Beginning

Reforms of Hezekiah and Josiah

Chapter 28

The Impiety of Ahaz. ¹ Ahaz was twenty years old when he ascended the throne, and he reigned in Jerusalem for sixteen years. Unlike what his ancestor David had done, he did not do what was right in the sight of the Lord. ² Rather, he followed the example of the kings of Israel and even cast molten idols of the Baals.

³ Furthermore, Ahaz offered burnt sacrifices in the Valley of Ben-hinnom^[a] and even went so far as to immolate his sons by fire according to the abominable practices of the nations whom the Lord had driven out before the Israelites. ⁴ He offered sacrifices and burned incense on the high places, on the hills, and under every green tree.

Retribution. ⁵ Therefore, the Lord his God delivered him over into the hands of the king of Aram. After the Arameans defeated him, they took large numbers of captives and brought them to Damascus. He was also given over into the power of the king of Israel, who inflicted heavy casualties on him.^{[b] 6} In a single day, Pekah, the son of Remaliah, killed one hundred and twenty thousand valiant warriors.

⁷ Zichri, an Ephraimite warrior, killed Maaseiah, the king’s son, Azrikam, the commander of the palace, and Elkanah, who was second only to the king in authority. ⁸ The Israelites took captive from their kinsmen two hundred thousand women, sons and daughters. They also took immense quantities of booty from them and brought it all back to Samaria.

The Prophecy of Oded. ⁹ In Samaria there was a prophet of the Lord by the name of Oded. He went out to meet the army when it returned to Samaria, and he said: “It was because the Lord, the God of your fathers, was angry with Judah that he delivered them into your hands. However, you have slaughtered them with an intense rage that has reached up to heaven.

¹⁰ “And now you have decided to force the people of Judah and Jerusalem to be your slaves. However, have you yourselves not been guilty of sins against the Lord, your God? ¹¹ Now listen to me! Release the captives you have taken from your kinsmen, for the fierce anger of the Lord has been aroused against you.”

¹² On hearing this, some of the Ephraimite leaders—Azariah, son of Jehohanan; Berechiah, son of Meshillemoth; Jehizkiah, son of Shallum; and Amasa, son of Hadlai—confronted those who were returning from the war ¹³ and said to them: “Do not bring these captives here, for what you are proposing will only increase our sins and our guilt. For our guilt is already substantial, and fierce anger threatens the security of Israel.”

¹⁴ Therefore, in the presence of the officials and the entire assembly, the soldiers surrendered the captives and the booty. ¹⁵ Then those Ephraimite leaders proceeded to help those who had been led away captive. From the booty they clothed those who were naked. They gave them clothing and sandals and gave them food, drink, and healing balm. All those who were weak they mounted on donkeys and took them to their brethren in Jericho, the city of palm trees. Then they themselves returned to Samaria.

¹⁶ Other Sins of Ahaz. At that time King Ahaz sent a plea to the king of Assyria asking for help. ¹⁷ The Edomites had once again invaded and defeated Judah, and carried away captives.

¹⁸ Meanwhile, the Philistines had raided the towns in the foothills and the Negeb of Judah. They captured and occupied Beth-shemesh, Aijalon, and Gederoth, as well as Soco with its villages, Timnah with its villages, and Gimzo with its villages, and settled there. ¹⁹ For the Lord had brought Judah low because of Ahaz, king of Israel,^[c] who had behaved without restraint in Judah and had proved to be totally unfaithful to the Lord.

²⁰ After that, Tiglath-pileser, king of Assyria, came to Ahaz, but rather than assisting him, he oppressed him instead. ²¹ Then Ahaz plundered the temple of the Lord, the palace of the king, and the house of his officials. He proceeded to give the plunder to the king of Assyria, but no help from him was forthcoming.

²² During this period of distress, King Ahaz became even more unfaithful to the Lord. ²³ He proceeded to offer sacrifices to the gods of Damascus who had defeated him, thinking: “Since the gods of the king of Aram have supported them, I will sacrifice to them so that they may decide to help me.” However, they only caused further disaster to him and to all of Israel. ²⁴ Then Ahaz gathered up the vessels of the house of God and broke them into pieces. After he shut up the doors of the house of the Lord he made altars for himself in every corner of Jerusalem. ²⁵ In every city of Judah he built high places to offer sacrifices to other gods, thus provoking the anger of the Lord, the God of his ancestors.

²⁶ The rest of his deeds and all his activities, from first to last, are written in the book of the kings of Judah and Israel. ²⁷ Ahaz slept with his ancestors, and he was buried in the city of Jerusalem, but he was not laid to rest in the tombs of the kings of Israel. His son Hezekiah succeeded him.

Chapter 29

Reforms of Hezekiah.^{[d] 1} Hezekiah was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem for twenty-nine years. His mother was Abijah, the daughter of Zechariah. ² He did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, just as his ancestor David had done.

³ In the first month of the first year of his reign, he opened the doors of the temple of the Lord and repaired them. ⁴ Next he brought in the priests and the Levites and assembled them in the square on the east. ⁵ Then he said to them: “Listen to me, you Levites. Sanctify yourselves first. Then sanctify the house of the Lord, the God of your ancestors, and remove the filth from the sanctuary. ⁶ For our ancestors were unfaithful and did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, our God. They abandoned him, turned away their faces from him, and turned their backs on him. ⁷ They also shut the doors of the vestibule and extinguished the lamps, and they ceased to burn incense or present any burnt offerings in the sanctuary to the God of Israel.

⁸ “Therefore, the anger of the Lord fell upon Judah and Jerusalem, and he has made them an object of terror, astonishment, and derision, as you can see with your own eyes. ⁹ Our fathers have fallen by the sword, and our sons and daughters and our wives have been taken captive as a result. ¹⁰ Now I am determined to make a covenant with the God of Israel, in the hope that his fierce anger may turn away from us. ¹¹ Therefore, my sons, do not be negligent any longer, for the Lord has chosen you to sit in his presence and to serve him, to be his ministers, and to offer incense before him.”

¹² The Levites immediately set to work: from the sons of the Kohathites: Mahath, son of Amasai, and Joel, son of Azariah; from the sons of Merari: Kish, son of Abdi, and Azariah, son of Jehallel; from the Gershonites: Joah, son of Zimmah, and Eden, son of Joah; ¹³ from the sons of Elizaphan: Shimri and Jeuel; from the sons of Asaph: Zechariah and Mattaniah; ¹⁴ from the sons of Heman: Jehuel and Shimei; from the sons of Jeduthun: Shemaiah and Uzziel. ¹⁵ They gathered their brothers together and sanctified themselves; then, in obedience to the king’s order in accordance with the Lord’s command, they proceeded to purify the house of the Lord.

¹⁶ The priests entered the inner part of the Lord’s house to cleanse it, and they brought all the unclean things that they found in the temple of the Lord and deposited them in the court of the house of the Lord, where the Levites collected them and carried them out to the Kidron Valley. ¹⁷ They began the rites of sanctification on the first day of the first month, and on the eighth day of the month they had arrived at the vestibule of the Lord. Then for eight days they sanctified the Lord’s house, and on the sixteenth day of the first month they had finished.

¹⁸ Their work having been completed, they went in to King Hezekiah and said: “We have cleansed the entire house of the Lord, the altar of burnt offering with all its utensils, and the table for setting out the consecrated bread with all its utensils. ¹⁹ We have restored and consecrated all the articles that King Ahaz had cast aside during his reign because of his infidelity. They are now in place before the altar of the Lord.”

²⁰ The Rite of Expiation. King Hezekiah rose early the next morning, assembled the officials of the city, and went up to the house of the Lord. ²¹ They brought with them seven bulls, seven rams, seven lambs, and seven male goats as a sin offering for the kingdom, for the sanctuary, and for Judah, and he ordered the priests, the sons of Aaron, to offer them on the altar of the Lord.

²² Therefore, after the city officials slaughtered the bulls, the priests received the blood and sprinkled it on the altar. Then the rams were slaughtered, and, the priests sprinkled the blood on the altar. After that, the lambs were slaughtered, and the priests sprinkled the blood on the altar.

²³ Finally the he-goats for the sin offering were brought before the king and the assembly, who laid their hands on them. ²⁴ Then the priests slaughtered them and used their blood as a sin offering at the altar in order to make atonement for all Israel. For the king commanded that the burnt offering and the sin offering should be made for all Israel.

²⁵ The king stationed the Levites in the house of the Lord with cymbals, harps, and lyres, according to the ordinance prescribed by David, by Gad the king’s seer, and by Nathan the prophet. This commandment was prescribed by the Lord through his prophets. ²⁶ The Levites were stationed with the instruments of David while the priests stood ready with the trumpets. ²⁷ Then Hezekiah commanded that the burnt offering be presented on the altar. And at the moment when the burnt offering began, the song to the Lord began also, to the accompaniment of the trumpets and the instruments of King David of Israel. ²⁸ The entire assembly bowed in worship while the singers sang and the trumpeters sounded, all of this continuing until the burnt offering had been completed.

²⁹ When the burnt offering was finished, the king and all those who were present with him bowed down and worshiped. ³⁰ King Hezekiah and his officials commanded the Levites to sing praises to the Lord in the words of David and of the seer, Asaph. They joyfully sang their praises, after which they knelt down and prostrated themselves in worship.

³¹ Then Hezekiah issued this command: “Now that you have consecrated yourselves to the Lord, come forward and bring your sacrifices and thank offerings to the house of the Lord.”

Therefore, the assembly brought sacrifices and thank offerings, and all those who had generous hearts brought burnt offerings. ³² The number of burnt offerings that the assembly brought was seventy bulls, one hundred rams, and two hundred lambs. All these were designated as a burnt offering to the Lord. ³³ The consecrated offerings were six hundred bulls and three hundred sheep.

³⁴ However, the priests were too few in number to be able to skin the burnt offerings. Therefore, their brethren the Levites were clearly more conscientious than the priests in sanctifying themselves. ³⁵ In addition to a great number of burnt offerings, there was also the fat of the fellowship offerings and the libations for the burnt offerings. Thus the service of the house of the Lord was restored. ³⁶ Then Hezekiah and all the people rejoiced over what God had done for the people and how suddenly all this had been completed.

Chapter 30^[e]

Invitation to the Passover. ¹ Hezekiah sent messengers to all Israel and Judah, and he also wrote letters to Ephraim and Manas-seh, inviting them to come to the house of the Lord in Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover in honor of the Lord, the God of Israel. ^2 [f]The king and his officials and the entire assembly in Jerusalem had agreed to celebrate the Passover in the second month, ³ having been unable to celebrate it at the proper time because the priests had not sanctified themselves in sufficient numbers and the people had not yet assembled in Jerusalem.

⁴ The proposal was accepted by the king and all the assembly. ⁵ Therefore, they resolved to issue a proclamation throughout all Israel, from Dan to Beer-sheba, that the people should come to Jerusalem and celebrate the Passover in honor of the Lord, the God of Israel. For the feast had not been celebrated in large numbers in the manner prescribed. ⁶ Accordingly, couriers traveled throughout Israel and Judah with letters from the king and his officials, as the king had commanded, saying: “O people of Israel, return to the Lord, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, so that he may turn back to you, the remnant left from the hands of the kings of Assyria. ⁷ Do not be like your ancestors and your brothers who were unfaithful to the Lord, the God of their ancestors, so that he made them an object of horror, as you yourselves now see. ⁸ Do not be stiff-necked as your ancestors were, but submit yourselves to the Lord and come to his sanctuary that he has consecrated forever, and serve the Lord, your God, so that his fierce anger may turn away from you. ⁹ For when you return to the Lord, your brothers and your children will be treated with compassion by their captors and return to this land. For the Lord, your God, is gracious and compassionate, and he will not turn his face away from you if you return to him.”

¹⁰ The couriers went from town to town in Ephraim and Manasseh, and as far as Zebulun, but the people scorned and mocked them. ¹¹ Nevertheless a few people from Asher, Manasseh, and Zebulun humbled themselves and came to Jerusalem. ¹² The hand of God was also on Judah to make the people of one mind to do what the king and the officials commanded in accordance with the word of the Lord.

¹³ The Passover Celebrated. A huge crowd gathered together in Jerusalem to celebrate the Feast of Unleavened Bread in the second month. ¹⁴ They began their work by removing the altars that were in Jerusalem. Then they removed all the altars of incense and threw them into the Kidron Valley.

¹⁵ On the fourteenth day of the second month they slaughtered the Passover lamb. Meanwhile, the priests and the Levites were ashamed; after they consecrated themselves, they brought burnt offerings to the temple of the Lord. ¹⁶ Then they took their accustomed places according to the law of Moses, the man of God, while the priests sprinkled the blood that they had received from the Levites.

¹⁷ Since many people in the assembly had not sanctified themselves, the Levites had to slaughter the Passover lambs for them to the Lord.^{[g] 18} For a large number of people, mainly from Ephraim, Manasseh, Issachar, and Zebulun, had not cleansed themselves, but even so they ate the Passover contrary to what was prescribed.

However, Hezekiah prayed for them, saying: “May the good Lord grant pardon ¹⁹ to all those who are determined to seek God, the Lord, the God of their ancestors, even though they have not been purified as holiness requires.” ²⁰ The Lord listened to Hezekiah and healed the people.

²¹ With great rejoicing the Israelites who were present in Jerusalem celebrated the Feast of Unleavened Bread for seven days, while the Levites and the priests day after day praised the Lord with all their strength. ²² Hezekiah then spoke encouragingly to all the Levites who had shown themselves to be well skilled in the service of the Lord. During the seven days of the festival the people consumed their assigned portion of food, sacrificing offerings of well-being and giving thanks to the Lord, the God of their ancestors.

²³ Then the entire assembly agreed to continue the festival for another seven days, and they did so with joyous celebration. ²⁴ Hezekiah, the king of Judah, contributed to the assembly one thousand bulls and seven thousand sheep, and the officials gave to the assembly one thousand bulls and ten thousand sheep, while the priests sanctified themselves in great numbers. ²⁵ The entire assembly of Judah rejoiced, along with the priests and the Levites and the resident aliens who had come from Israel, as well as the resident aliens who dwelt in Judah. ²⁶ There was great rejoicing in Jerusalem, for since the time of Solomon, the son of King David of Israel, nothing of this magnitude had been seen in Jerusalem. ²⁷ Then the priests and the Levites stood up and blessed the people, and their voices were heard by God when their prayer reached his holy dwelling in heaven.

Chapter 31

Reform of Worship. ¹ When the festivities had come to a close, all of the Israelites who were present went forth to the towns of Judah, smashed the sacred pillars, cut down the sacred poles, and demolished the high places and the altars throughout Judah and Benjamin, as well as in Ephraim and Manasseh, until they had destroyed them all. Then all the Israelites returned to their various towns and their individual properties.

² Hezekiah reestablished the priests and the Levites into various divisions, assigning to each priest and Levite his own specific duty, whether in regard to holocausts or peace offerings, to minister or to give thanks, or to sing praises within the gates of the Lord’s dwelling.

³ The king provided from his own wealth a portion from his possessions for holocausts during the morning and evening as well as on Sabbaths, new moons, and festivals, as prescribed in the law of the Lord. ⁴ He also commanded the people who lived in Jerusalem to provide the portion due to the priests and the Levites so that they might devote themselves completely to the law of the Lord.

⁵ As soon as the command of the king had been promulgated, the Israelites provided an abundance of the firstfruits of grain, wine, oil, honey, and all the other produce of the fields; they brought in an abundant tithe of everything. ⁶ The Israelites and Judeans who lived in the towns of Judah also brought in a tithe of their cattle and sheep and a tithe of sacred gifts that had been consecrated to the Lord, their God, laying them in heaps. ⁷ They began to accumulate the heaps in the third month, and they completed that task in the seventh month.

⁸ When Hezekiah and his officials came and beheld the heaps, they blessed the Lord and his people Israel. ⁹ Then Hezekiah questioned the priests and the Levites about those heaps. ¹⁰ The chief priest Azariah, who was of the house of Zadok, replied: “Since the people began to bring their contributions to the house of the Lord, we have had enough to eat, and much more in addition. For the Lord has so greatly blessed his people that a great amount is still left over.”

¹¹ Then Hezekiah issued orders to prepare storerooms in the house of the Lord. When that task was completed, ¹² the people faithfully brought in their contributions, their tithes, and their consecrated gifts. The chief officer in charge of the donations was Conaniah the Levite, with his brother Shimei as second in command. ¹³ Jehiel, Azaziah, Nahath, Asahel, Jerimoth, Jozabad, Eliel, Ismachiah, Mahath, and Benaiah were appointed as supervisors under Conaniah and his brother, Shimei, by the order of King Hezekiah and Azariah, the chief officer of the house of God.

¹⁴ Kore, the son of Imnah the Levite, and the keeper of the east gate, was in charge of the free-will offerings to God, with the responsibility to apportion the contributions made to God and the most sacred offerings. ¹⁵ Eden, Miniamin, Jeshua, Shemaiah, Amariah, and Shecaniah faithfully assisted him in the priestly cities and distributed the portions to their kindred, old and young alike, by divisions.^[h]

¹⁶ In addition, they distributed shares to the males thirty years old and above who would enter the house of the Lord to take their part daily in the service, according to their divisions as their office required. ¹⁷ The priests were enrolled according to their ancestral houses; the Levites who were twenty years old and above were registered according to their offices.

¹⁸ The priests were enrolled with all their dependents—their little children, their wives, their sons and their daughters, the entire multitude—since in virtue of their permanent standing they had to be faithful in consecrating themselves. ¹⁹ As for the descendants of Aaron, the priests, who lived on the pasture lands belonging to their towns, designated the men to distribute portions to every male among the priests and to everyone who was registered in the genealogies of the Levites.

²⁰ Hezekiah did this throughout Judah, doing what was good and right and faithful in the eyes of the Lord, his God. ²¹ Every-thing that he undertook in the service of the house of God, and in obedience to the law and the commandments to seek his God, he did with all his heart, and he prospered.