^(O)burned incense on the high places, on the hills and under every green tree.

Judah Is Invaded

⁵ Wherefore, ^(P)the Lord his God delivered him into the hand of the king of Aram; and they ^[b]defeated him and carried away from him a great number of captives and brought them to Damascus. And he was also delivered into the hand of the king of Israel, who ^[c]inflicted him with heavy casualties. ⁶ For ^(Q)Pekah the son of Remaliah slew in Judah 120,000 in one day, all valiant men, because they had forsaken the Lord God of their fathers. ⁷ And Zichri, a mighty man of Ephraim, slew Maaseiah the king’s son and Azrikam the ruler of the house and Elkanah the second to the king.

^8 (R)The sons of Israel carried away captive of ^(S)their brethren 200,000 women, sons and daughters; and they ^[d]took also a great deal of spoil from them, and brought the spoil to Samaria. ⁹ But a prophet of the Lord was there, whose name was Oded; and ^(T)he went out to meet the army which came to Samaria and said to them, “Behold, because the Lord, the God of your fathers, ^(U)was angry with Judah, He has delivered them into your hand, and you have slain them in a rage ^(V)which has even reached heaven. ¹⁰ Now you are proposing to ^(W)subjugate for yourselves the people of Judah and Jerusalem for male and female slaves. Surely, do you not have transgressions of your own against the Lord your God? ¹¹ Now therefore, listen to me and return the captives ^(X)whom you captured from your brothers, ^(Y)for the burning anger of the Lord is against you.” ¹² Then some of the heads of the sons of Ephraim—Azariah the son of Johanan, Berechiah the son of Meshillemoth, Jehizkiah the son of Shallum, and Amasa the son of Hadlai—arose against those who were coming from the battle, ¹³ and said to them, “You must not bring the captives in here, for you are proposing to bring upon us guilt against the Lord adding to our sins and our guilt; for our guilt is great so that His burning anger is against Israel.” ¹⁴ So the armed men left the captives and the spoil before the officers and all the assembly. ¹⁵ Then ^(Z)the men who were designated by name arose, took the captives, and they clothed all their naked ones from the spoil; and they gave them clothes and sandals, fed them and ^(AA)gave them drink, anointed them with oil, led all their feeble ones on donkeys, and brought them to Jericho, ^(AB)the city of palm trees, to their brothers; then they returned to Samaria.

Compromise with Assyria

^16 (AC)At that time King Ahaz sent to the ^[e]kings of Assyria for help. ^17 (AD)For again the Edomites had come and attacked Judah and carried away captives. ^18 (AE)The Philistines also had invaded the cities of the ^[f]lowland and of the Negev of Judah, and had taken Beth-shemesh, Aijalon, Gederoth, and Soco with its villages, Timnah with its villages, and Gimzo with its villages, and they settled there. ¹⁹ For the Lord humbled Judah because of Ahaz king of ^(AF)Israel, for he had brought about a lack of restraint in Judah and was very unfaithful to the Lord. ²⁰ So ^(AG)Tilgath-pilneser king of Assyria came against him and afflicted him instead of strengthening him. ^21 (AH)Although Ahaz took a portion out of the house of the Lord and out of the palace of the king and of the princes, and gave it to the king of Assyria, it did not help him.

²² Now in the time of his distress this same King Ahaz ^(AI)became yet more unfaithful to the Lord. ^23 (AJ)For he sacrificed to the gods of Damascus which had ^[g]defeated him, and said, “^(AK)Because the gods of the kings of Aram helped them, I will sacrifice to them that they may help me.” But they became the ^[h]downfall of him and all Israel. ²⁴ Moreover, when Ahaz gathered together the utensils of the house of God, he ^(AL)cut the utensils of the house of God in pieces; and he ^(AM)closed the doors of the house of the Lord and ^(AN)made altars for himself in every corner of Jerusalem. ²⁵ In every city of Judah he made high places to burn incense to other gods, and provoked the Lord, the God of his fathers, to anger. ^26 (AO)Now the rest of his acts and all his ways, from first to last, behold, they are written in the Book of the Kings of Judah and Israel. ^27 (AP)So Ahaz slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the city, in Jerusalem, for they did not bring him into the tombs of the kings of ^(AQ)Israel; and Hezekiah his son reigned in his place.

Hezekiah Succeeds Ahaz in Judah

29 ^(AR)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 (AS)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 ^(AT)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. ^(AU)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 ^(AV)turned their faces away from the dwelling place of the Lord, and have ^[i]turned their backs. ⁷ They have also ^(AW)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 ^(AX)the wrath of the Lord was against Judah and Jerusalem, and He has made them an object of terror, of horror, and of ^(AY)hissing, as you see with your own eyes. ⁹ For behold, ^(AZ)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 ^(BA)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 ^(BB)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: ^(BC)Mahath, the son of Amasai and Joel the son of Azariah, from the sons of ^(BD)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 ^[j]Jeiel; and from the sons of Asaph, Zechariah and Mattaniah; ¹⁴ and from the sons of Heman, ^[k]Jehiel and Shimei; and from the sons of Jeduthun, Shemaiah and Uzziel. ¹⁵ They assembled their brothers, ^(BE)consecrated themselves, and went in ^(BF)to cleanse the house of the Lord, according to the commandment of the king ^(BG)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 ^(BH)the Kidron ^[l]valley. ¹⁷ Now they began ^[m]the consecration ^(BI)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, ^(BJ)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 ^(BK)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 ^(BL)sprinkled the blood on the altar. ²³ Then they brought the male goats of the sin offering before the king and the assembly, and ^(BM)they laid their hands on them. ²⁴ The priests slaughtered them and purged the altar with their blood ^(BN)to atone for all Israel, for the king ordered the burnt offering and the sin offering for all Israel.

^25 (BO)He then stationed the Levites in the house of the Lord with cymbals, with harps and with lyres, ^(BP)according to the command of David and of ^(BQ)Gad the king’s seer, and of ^(BR)Nathan the prophet; for the command was from the Lord through His prophets. ²⁶ The Levites stood with ^(BS)the musical instruments of David, and ^(BT)the priests with the trumpets. ²⁷ Then Hezekiah gave the order to offer the burnt offering on the altar. When the burnt offering began, ^(BU)the song to the Lord also began with the trumpets, ^[n]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, ^(BV)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. ^(BW)So they sang praises with joy, and bowed down and worshiped.

³¹ Then Hezekiah said, “^(BX)Now that you have ^[o]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 ^(BY)all those who were ^[p]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; ^(BZ)therefore their brothers the Levites helped them until the work was completed and until the other priests had consecrated themselves. For ^(CA)the Levites were more ^[q]conscientious to consecrate themselves than the priests. ³⁵ There were also ^[r](CB)many burnt offerings with ^(CC)the fat of the peace offerings and with ^(CD)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.

Self-denial on Behalf of Others

15 Now we who are strong ought to bear the weaknesses of ^(A)those without strength and not just please ourselves. ² Each of us is to ^(B)please his neighbor ^[a]for his good, to his ^(C)edification. ³ For even ^(D)Christ did not please Himself; but as it is written, “^(E)The reproaches of those who reproached You fell on Me.” ⁴ For ^(F)whatever was written in earlier times was written for our instruction, so that through perseverance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope. ⁵ Now may the ^(G)God ^[b]who gives perseverance and encouragement grant you ^(H)to be of the same mind with one another according to Christ Jesus, ⁶ so that with one accord you may with one ^[c]voice glorify ^(I)the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

⁷ Therefore, ^(J)accept one another, just as Christ also accepted ^[d]us to the glory of God. ⁸ For I say that Christ has become a servant to ^(K)the circumcision on behalf of the truth of God to confirm ^(L)the promises given to the fathers, ⁹ and for ^(M)the Gentiles to ^(N)glorify God for His mercy; as it is written,

¹⁰ Again he says,

¹¹ And again,

¹² Again Isaiah says,

¹³ Now may the God of hope fill you with all ^(U)joy and peace in believing, so that you will abound in hope ^(V)by the power of the Holy Spirit.

¹⁴ And concerning you, my brethren, I myself also am convinced that you yourselves are full of ^(W)goodness, filled with ^(X)all knowledge and able also to admonish one another. ¹⁵ But I have written very boldly to you on some points so as to remind you again, because of ^(Y)the grace that was given me ^[f]from God, ¹⁶ to be ^(Z)a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles, ministering as a priest the ^(AA)gospel of God, so that my ^(AB)offering of the Gentiles may become acceptable, sanctified by the Holy Spirit. ¹⁷ Therefore in Christ Jesus I have found ^(AC)reason for boasting in ^(AD)things pertaining to God. ¹⁸ For I will not presume to speak of anything ^[g]except what ^(AE)Christ has accomplished through me, ^[h]resulting in the obedience of the Gentiles by word and deed, ¹⁹ in the power of ^[i](AF)signs and wonders, ^(AG)in the power of the Spirit; so that ^(AH)from Jerusalem and round about as ^(AI)far as Illyricum I have ^[j]fully preached the gospel of Christ. ²⁰ And thus I aspired to ^(AJ)preach the gospel, not where Christ was already named, ^(AK)so that I would not build on another man’s foundation; ²¹ but as it is written,

²² For this reason ^(AM)I have often been prevented from coming to you; ²³ but now, with no further place for me in these regions, and since I ^(AN)have had for many years a longing to come to you ²⁴ whenever I ^(AO)go to Spain—for I hope to see you in passing, and to be ^(AP)helped on my way there by you, when I have first ^(AQ)enjoyed your company ^[k]for a while— ²⁵ but now, ^(AR)I am going to Jerusalem ^(AS)serving the ^[l]saints. ²⁶ For ^(AT)Macedonia and ^(AU)Achaia have been pleased to make a contribution for the poor among the ^[m]saints in Jerusalem. ²⁷ Yes, they were pleased to do so, and they are indebted to them. For ^(AV)if the Gentiles have shared in their spiritual things, they are indebted to minister to them also in material things. ²⁸ Therefore, when I have finished this, and ^(AW)have ^[n]put my seal on this fruit of theirs, I will ^(AX)go on by way of you to Spain. ²⁹ I know that when ^(AY)I come to you, I will come in the fullness of the blessing of Christ.

³⁰ Now I urge you, brethren, by our Lord Jesus Christ and by ^(AZ)the love of the Spirit, to ^(BA)strive together with me in your prayers to God for me, ³¹ that I may be ^(BB)rescued from those who are disobedient in Judea, and that my ^(BC)service for Jerusalem may prove acceptable to the ^[o](BD)saints; ³² so that ^(BE)I may come to you in joy by ^(BF)the will of God and find refreshing rest in your company. ³³ Now ^(BG)the God of peace be with you all. Amen.