Hezekiah Reigns in Judah^(A)

29 Hezekiah ^(B)became king when he was twenty-five years old, and he reigned twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was ^[a]Abijah the daughter of Zechariah. ² And he did what was right in the sight of the Lord, according to all that his father David had done.

Hezekiah Cleanses the Temple

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 Then he brought in the priests and the Levites, and gathered them in the East Square, ⁵ and said to them: “Hear me, Levites! Now ^[b]sanctify yourselves, ^(D)sanctify the house of the Lord God of your fathers, and carry out the rubbish from the holy place. ⁶ For our fathers have trespassed and done evil in the eyes of the Lord our God; they have forsaken Him, have ^(E)turned their faces away from the ^[c]dwelling place of the Lord, and turned their backs on Him. ^7 (F)They have also shut up the doors of the vestibule, put out the lamps, and have not burned incense or offered burnt offerings in the holy place to the God of Israel. ⁸ Therefore the ^(G)wrath of the Lord fell upon Judah and Jerusalem, and He has ^(H)given them up to trouble, to desolation, and to ^(I)jeering, as you see with your ^(J)eyes. ⁹ For indeed, because of this ^(K)our fathers have fallen by the sword; and our sons, our daughters, and our wives are in captivity.

¹⁰ “Now it is in my heart to make ^(L)a covenant with the Lord God of Israel, that His fierce wrath may turn away from us. ¹¹ My sons, do not be negligent now, for the Lord has ^(M)chosen you to stand before Him, to serve Him, and that you should minister to Him and burn incense.”

¹² Then these Levites arose: ^(N)Mahath the son of Amasai and Joel the son of Azariah, of the sons of the ^(O)Kohathites; of the sons of Merari, Kish the son of Abdi and Azariah the son of Jehallelel; of the Gershonites, Joah the son of Zimmah and Eden the son of Joah; ¹³ of the sons of Elizaphan, Shimri and Jeiel; of the sons of Asaph, Zechariah and Mattaniah; ¹⁴ of the sons of Heman, Jehiel and Shimei; and of the sons of Jeduthun, Shemaiah and Uzziel.

¹⁵ And they gathered their brethren, ^(P)sanctified^[d] themselves, and went according to the commandment of the king, at the words of the Lord, ^(Q)to cleanse the house of the Lord. ¹⁶ Then the priests went into the inner part of the house of the Lord to cleanse it, and brought out all the debris that they found in the temple of the Lord to the court of the house of the Lord. And the Levites took it out and carried it to the Brook ^(R)Kidron.

¹⁷ Now they began to ^[e]sanctify on the first day of the first month, and on the eighth day of the month they came to the vestibule of the Lord. So they sanctified the house of the Lord in eight days, and on the sixteenth day of the first month they finished.

¹⁸ Then they went in to King Hezekiah and said, “We have cleansed all the house of the Lord, the altar of burnt offerings with all its articles, and the table of the showbread with all its articles. ¹⁹ Moreover all the articles which King Ahaz in his reign had ^(S)cast aside in his transgression we have prepared and ^[f]sanctified; and there they are, before the altar of the Lord.”

Hezekiah Restores Temple Worship

²⁰ Then King Hezekiah rose early, gathered the rulers of the city, and went up to the house of the Lord. ²¹ And they brought seven bulls, seven rams, seven lambs, and seven male goats for a ^(T)sin offering for the kingdom, for the sanctuary, and for Judah. Then he commanded the priests, the sons of Aaron, to offer them on the altar of the Lord. ²² So they killed the bulls, and the priests received the blood and ^(U)sprinkled it on the altar. Likewise they killed the rams and sprinkled the blood on the altar. They also killed the lambs and sprinkled the blood on the altar. ²³ Then they brought out the male goats for the sin offering before the king and the assembly, and they laid their ^(V)hands on them. ²⁴ And the priests killed them; and they presented their blood on the altar as a sin offering ^(W)to make an atonement for all Israel, for the king commanded that the burnt offering and the sin offering be made for all Israel.

^25 (X)And he stationed the Levites in the house of the Lord with cymbals, with stringed instruments, and with harps, ^(Y)according to the commandment of David, of ^(Z)Gad the king’s seer, and of Nathan the prophet; ^(AA)for thus was the commandment of the Lord by His prophets. ²⁶ The Levites stood with the instruments ^(AB)of David, and the priests with ^(AC)the trumpets. ²⁷ Then Hezekiah commanded them to offer the burnt offering on the altar. And when the burnt offering began, ^(AD)the song of the Lord also began, with the trumpets and with the instruments of David king of Israel. ²⁸ So all the assembly worshiped, the singers sang, and the trumpeters sounded; all this continued until the burnt offering was finished. ²⁹ And when they had finished offering, ^(AE)the king and all who were present with him bowed and worshiped. ³⁰ Moreover King Hezekiah and the leaders commanded the Levites to sing praise to the Lord with the words of David and of Asaph the seer. So they sang praises with gladness, and they bowed their heads and worshiped.

³¹ Then Hezekiah answered and said, “Now that you have consecrated yourselves to the Lord, come near, and bring sacrifices and ^(AF)thank offerings into the house of the Lord.” So the assembly brought in sacrifices and thank offerings, and as many as were of a ^(AG)willing heart brought burnt offerings. ³² And the number of the burnt offerings which the assembly brought was seventy bulls, one hundred rams, and two hundred lambs; all these were for a burnt offering to the Lord. ³³ The consecrated things were six hundred bulls and three thousand sheep. ³⁴ But the priests were too few, so that they could not skin all the burnt offerings; therefore ^(AH)their brethren the Levites helped them until the work was ended and until the other priests had ^[g]sanctified themselves, ^(AI)for the Levites were ^(AJ)more diligent in ^(AK)sanctifying themselves than the priests. ³⁵ Also the burnt offerings were in abundance, with ^(AL)the fat of the peace offerings and with ^(AM)the drink offerings for every burnt offering.

So the service of the house of the Lord was set in order. ³⁶ Then Hezekiah and all the people rejoiced that God had prepared the people, since the events took place so suddenly.

Prelude to the Bowl Judgments

15 Then ^(A)I saw another sign in heaven, great and marvelous: ^(B)seven angels having the seven last plagues, ^(C)for in them the wrath of God is complete.

² And I saw something like ^(D)a sea of glass ^(E)mingled with fire, and those who have the victory over the beast, ^(F)over his image and ^[a]over his mark and over the ^(G)number of his name, standing on the sea of glass, ^(H)having harps of God. ³ They sing ^(I)the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the ^(J)Lamb, saying:

⁵ After these things I looked, and ^[c]behold, ^(P)the ^[d]temple of the tabernacle of the testimony in heaven was opened. ⁶ And out of the ^[e]temple came the seven angels having the seven plagues, ^(Q)clothed in pure bright linen, and having their chests girded with golden bands. ^7 (R)Then one of the four living creatures gave to the seven angels seven golden bowls full of the wrath of God ^(S)who lives forever and ever. ^8 (T)The temple was filled with smoke ^(U)from the glory of God and from His power, and no one was able to enter the temple till the seven plagues of the seven angels were completed.

Desolation of Israel

Prophecy of the Shepherds

⁴ Thus says the Lord my God, “Feed the flock for slaughter, ⁵ whose owners slaughter them and ^(E)feel no guilt; those who sell them ^(F)say, ‘Blessed be the Lord, for I am rich’; and their shepherds do ^(G)not pity them. ⁶ For I will no longer pity the inhabitants of the land,” says the Lord. “But indeed I will give everyone into his neighbor’s hand and into the hand of his king. They shall ^[b]attack the land, and I will not deliver them from their hand.”

⁷ So I fed the flock for slaughter, ^[c]in particular ^(H)the poor of the flock. I took for myself two staffs: the one I called ^[d]Beauty, and the other I called ^[e]Bonds; and I fed the flock. ⁸ I ^[f]dismissed the three shepherds ^(I)in one month. My soul loathed them, and their soul also abhorred me. ⁹ Then I said, “I will not feed you. ^(J)Let what is dying die, and what is perishing perish. Let those that are left eat each other’s flesh.” ¹⁰ And I took my staff, ^[g]Beauty, and cut it in two, that I might break the covenant which I had made with all the peoples. ¹¹ So it was broken on that day. Thus ^(K)the^[h] poor of the flock, who were watching me, knew that it was the word of the Lord. ¹² Then I said to them, “If it is ^[i]agreeable to you, give me my wages; and if not, refrain.” So they ^(L)weighed out for my wages thirty pieces of silver.

¹³ And the Lord said to me, “Throw it to the ^(M)potter”—that princely price they set on me. So I took the thirty pieces of silver and threw them into the house of the Lord for the potter. ¹⁴ Then I cut in two my other staff, ^[j]Bonds, that I might break the brotherhood between Judah and Israel.

¹⁵ And the Lord said to me, ^(N)“Next, take for yourself the implements of a foolish shepherd. ¹⁶ For indeed I will raise up a shepherd in the land who will not care for those who are cut off, nor seek the young, nor heal those that are broken, nor feed those that still stand. But he will eat the flesh of the fat and tear their hooves in ^(O)pieces.

The Way, the Truth, and the Life

14 “Let ^(A)not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. ² In My Father’s house are many ^[a]mansions; if it were not so, ^[b]I would have told you. ^(B)I go to prepare a place for you. ³ And if I go and prepare a place for you, ^(C)I will come again and receive you to Myself; that ^(D)where I am, there you may be also. ⁴ And where I go you know, and the way you know.”

^5 (E)Thomas said to Him, “Lord, we do not know where You are going, and how can we know the way?”

⁶ Jesus said to him, “I am ^(F)the way, ^(G)the truth, and ^(H)the life. ^(I)No one comes to the Father ^(J)except through Me.

The Father Revealed

^7 (K)“If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; and from now on you know Him and have seen Him.”

⁸ Philip said to Him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is sufficient for us.”

⁹ Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known Me, Philip? ^(L)He who has seen Me has seen the Father; so how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? ¹⁰ Do you not believe that ^(M)I am in the Father, and the Father in Me? The words that I speak to you ^(N)I do not speak on My own authority; but the Father who dwells in Me does the works. ¹¹ Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father in Me, ^(O)or else believe Me for the sake of the works themselves.

The Answered Prayer

^12 (P)“Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father. ^13 (Q)And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be ^(R)glorified in the Son. ¹⁴ If you ^[c]ask anything in My name, I will do it.

Jesus Promises Another Helper

^15 (S)“If you love Me, ^[d]keep My commandments. ¹⁶ And I will pray the Father, and ^(T)He will give you another ^[e]Helper, that He may abide with you forever— ^17 (U)the Spirit of truth, ^(V)whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you ^(W)and will be in you. ^18 (X)I will not leave you orphans; ^(Y)I will come to you.

Indwelling of the Father and the Son

¹⁹ “A little while longer and the world will see Me no more, but ^(Z)you will see Me. ^(AA)Because I live, you will live also. ²⁰ At that day you will know that ^(AB)I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you. ^21 (AC)He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and ^[f]manifest Myself to him.”

^22 (AD)Judas (not Iscariot) said to Him, “Lord, how is it that You will manifest Yourself to us, and not to the world?”

²³ Jesus answered and said to him, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, ^(AE)and We will come to him and make Our home with him. ²⁴ He who does not love Me does not keep My words; and ^(AF)the word which you hear is not Mine but the Father’s who sent Me.

The Gift of His Peace

²⁵ “These things I have spoken to you while being present with you. ²⁶ But ^(AG)the ^[g]Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will ^(AH)send in My name, ^(AI)He will teach you all things, and bring to your ^(AJ)remembrance all things that I said to you. ^27 (AK)Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. ²⁸ You have heard Me ^(AL)say to you, ‘I am going away and coming back to you.’ If you loved Me, you would rejoice because ^[h]I said, ^(AM)‘I am going to the Father,’ for ^(AN)My Father is greater than I.

²⁹ “And ^(AO)now I have told you before it comes, that when it does come to pass, you may believe. ³⁰ I will no longer talk much with you, ^(AP)for the ruler of this world is coming, and he has ^(AQ)nothing in Me. ³¹ But that the world may know that I love the Father, and ^(AR)as the Father gave Me commandment, so I do. Arise, let us go from here.