Beginning

28 ¶ Ahaz was twenty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem; but he did not do that which was right in the sight of the LORD, like David, his father.

² To the contrary he walked in the ways of the kings of Israel and also made molten images unto Baalim.

³ Moreover, he burnt incense in the valley of the sons of Hinnom and burnt his sons in the fire, after the abominations of the Gentiles whom the LORD had cast out before the sons of Israel.

⁴ He sacrificed also and burnt incense in the high places, and on the hills and under every green tree.

⁵ Therefore, the LORD his God delivered him into the hands of the king of Syria, and they smote him and carried away a great multitude of them captives and brought them to Damascus. And he was also delivered into the hands of the king of Israel, who smote him with a great slaughter.

⁶ ¶ For Pekah, the son of Remaliah, slew in Judah one hundred and twenty thousand in one day, who were 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 governor of the house, and Elkanah, second after the king.

⁸ And the sons of Israel carried away captive of their brethren two hundred thousand, women, sons, and daughters, in addition to taking much spoil from them, which they brought to Samaria.

⁹ But a prophet of the LORD was there, whose name was Oded; and he went out before the host that came to Samaria and said unto them, Behold, because the LORD God of your fathers was angry with Judah, he has delivered them into your hand, and ye have slain them in a rage. This reaches up unto heaven.

¹⁰ And now ye purpose to keep subject the sons of Judah and Jerusalem for menslaves and womenslaves unto you, but are ye not guilty against the LORD your God?

¹¹ Now hear me therefore, and deliver the captives again, which ye have taken captive of your brethren; for the fierce wrath of the LORD is upon you.

¹² Then certain of the heads of the sons of Ephraim, Azariah, the son of Johanan, Berechiah, the son of Meshillemoth, and Jehizkiah, the son of Shallum, and Amasa, the son of Hadlai, stood up against those that came from the war

¹³ and said unto them, Ye shall not bring in the captives here, for the sin against the LORD shall be upon us. Ye intend to add more to our sins and to our guilt, for our guilt is great, and there is fierce wrath against Israel.

¹⁴ So the armed men left the captives and the spoil before the princes and all the congregation.

¹⁵ And the men which were expressed by name rose up and took the captives, and, with the spoil, clothed all that were naked among them and arrayed them and shod them and gave them to eat and to drink and anointed them and carried all the feeble of them upon asses and brought them to Jericho, the city of palm trees, to their brethren; then they returned to Samaria.

¹⁶ ¶ At that time King Ahaz sent unto the kings of Assyria to help him.

¹⁷ For in addition to this, the Edomites had come and smitten Judah and carried away captives.

¹⁸ The Philistines also had invaded the cities of the low country and towards the Negev of Judah and had taken Bethshemesh and Ajalon and Gederoth and Shocho with its villages and Timnah with its villages, Gimzo also and its villages, and they dwelt in them.

¹⁹ For the LORD brought Judah low because of Ahaz king of Israel, for he had made Judah naked and had completely rebelled against the LORD.

²⁰ And Tilgathpilneser, king of Assyria, came unto him, and distressed him but did not strengthen him.

²¹ For even though Ahaz took away a portion out of the house of the LORD and out of the house of the king and of the princes and gave it unto the king of Assyria, he did not help him.

²² Furthermore, king Ahaz in the time of his distress trespassed even more against the LORD,

²³ for he sacrificed unto the gods of Damascus, who had smitten him, and he said, Because the gods of the kings of Syria help them; therefore, I will also sacrifice to them that they may help me. But they were the ruin of him and of all Israel.

²⁴ And Ahaz gathered together the vessels of the house of God and cut in pieces the vessels of the house of God and shut up the doors of the house of the LORD, and he made himself altars in every corner of Jerusalem.

²⁵ And in all the cities of Judah he made high places to burn incense unto other gods, and provoked to anger the LORD God of his fathers.

²⁶ Now the rest of his acts and of all his ways, first and last, behold, they are written in the book of the kings of Judah and Israel.

²⁷ And Ahaz slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the city of Jerusalem, but they did not bring him into the sepulchres of the kings of Israel; and Hezekiah, his son, reigned in his stead.

29 ¶ Hezekiah began to reign when he was twenty-five years old, and he reigned twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Abijah, the daughter of Zechariah.

² And he did that which was right in the sight of the LORD, according to all that David, his father, had done.

³ In the first year of his reign, in the first month, he opened the doors of the house of the LORD and repaired them.

⁴ And he brought in the priests and the Levites and gathered them together into the east plaza

⁵ and said unto them, Hear me, ye Levites, sanctify now yourselves, and ye shall sanctify the house of the LORD God of your fathers and carry forth the filthiness out of the sanctuary.

⁶ For our fathers have rebelled and done that which was evil in the eyes of the LORD our God, for they have forsaken him, and have turned away their faces from the habitation of the LORD and turned their backs.

⁷ They even shut up the doors of the porch and put out the lamps and have not burned incense nor offered burnt offerings in the sanctuary unto the God of Israel.

⁸ Therefore, the wrath of the LORD has come upon Judah and Jerusalem, and he has delivered them to trouble, to astonishment, and to hissing, as ye see with your eyes.

⁹ For, behold, 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 to make a covenant with the LORD God of Israel that his fierce wrath may turn away from us.

¹¹ My sons, do not deceive yourselves, for the LORD has chosen you to stand before him, to serve him, and that ye should be his ministers and burn incense unto him.

¹² ¶ Then the Levites arose, Mahath, the son of Amasai, and Joel, the son of Azariah, of the sons of Kohath; and of the sons of Merari, Kish, the son of Abdi, and Azariah, the son of Jehalelel; and of the sons of Gershon; Joah, the son of Zimmah, and Eden, the son of Joah;

¹³ and of the sons of Elizaphan; Shimri and Jeiel; and of the sons of Asaph; Zechariah and Mattaniah;

¹⁴ and of the sons of Heman; Jehiel and Shimei; and of the sons of Jeduthun; Shemaiah and Uzziel.

¹⁵ And they gathered their brethren and sanctified themselves and entered in, according to the commandment of the king, by the words of the LORD, to cleanse the house of the LORD.

¹⁶ And the priests went into the inner part of the house of the LORD, to cleanse it, and brought out all the uncleanness that they found in the temple of the LORD into the court of the house of the LORD. And the Levites took it, to carry it out abroad into the Brook Kidron.

¹⁷ Now they began to sanctify on the first day of the first month, and on the eighth day of the month they came to the porch of the LORD; and they sanctified the house of the LORD in eight days; and in the sixteenth day of the first month they finished.

¹⁸ Then they went in to Hezekiah, the king, and said, We have cleansed all the house of the LORD and the altar of burnt offering, with all its vessels, and the showbread table with all its vessels.

¹⁹ Likewise we have prepared and sanctified all the vessels, which King Ahaz in his reign cast away in his transgression, and, behold, they are before the altar of the LORD.

²⁰ ¶ Then Hezekiah, the king, rose early and gathered the rulers of the city and went up to the house of the LORD.

²¹ And they offered seven bullocks and seven rams and seven lambs and seven he goats, for the sin of the kingdom and of the sanctuary and of Judah. And he commanded the priests, the sons of Aaron, to offer them on the altar of the LORD.

²² So they killed the bullocks, and the priests received the blood and sprinkled it on the altar; likewise, when they had killed the rams, they sprinkled the blood upon the altar; they also killed the lambs, and they sprinkled the blood upon the altar.

²³ And they brought forth the he goats of the sin before the king and the congregation, and they laid their hands upon them;

²⁴ and the priests killed them, and they removed the sin with their blood upon the altar, to reconcile all Israel, for the king commanded that the burnt offering and the atonement for sin should be offered for all Israel.

²⁵ And he set the Levites in the house of the LORD with cymbals, with psalteries, and with harps, according to the commandment of David, and of Gad, the king’s seer, and of Nathan, the prophet, for that commandment was by the hand of the LORD, by the hand of his prophets.

²⁶ And the Levites stood with the instruments of David, and the priests with the trumpets.

²⁷ Then Hezekiah commanded to offer the burnt offering upon the altar. And when the burnt offering began, the song of the LORD began also with the trumpets and with the instruments of David, king of Israel.

²⁸ And all the congregation worshipped, and the singers sang, and the trumpets sounded; and all this continued until the burnt offering was finished.

²⁹ And when they had finished offering, the king and all that were present with him bowed themselves and worshipped.

³⁰ Moreover, Hezekiah, the king, and the princes commanded the Levites to sing praise unto the LORD with the words of David and of Asaph, the seer. And they sang praises with gladness, and they bowed down and worshipped.

³¹ Then Hezekiah answered and said, Now ye have consecrated yourselves unto the LORD, come near and bring sacrifices and praises in the house of the LORD. And the congregation brought in sacrifices and praises, and as many as were of a free heart burnt offerings.

³² And the number of the burnt offerings, which the congregation brought, was seventy bullocks, one hundred rams, and two hundred lambs; all these were for the burnt offering of the LORD.

³³ And the consecrated things were six hundred oxen and three thousand sheep.

³⁴ But the priests were too few so that they could not flay all the burnt offerings; therefore, their brethren, the Levites, helped them until the work was ended and until the other priests had sanctified themselves, for the Levites were more upright in heart to sanctify themselves than the priests.

³⁵ And also the burnt offerings were in abundance, with the fat of the peace offerings and the drink offerings for every burnt offering. So the service of the house of the LORD was set in order.

³⁶ And Hezekiah rejoiced, and all the people, that God had prepared the people, for the thing was done suddenly.

30 ¶ And Hezekiah sent to all Israel and Judah, and wrote letters also to Ephraim and Manasseh, that they should come to the house of the LORD at Jerusalem, to keep the passover unto the LORD God of Israel.

² For the king had taken counsel with his princes and with all the congregation in Jerusalem, to keep the passover in the second month.

³ For they could not keep it at that time, because there were not enough priests sanctified, neither had the people gathered themselves together to Jerusalem.

⁴ And the thing pleased the king and all the congregation.

⁵ So they established a decree to make proclamation throughout all Israel, from Beersheba even to Dan, that they should come to keep the passover unto the LORD God of Israel at Jerusalem because for a long time they had not done it as it is written.

⁶ So the posts went with the letters from the hand of the king and his princes throughout all Israel and Judah, and according to the commandment of the king, saying, Ye sons of Israel, return unto the LORD God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, and he will return to the remnant of you, that are escaped out of the hand of the kings of Assyria.

⁷ Do not be like your fathers, and like your brethren, who rebelled against the LORD God of their fathers and he gave them over to desolation, as ye see.

⁸ Therefore, do not be stiffnecked as your fathers were, but yield yourselves unto the LORD and enter into his sanctuary, which he has sanctified for ever and serve the LORD your God, that the fierceness of his wrath may turn away from you.

⁹ For if ye return unto the LORD, your brethren and your children shall find mercy before those that lead them captive, so that they shall come again into this land, for the LORD your God is gracious and merciful and will not turn away his face from you if ye return unto him.

¹⁰ So the posts passed from city to city through the land of Ephraim and Manasseh even unto Zebulun, but they laughed them to scorn and mocked them.

¹¹ Nevertheless, some men of Asher and Manasseh and of Zebulun humbled themselves and came to Jerusalem.

¹² Also in Judah the hand of God was to give them one heart to do the commandment of the king and of the princes, according to the word of the LORD.

¹³ ¶ And many people assembled at Jerusalem to keep the feast of unleavened bread in the second month, a very great congregation.

¹⁴ And they arose and took away the altars that were in Jerusalem, and they also took away all the altars for incense and cast them into the brook Kidron.

¹⁵ Then they killed the passover on the fourteenth day of the second month, and the priests and the Levites sanctified themselves with shame and brought in the burnt offerings into the house of the LORD.

¹⁶ And they put themselves in order according to the ordinance, according to the law of Moses, the man of God; the priests sprinkled the blood, which they received of the hands of the Levites.

¹⁷ For there were yet many in the congregation that were not sanctified; therefore, the Levites had the charge of the killing of the passovers for each one that was not clean, to sanctify them unto the LORD.

¹⁸ For a multitude of the people, even many of Ephraim and Manasseh, Issachar, and Zebulun, had not cleansed themselves, and they ate the passover not as it was written. But Hezekiah prayed for them, saying, The good LORD pardon each one

¹⁹ that has prepared his heart to seek God, the LORD God of his fathers, even though he is not cleansed according to the purification of the sanctuary.

²⁰ And the LORD hearkened to Hezekiah and healed the people.

²¹ ¶ Thus, the sons of Israel that were present at Jerusalem kept the solemnity of unleavened bread seven days with great gladness, and the Levites and the priests praised the LORD, day by day, with instruments of strength unto the LORD.

²² And Hezekiah spoke unto the heart of all the Levites that had good understanding to serve the LORD, and they ate the sacrifices of the feast for seven days, offering sacrifices of peace and giving thanks unto the LORD God of their fathers.

²³ And the whole assembly took counsel to keep another seven days, and they kept another seven days with gladness.

²⁴ For Hezekiah, king of Judah, had given to the congregation a thousand bullocks and seven thousand sheep, and the princes gave to the congregation a thousand bullocks and ten thousand sheep, and a great number of priests sanctified themselves.

²⁵ And all the congregation of Judah, with the priests and the Levites, and all the congregation that came out of Israel, and the strangers that came out of the land of Israel, and that dwelt in Judah, rejoiced.

²⁶ So there was great joy in Jerusalem, for since the time of Solomon, the son of David, king of Israel there was not the like in Jerusalem.

²⁷ Then the priests, the Levites, arose and blessed the people, and their voice was heard, and their prayer came up to the dwelling place of his sanctuary, unto heaven.

31 ¶ Now when all this was finished, all Israel went out, those that were present, to the cities of Judah and broke the images in pieces and cut down the groves and threw down the high places and the altars out of all Judah and Benjamin, in Ephraim also and Manasseh, until they had utterly destroyed them all. Then all the sons of Israel returned, each man to his possession, into their own cities.

² And Hezekiah appointed the courses of the priests and the Levites after their courses, each man according to his service, the priests and Levites for burnt offerings and for peace offerings, to minister and to give thanks and to praise in the gates of the tents of the LORD.

³ The king’s portion of his substance for the burnt offerings was the morning and evening burnt offerings and the burnt offerings for the sabbaths and for the new moons and for the solemn feasts, as it is written in the law of the LORD.

⁴ Moreover, he commanded the people that dwelt in Jerusalem to give the portion of the priests and the Levites, that they might be encouraged in the law of the LORD.

⁵ And as soon as the commandment burst forth and multiplied, an abundance of firstfruits of grain, wine, and oil, and honey, and of all the increase of the field was multiplied unto the sons of Israel; and likewise, they brought in the tithe, of all things in abundance.

⁶ Also the sons of Israel and Judah, that dwelt in the cities of Judah, gave in the same manner the tithe of the cows and the sheep, and the tithe of that which was sanctified of the things which had been promised unto the LORD their God, and laid them in heaps.

⁷ In the third month they began to found those heaps, and they finished them in the seventh month.

⁸ And when Hezekiah and the princes came and saw the heaps, they blessed the LORD and his people Israel.

⁹ Then Hezekiah questioned the priests and the Levites concerning the heaps.

¹⁰ And Azariah, the high priest of the house of Zadok, answered him and said, Since the people began to bring the offerings into the house of the LORD, we have eaten and been satisfied and have had an abundance left over; for the LORD has blessed his people, and that which is left is this great store.

¹¹ ¶ Then Hezekiah commanded that they prepare chambers in the house of the LORD, and they prepared them

¹² and brought in the offerings and the tithes and the dedicated things faithfully, over which Cononiah, the Levite, was ruler and Shimei, his brother, was second.

¹³ And Jehiel, Azaziah, Nahath, Asahel, Jerimoth, Jozabad, Eliel, Ismachiah, Mahath, and Benaiah were overseers under the hand of Cononiah and Shimei his brother, at the commandment of Hezekiah, the king, and Azariah the ruler of the house of God.

¹⁴ And Kore, the son of Imnah, the Levite, the porter toward the east, was over the freewill offerings of God, to distribute the offerings of the LORD and the most holy things.

¹⁵ And at his hand were Eden, Miniamin, Jeshua, Shemaiah, Amariah, and Shecaniah in the cities of the priests, to faithfully give their brethren their parts according to their courses, to the great the same as to the small.

¹⁶ Besides that which is counted for the males from three years old and upward, unto all that entered into the house of the LORD, his daily portion for their ministry in their charges according to their courses;

¹⁷ both to those numbered among the priests by the house of their fathers and among the Levites from twenty years old and upward, in their charges by their courses;

¹⁸ and likewise unto those of their generation with all their little ones, their wives, and their sons and daughters, through all the congregation, for in their faithfulness they sanctified themselves in holiness.

¹⁹ Likewise, to the sons of Aaron, the priests, who were in the fields of the suburbs of their cities, in all the cities, the men that were expressed by name, gave portions to all the males among the priests and to all the lineage of the Levites.

²⁰ And thus did Hezekiah throughout all Judah and wrought that which was good and right and true before the LORD his God.

²¹ And in every work that he began in the service of the house of God and in the law and in the commandments, he sought God and he did it with all his heart and was prospered.