Bible in 90 Days

¹⁶ And Jehoiada made^[a] a covenant between himself and all the people and the king, that they should be Yahweh’s people. ¹⁷ Then all the people went to the house of Baal and broke it down. And they smashed his altars and his images, and they killed Mattan the priest of Baal before the altars. ¹⁸ And Jehoiada placed appointees at the house of Yahweh under the hand of the Levitical priests whom David had allotted to the house of Yahweh to offer burnt offerings to Yahweh as was written in the law of Moses, with joy and with song, according to the order of David.^{[b] 19} And he set the gatekeepers at the gates of the house of Yahweh so that no person unclean with respect to any matter could enter. ²⁰ And he took the commanders of hundreds, the noblemen, the governors over the people, and all the people of the land, and they brought the king down from the house of Yahweh. And they came through the upper gate to the house of the king, and they set the king upon the throne of the kingdom. ²¹ So all the people of the land rejoiced, and the city was quiet after Athaliah had been killed with the sword.

Joash Repairs the Temple

24 Joash was seven years old when he became king, and he reigned forty years in Jerusalem. And the name of his mother was Zibiah from Beersheba. ² And Joash did what was right in the eyes of Yahweh all the days of Jehoiada the priest. ³ And Jehoiada took two wives for him, and he fathered sons and daughters.

⁴ And afterward it was in the heart of Joash to repair the house of Yahweh. ⁵ So he gathered the priests and the Levites and said to them, “Go out to the cities of Judah and gather money from all Israel to strengthen the house of your God sufficiently year by year. Now you yourselves must hasten to the matter.” But the Levites did not act with haste. ⁶ So the king called Jehoiada the chief, and he said to him, “Why have you not required the Levites to bring from Judah and Jerusalem the tax of Moses, the servant of Yahweh, and of the assembly of Israel for the tent of the testimony?” ⁷ For the sons of the wicked Athaliah had broken into the house of God and had used all the holy vessels of the house of Yahweh for the Baals.

⁸ Then the king commanded, and they made a chest and put it at the gate outside the house of Yahweh. ⁹ And they issued a proclamation^[c] in Judah and in Jerusalem to bring to Yahweh the tax that Moses the servant of God had levied upon Israel in the wilderness. ¹⁰ And all the princes and all the people rejoiced, and they brought their tax and threw it into the chest until it was finished. ¹¹ And whenever he brought the chest to the appointee of the king by the hand of the Levites, and when they saw that there was much money in it, then the secretary of the king and the officer of the chief priest came and emptied the chest, then they took it and returned it to its place. Thus they did day by day and gathered money in abundance. ¹² And the king and Jehoiada gave it to those who did the work of the service of the house of Yahweh. And they hired stonemasons and skilled craftsmen to restore the house of Yahweh, and also workers in iron and bronze to repair the house of Yahweh. ¹³ So those doing the work labored, and the restoration for the work made progress under their hand. And they restored the house of God to its position and strengthened it. ¹⁴ And when they had finished, they brought the remainder of the money before the king and Jehoiada, and they used it for objects for the house of Yahweh, objects for the service and the burnt offerings, dishes, and objects of gold and silver. And they were offering burnt offerings in the house of Yahweh regularly, all the days of Jehoiada.

¹⁵ And Jehoiada grew old and full of days, and he died; he was one hundred and thirty years old at his death. ¹⁶ And they buried him in the city of David with the kings, for he did good in Israel and with respect to God and his house.

¹⁷ Now after the death of Jehoiada, the princes of Judah came and bowed down to the king. Then the king listened to them. ¹⁸ And they forsook the house of Yahweh, the God of their ancestors^[d] and served the Asherahs and the idols. And wrath came upon Judah and Jerusalem on account of this guilt. ¹⁹ But he sent prophets among them, to bring them back to Yahweh. And they testified against them, and they did not obey.

²⁰ Then the Spirit of God clothed Zechariah the son of Jehoiada the priest, and he stood above the people and said to them, “Thus says God: ‘Why are you transgressing the commandments of Yahweh so that you will not succeed? For you have forsaken Yahweh, so he will forsake you.’” ²¹ Then they conspired against him and stoned him with stones at the command of the king in the courtyard of the house of Yahweh. ²² So King Joash did not remember the loyal love that Jehoiada had shown to him, and he killed his son. And as he was dying he said, “May Yahweh see and avenge!”

The Death of Joash

²³ And it happened at the turn of the year that the army of Aram^[e] went up against him, and they came to Judah and Jerusalem and destroyed all the commanders of the people from among the people, and all the war booty they sent to the king of Damascus. ²⁴ Though the army of Aram^[f] came with few men, Yahweh gave a very large army into their hand, for they had forsaken Yahweh, the God of their ancestors.^[g] And they inflicted punishment on Joash.

²⁵ And when they were going away from him (for they had left him with many wounds), his servants conspired against him on account of the blood of the sons^[h] of Jehoiada the priest. So they killed him on his bed and he died. And they buried him in the city of David, but they did not bury him at the burial sites of the kings. ²⁶ Now these are the ones who conspired against him: Zabad the son of Shimeath, the Ammonite, and Jehozabad the son of Shimrith, the Moabite. ²⁷ And as for his sons, the many oracles against him, and his repair of the foundation of the house of God, behold, they are written in the story of the scroll of the kings. And Amaziah his son reigned in his place.

The Reign of Amaziah

25 Amaziah was twenty-five years old when he became king. And he reigned twenty-nine years in Jerusalem, and the name of his mother was Jehoaddan from Jerusalem. ² And he did what was right in the eyes of Yahweh, only not with a fully-devoted heart. ³ And it happened that as his reign was strengthened, he killed his servants who had killed his father the king. ⁴ But he did not put their children to death, according to what is written in the law, in the scroll of Moses, where Yahweh commanded, saying, “Fathers shall not be put to death on account of the sons, and the sons shall not be put to death on account of the fathers, but each shall be put to death for his own sin.”

⁵ Then Amaziah assembled the men of Judah and set them by families^[i] under commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds for all Judah and Benjamin. And he counted them from twenty years old and upward, and found them to be three hundred thousand chosen for going out to battle, able with spear and shield. ⁶ And he hired from Israel one hundred thousand strong, mighty warriors for one hundred talents.

⁷ But a man of God came to him, saying, “O king, do not let the army of Israel go with you, for Yahweh is not with Israel, all the Ephraimites. ⁸ But even still, you yourself go, do! Be strong for the battle else God will make you stumble before the enemy! For there is power with God to help and to cause stumbling.” ⁹ And Amaziah said to the man of God, “Now what should I do with the one hundred talents that I have given to the troops of Israel?” And the man of God said, “Yahweh is able to give^[j] to you more than this.” ¹⁰ Then Amaziah dismissed the troops that came to him from Ephraim to go to their home.^[k] And they became very angry^[l] with Judah, and they returned to their home in great anger.^[m]

¹¹ Then Amaziah strengthened himself, and leading his army, he went to the Valley of Salt. And he struck down ten thousand men^[n] of Seir. ¹² Now the troops^[o] captured ten thousand others alive, and they brought them to the top of the rock and threw them from the top of the rock. So all of them were smashed to pieces.

¹³ As for the troops^[p] Amaziah had sent back from going with him to war, they raided the cities of Judah from Samaria to Beth-Horon. And they struck down three thousand of them and plundered much booty.

¹⁴ And it happened that after Amaziah came back from killing the Edomites, he brought the gods of the sons of Seir, and he stood them up to himself as gods and bowed down before them and make smoke offerings for them. ¹⁵ So Yahweh became very angry^[q] with Amaziah and sent a prophet to him, and he said to him, “Why have you sought the gods of the people who could not deliver their own people from your hand?” ¹⁶ And it happened that while he was speaking to him, he said to him, “Have we appointed you as a counselor to the king? Stop—why should you be killed?”^[r] So the prophet stopped and said, “I know that God has determined to destroy you, because you have done this and have not listened to my advice.”

¹⁷ Then Amaziah king of Judah took counsel, and he sent to Joash the son of Jehoahaz the son of Jehu, king of Israel, saying, “Come,^[s] let us face one another.^{[t] 18} And Joash the king of Israel sent to Amaziah king of Judah, saying, “The thorn bush that is in Lebanon has sent to the cedar which is in Lebanon, saying, ‘Give your daughter to my son as wife.’ But a wild animal of the field that was in Lebanon passed by and trampled the thorn bush. ¹⁹ Look, you say that you have struck Edom, and your heart has lifted you up to boast. Now remain at your home. Why stir up disaster that you fall, you and Judah with you?”

²⁰ But Amaziah did not listen, for it was from God that he might give them into the hand of enemies, because they sought the gods of Edom. ²¹ So Joash the king of Israel went up, and he and Amaziah the king of Judah faced one another^[u] at Beth-Shemesh, which belongs to Judah. ²² And Judah was defeated before Israel, and each man fled to his tent. ²³ And Joash the king of Israel captured Amaziah the king of Judah, the son of Joash, the son of Jehoahaz, at Beth-Shemesh. And they brought him to Jerusalem and broke down the wall of Jerusalem from the Gate of Ephraim to the Corner Gate, four hundred cubits. ²⁴ Then with all the gold and silver, all the objects found in the house of God with Obed-Edom, the storehouses of the house of the king, and the hostages,^[v] he returned to Samaria.

²⁵ And Amaziah the son of Joash, king of Judah, lived after the death of Joash the son of Jehoahaz, the king of Israel, fifteen years. ²⁶ Now the remainder of the words of Amaziah, from the first to the last, behold, are they not written in the scroll of the kings of Judah and Israel? ²⁷ And from the time that Amaziah turned away from Yahweh, they had plotted a conspiracy against him in Jerusalem. And he fled to Lachish, but they sent after him to Lachish and killed him there. ²⁸ And they carried him on the horses and buried him with his ancestors^[w] in the city of Judah.

The Reign of Uzziah

26 Then all the people of Judah took Uzziah (now he was sixteen years old) and made him king in the place of his father Amaziah. ² He built Elath and returned it to Judah after the king slept with his ancestors.^{[x] 3} Uzziah was sixteen years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem fifty-two years. And the name of his mother was Yecoliah of Jerusalem. ⁴ And he did what was right in the eyes of Yahweh, according to all that Amaziah his father had done. ⁵ And he began to seek^[y] God in the days of Zechariah who was teaching in visions of God. And whenever^[z] he sought Yahweh God made him have success.

⁶ And he went out and made war against the Philistines, and he broke down the wall of Gath and the wall of Jabneh and the wall of Ashdod, and he built cities in Ashdod and among the Philistines. ⁷ And God helped him against the Philistines and against the Arabs who were living in Gur-Baal and Meunim. ⁸ And the Ammonites gave tribute to Uzziah, and his fame^[aa] went out to the boundary^[ab] of Egypt, for he became very strong.^{[ac] 9} And Uzziah built towers in Jerusalem at the Corner Gate, at the Valley Gate, and at the Angle, and he strengthened them. ¹⁰ And he built towers in the desert and hewed many cisterns, for he had much livestock, both in the Shephelah and on the plain, along with farmers and vinedressers in the hills and in the fertile lands, for he loved the soil. ¹¹ And Uzziah had troops trained and ready for war^[ad] in divisions according to the number of their enrollment at the hand of Jeuel the scribe and Maaseiah the officer, under the hand of Hananiah of the king’s commanders. ¹² The whole number of the heads of the families^[ae] for mighty warriors of strength was two thousand six hundred. ¹³ And under their hand were army troops numbering three hundred and seven thousand five hundred who could make war with power and strength to help the king against an enemy. ¹⁴ And Uzziah prepared small shields, spears, helmets, breastplates, bows, and slingstones for the whole army. ¹⁵ And he made siege machines in Jerusalem designed by skillful men to be set upon the towers and upon the corners to shoot arrows and large slingstones. And his fame^[af] went out far, for he helped marvelously, for he was strong.

¹⁶ But on account of his strength his heart grew proud unto destruction. And he acted unfaithfully against Yahweh his God and went into the temple of Yahweh to offer an incense offering on the altar. ¹⁷ And Azariah the priest, along with eighty strong priests with him, went in after him. ¹⁸ And they stood against King Uzziah and said to him, “It is not for you, Uzziah, to burn incense to Yahweh, but it is for the priests, the descendants^[ag] of Aaron, who are consecrated to burn incense. Go out of the sanctuary, for you have acted unfaithfully. There will be no honor for you from Yahweh God.” ¹⁹ Then Uzziah, his censer in hand to burn incense, became angry. And when he became angry with the priests, then leprosy appeared on his forehead in front of the priests in the house of Yahweh at the altar of incense. ²⁰ When Azariah the chief priest and all the priests turned to him, behold, he was leprous in the forehead. So they rushed him away from there, and he also hastened to go out, for Yahweh had smitten him. ²¹ So King Uzziah was leprous until the day of his death, and he lived in a separate house as a leper, for he was cut off from the house of Yahweh. And Jotham his son was over the house of the king, judging the people of the land.

²² Now the remainder of the words of Uzziah, from the first to the last, Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz, wrote them. ²³ And Uzziah slept with his ancestors,^[ah] and they buried him with his ancestors^[ai] in the burial field which belonged to the kings, because, they said, “He was leprous.” And Jotham his son reigned in his place.

The Reign of Jotham

27 Jotham was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem. And the name of his mother was Jerusha the daughter of Zadok. ² And he did what was right in the eyes of Yahweh, according to all that his father Uzziah had done—only he did not go into the temple of Yahweh. But the people still acted corruptly. ³ He built the upper gate of the house of Yahweh, and he did much restoration^[aj] on the wall of Ophel. ⁴ And he built cities in the hill country of Judah, and he built forts and towers in the wooded places. ⁵ Now he fought with the king of the Ammonites^[ak] and prevailed against them. And the Ammonites^[al] gave to him in that year one hundred talents of silver and ten thousand measures of wheat and ten thousand measures of barley. This is what the Ammonites^[am] rendered to him, as well as in the second and third year. ⁶ And Jotham strengthened himself, for he established his ways before Yahweh his God.

⁷ Now the remainder of the words of Jotham and all his wars and his ways, behold, they are written upon the scroll of the kings of Israel and Judah. ⁸ He was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem. ⁹ And Jotham slept with his ancestors,^[an] and they buried him in the city of David. And his son Ahaz became king in his place.

The Reign of Ahaz

28 Ahaz was twenty years old when he became king, and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem. And he did not do what is right in the eyes of Yahweh like David his ancestor.^{[ao] 2} But he walked in the ways of the kings of Israel and also made molten idols for the Baals. ³ And he himself burned incense in the valley of Ben-Hinnom and burned his sons in the fire, according to the detestable practices of the nations whom Yahweh drove out before the Israelites. ⁴ And he sacrificed and burned incense at the high places, on the hilltops, and under every flourishing tree.

⁵ Then Yahweh his God gave him into the hand of the king of Aram^[ap] who defeated him and captured many captives from him and brought them to Damascus. Moreover, he was also given into the hand of the king of Israel, and he defeated him by a great attack. ⁶ And Pekah, the son of Remaliah, killed in one day one hundred and twenty thousand in Judah, all men of strength, because they forsook Yahweh the God of their ancestors.^{[aq] 7} And Zikri, a mighty warrior of Ephraim, killed Maaseiah the son of the king, Azrikam the commander of the house, and Elkanah the second to the king. ⁸ And the Israelites captured two hundred thousand of their brothers, women, sons, and daughters. And they also plundered much booty from them and brought the booty to Samaria.

⁹ Now a prophet of Yahweh was there; Oded was his name. And he went out before the army that was coming to Samaria and said to them, “Look, it is on account of the anger of Yahweh, the God of your ancestors,^[ar] against Judah that he gave them into your hands, and you killed them in a rage reaching to the heavens. ¹⁰ So now, you yourselves plan to subdue people of Judah and Jerusalem as slaves and female servants for yourselves. Is there not also guilt on your part^[as] against Yahweh your God? ¹¹ So now, listen to me and return the captives of your brothers whom you have taken captive, for the fierce anger of Yahweh is against you.”

¹² Then men from the heads of Ephraim—Azariah the son of Jehohanan, Berekiah the son of Meshillemoth, Hezekiah the son of Shallum, and Amasa the son of Hadlai—stood against those returning from the fight. ¹³ And they said to them, “You shall not bring the captives here, for it is as guilt against Yahweh upon us. You yourselves plan to add to our sins and to our guilt, but our guilt is very great, and there is great anger against Israel.” ¹⁴ So the soldiers left the captives and the plunder before the commanders and all the assembly. ¹⁵ Then the men designated by name arose and took the captives and from the plunder clothed all their nakedness. So they clothed them, gave them sandals, gave them food to eat, gave them water to drink, anointed them, and guided them with the donkeys provided for all those who stumbled, and brought them to Jericho, the city of the palm trees, next to their brothers. Then they returned to Samaria.

¹⁶ At that time King Ahaz sent to the king of Assyria to help him, ¹⁷ since again the Edomites came and struck against Judah and took captives. ¹⁸ And the Philistines sent raids into the cities of the Shephelah and the Negeb of Judah. And they captured Beth-Shemesh, Aijalon, Gederoth, Socoh with its villages, Timnah with its villages, and Gimzo with its villages. And they settled there. ¹⁹ For Yahweh subdued Judah for the sake of Ahaz, king of Israel, for he created disorder in Judah and acted unfaithfully against Yahweh. ²⁰ Then Tiglath-Pileser^[at] the king of Assyria came against him and brought trouble for him, instead of helping him,^{[au] 21} for Ahaz took a portion from the house of Yahweh and the house of the king and the princes, and he gave it to the king of Assyria, but it was no help to him.

²² And in the time of his distress, King Ahaz continued to act unfaithfully against Yahweh. ²³ He sacrificed to the gods of Damascus that had defeated him and said, “Because the gods of the king of Aram^[av] helped them, I will sacrifice to them so that they will help me.” But they were a disaster^[aw] to him and to all Israel. ²⁴ Then Ahaz gathered the objects of the house of God, and he cut the objects of the house of God to pieces. And he shut the doors of the house of Yahweh and made for himself altars in every corner of Jerusalem. ²⁵ And in every city^[ax] of Judah he made high places to burn incense to other gods, and he provoked Yahweh, the God of his ancestors,^[ay] to anger.

²⁶ Now the remainder of his words and all his ways, from the first to the last, behold, they are written upon the scroll of the kings of Judah and Israel. ²⁷ And Ahaz slept with his ancestors,^[az] and they buried him in the city, in Jerusalem, for they did not bring him to the burial site of the kings of Israel. And Hezekiah his son became king in his place.

The Reign of Hezekiah

29 Hezekiah became king when he was twenty-five years old, and he reigned twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. And the name of his mother was Abijah the daughter of Zechariah. ² And he did that which was right in the eyes of Yahweh, according to all that David his father had done.

³ In the first year of his kingship, in the first month, he opened the doors of the house of Yahweh and strengthened them. ⁴ And he brought in the priests and the Levites, and he gathered them into the eastern square. ⁵ And he said to them, “Hear me, O Levites! Sanctify yourselves now, and sanctify the house of Yahweh, the God of your ancestors,^[ba] and bring out the defilement from the sanctuary. ⁶ For our ancestors^[bb] acted unfaithfully and did evil in the sight of Yahweh our God, and have forsaken him and turned away their faces from the dwelling place of Yahweh. They have turned their backs^[bc] on it. ⁷ They also shut the doors of the portico and extinguished the lamps. And they did not burn incense or offer burnt offerings in the sanctuary to the God of Israel. ⁸ And the wrath of Yahweh was upon Judah and Jerusalem. And he made them as an abhorrence, as a desolation and an object of scorn, as you see with your own eyes. ⁹ Now behold, our fathers have fallen by the sword, and our sons and our daughters and our wives are in captivity on account of this. ¹⁰ Now it is in my heart^[bd] to make^[be] a covenant with Yahweh, the God of Israel, so that his fierce anger might turn away from him. ¹¹ Now, my sons, do not be negligent, for Yahweh has chosen you to stand before him to serve him and to be his servants and incense burners.”

¹² Then the Levites arose—Mahath the son of Amasai and Joel the son of Azariah, from the Kohathites; and Kish the son of Abdi and Azariah the son of Jehallelel from the Merarites; and Joah son of Zimmah and Eden son of Joah, from the Gershonites. ¹³ And from the descendants^[bf] of Elizaphan: Shimri and Jeiel; and from the descendants^[bg] of Asaph: Zechariah and Mattaniah; ¹⁴ and from the descendants^[bh] of Heman: Jeiel and Shimei; and from the descendants^[bi] of Jeduthun: Shemaiah and Uzziel— ¹⁵ and they gathered their brothers and sanctified themselves, and they went in according to the command of the king because of the words of Yahweh, to purify the house of Yahweh. ¹⁶ And the priests went into the inner part of the house of Yahweh to purify it. And they brought out all the impurity that they found in the temple of Yahweh out to the courtyard of the house of Yahweh. And the Levites took them to bring them outside to the Wadi^[bj] Kidron. ¹⁷ And they began to sanctify themselves on the first day of the first month. And on the eighth day of the month they came to the portico of Yahweh. And they sanctified the house of Yahweh for eight days, and on the sixteenth day of the first month they finished. ¹⁸ And they went into the inner part to King Hezekiah and said, “We have cleansed all the house of Yahweh: the altar of burnt offering, all its objects, the table of the rows of bread and all its objects, ¹⁹ and all the objects that King Ahaz discarded in his reign when he sinned, we have prepared and sanctified. Look, they are before the altar of Yahweh.”

²⁰ Then King Hezekiah rose early and gathered the officials of the city, and he went up to the house of Yahweh. ²¹ And they brought seven bulls, seven rams, seven lambs, and seven male goats as a purification offering for the kingdom, for the sanctuary, and for Judah. And he commanded the descendants^[bk] of Aaron, the priests, to offer them on the altar of Yahweh. ²² And they slaughtered the cattle, and the priests received the blood and threw it toward the altar. Then they slaughtered the rams and threw the blood toward the altar, and then they slaughtered the lambs and threw the blood toward the altar. ²³ Then they brought the goats of the sin offering before the king and the assembly, and they laid hands upon them. ²⁴ And the priest killed them and offered their blood against the altar to make atonement for all Israel, for the king had commanded the burnt offering and the sin offering for all Israel.

²⁵ And he stood the Levites in the house of Yahweh with cymbals, harps, and lyres, according to the command of David and Gad, the seer of the king, and Nathan the prophet, for the command was by the hand of Yahweh by the hand of his prophets. ²⁶ When the Levites stood with the objects of David and the priests with the trumpets, ²⁷ Hezekiah commanded to offer the burnt offering upon the altar. And at the time the burnt offering began, the song of Yahweh began, and also the trumpets, at the hands of the instruments of David king of Israel. ²⁸ Then all the assembly bowed down, and the song was sung, and the trumpeters trumpeted—all together until the end of the burnt offering. ²⁹ And when the offering was finished, the king and all who were found with him knelt down and bowed themselves. ³⁰ Then King Hezekiah and the princes commanded the Levites to praise Yahweh with the words of David and Asaph the seer. So they offered praise with joy, and they bowed down and worshiped.

³¹ Then Hezekiah answered and said, “Now you have consecrated yourselves^[bl] to Yahweh. Come near and bring sacrifices and thank offerings to the house of Yahweh!” And the assembly brought sacrifices and thank offerings, and all who were willing in heart brought burnt offerings. ³² And the number of burnt offerings that the assembly brought was seventy cattle, one hundred rams, two hundred lambs—all these were to offer to Yahweh. ³³ And the consecrated offerings of cattle were six hundred cattle and three thousand sheep. ³⁴ But the priests were too few, and they were not able to offer all the burnt offerings, so their brothers, the Levites, strengthened them to finish the work, and until the rest of the priests consecrated themselves. (For the Levites were more conscientious^[bm] to sanctify themselves than the priests.) ³⁵ And beside the many burnt offerings was the fat of the peace offerings and the libations for the burnt offerings. So the service of the house of Yahweh was established. ³⁶ And Hezekiah and all the people rejoiced over what God had established with the people, for the matter happened suddenly.

Hezekiah Celebrates Passover

30 Then Hezekiah sent to all Israel and Judah, and he also wrote letters to Ephraim and Manasseh, to come to the house of Yahweh in Jerusalem to make a Passover feast to Yahweh the God of Israel. ² Now the king and his princes, and all the assembly in Jerusalem had taken counsel to make the Passover feast in the second month— ³ but they were not able to make it at that time, for the priests had not consecrated themselves in sufficient numbers,^[bn] and the people had not been assembled in Jerusalem— ⁴ and the plan seemed right in the eyes of the king and in the eyes of all the assembly. ⁵ So they let the decree stand, to make a proclamation^[bo] throughout all Israel, from Beersheba to Dan, to come to make a Passover feast to Yahweh the God of Israel. ⁶ And the runners went with the letter from the hand of the king and his princes throughout all Israel and Judah according to the command of the king, saying, “O sons of Israel, return to Yahweh, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, that he may turn again to the remnant of you who escaped from the hand of the kings of Assyria. ⁷ Do not be like your fathers and like your brothers, who acted unfaithfully before Yahweh, the God of their ancestors,^[bp] so that he made them as a desolation, as you see. ⁸ Now, do not stiffen your neck as your fathers,^[bq] but give a hand to Yahweh and come to his sanctuary, which he has consecrated forever, and serve Yahweh your God that his fierce anger may turn away from you. ⁹ For when you return to Yahweh, your brothers and your children will find compassion before their captors and return to this land, for Yahweh your God is gracious and compassionate, and he will not turn away his face from you if you return to him.”

¹⁰ And it happened that the runners were passing from city to city in the land of Ephraim and Manasseh, and up to Zebulun, but they were laughing at them and mocking them. ¹¹ Only men from Asher, Manasseh, and Zebulun humbled themselves and came to Jerusalem. ¹² The hand of God was also upon Judah, to give them one heart to obey the command of the king and the princes concerning the word of Yahweh.

¹³ So many people gathered in Jerusalem to hold the Feast of Unleavened Bread in the second month; it was a very great assembly. ¹⁴ And they rose up and removed the altars that were in Jerusalem. And they removed all the incense altars and threw them away in the Wadi^[br] Kidron. ¹⁵ And they slaughtered the Passover lamb on the fourteenth day of the second month. And the priests and the Levites were disgraced, so they consecrated themselves and brought burnt offerings into the house of Yahweh. ¹⁶ Then they stood at their positions according to custom, according to the law of Moses the man of God. The priests were sprinkling the blood from the hand of the Levites. ¹⁷ For there were many in the assembly who did not consecrate themselves, so the Levites were over the killing of the Passover sacrifices for all who were not clean, to consecrate them to Yahweh. ¹⁸ For a majority of the people, many from Ephraim, Manasseh, Issachar, and Zebulun, had not cleansed themselves. But they ate the Passover sacrifice otherwise than prescribed,^[bs] but Hezekiah had prayed for them, saying, “May the good Yahweh make atonement unto ¹⁹ everyone whose heart is set to seek God, Yahweh the God of his ancestors,^[bt] though not according to the cleansing for the sanctuary.” ²⁰ And Yahweh listened to Hezekiah, and he healed the people. ²¹ And the Israelites^[bu] who were found in Jerusalem kept the Feast of Unleavened Bread seven days with great joy. And the Levites and the priests were offering praise to Yahweh day by day, with powerful instruments to Yahweh. ²² And Hezekiah spoke to the heart of all the Levites who were skilled at service^[bv] to Yahweh. So they ate the feast seven days, offering peace offerings and giving thanks to Yahweh, the God of their ancestors.^[bw]

²³ Then the whole assembly decided to make seven more days of feasting, so they made seven more days with joy, ²⁴ for Hezekiah the king of Judah had provided^[bx] one thousand bulls and seven thousand sheep for the assembly, and the princes provided^[by] one thousand bulls and ten thousand sheep for the assembly. And many priests consecrated themselves. ²⁵ And the whole assembly of Judah, the priests and the Levites, all the assembly who had come from the land of Israel, and those living in Judah rejoiced. ²⁶ And there was great joy in Jerusalem, for from the days of Solomon the son of David, king of Israel, there was nothing such as this in Jerusalem. ²⁷ Then the priests and the Levites arose and blessed the people, and their voice was heard, and their prayer came to his holy dwelling place in the heavens.

Hezekiah Organizes the Priesthood

31 And when all this was finished, all Israel who were found in the cities of Judah went out and shattered the stone pillars, cut down the Asherahs, and destroyed the high places and the altars from all Judah, Benjamin, Ephraim, and Manasseh to the very last one.^[bz] Then all the Israelites returned, each to his own property and to their cities.

² And Hezekiah appointed working groups of the priests and the Levites, each according to their divisions, according to the service for priests and Levites,^[ca] for burnt offerings, for peace offerings, to serve, to give thanks, and to praise in the gates of the camps of Yahweh. ³ And the gift of the king was out of his own possessions for the burnt offerings—the burnt offerings for the morning and the evening and for Sabbaths, new moon festivals, and appointed feasts, as is written in the law of Yahweh. ⁴ Then he said to the people, to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, to give a gift for the priests and the Levites, so that they might be strong in the law of Yahweh. ⁵ And the word spread. The Israelites gave abundantly from the firstfruits of grain, new wine, olive oil, honey, and all kinds of grains from the field. And they brought tithes of everything in abundance. ⁶ Then the people of Israel and Judah who were living in the cities of Judah, they also brought a tithe of cattle and sheep and a tithe of consecrated objects to Yahweh their God. And they gave heaps upon heaps. ⁷ In the third month the heaps began to pile up, and in the seventh month they ceased. ⁸ When Hezekiah and the princes came and saw the heaps, they blessed Yahweh and his people Israel. ⁹ And Hezekiah questioned^[cb] the priests and the Levites concerning the heaps. ¹⁰ And Azariah the chief priest of the house of Zadok answered him, saying, “Since the offerings began to be brought to the house of Yahweh, we have eaten and been satisfied, and have much to spare, for Yahweh has blessed his people. Now see this abundant remainder!”

¹¹ And Hezekiah commanded to prepare chambers in the house of Yahweh, and they were prepared. ¹² Then they brought the offerings and tithes and holy objects faithfully. And over them as leader was Conaniah the Levite. And Shimei his brother was second in rank. ¹³ And Jehiel, Azaziah, Nathan, Asahel, Jerimoth, Jozabad, Eliel, Ismachiah, Mahath, and Benaiah were chief officers under the hand of Conaniah and Shimei, his brother, by appointment of King Hezekiah. And Azaraiah was leader of the house of God. ¹⁴ Now Kore the son of Imlah, the Levite, the gatekeeper of the east gate was over the freewill offerings of God, to give offerings to Yahweh and the most holy things. ¹⁵ And at his hand were Eden, Miniamin, Jeshua, Shemaiah, Amariah, and Shecaniah in the cities of the priests and entrusted^[cc] to give to their brothers by working groups, according to the eldest to the youngest, ¹⁶ besides their enrollment by genealogy, to males from three years old and upward, to all who came into the house of Yahweh, as each day required^[cd] for their service in their posts according to their working groups. ¹⁷ And the enrollment of the priests was according to the house of their fathers, and the Levites, from twenty years old and upward, according to their posts by their working groups. ¹⁸ And they were enrolled with all their little ones, their wives, their sons, and their daughters for the whole assembly because of their faithfulness. And they sanctified themselves in holiness. ¹⁹ And for the descendants^[ce] of Aaron, the priests, who were in the fields of the pasturelands of their cities, in each and every one of their cities^[cf] were men who were designated by name to give shares to every male among the priests and to everyone enrolled among the Levites.

²⁰ And Hezekiah did according to this throughout all Judah. And he did what is good and what is right and what is faithful before Yahweh his God. ²¹ And in every work that he began in the service of the house of God or with respect to the law and the commandment to seek his God, he did with all his heart, and he prospered.

Sennacherib’s Invasion of Judah

32 After these things and these acts of faithfulness, Sennacherib the king of Assyria came, and he came against Judah. And he encamped against the fortified cities and planned to break them down for himself. ² When Hezekiah saw that Sennacherib had come and that his face was set for battle against Jerusalem, ³ he took counsel with his commanders and his mighty warriors to block off the waters of the springs that came from outside the city, and they helped him. ⁴ Then many people were gathered, and they blocked off all the springs and the river that flowed through the midst of the land, saying, “Why should the kings of Assyria come and find much water?” ⁵ Then he strengthened himself and built up all the walls that were broken down, and raised towers upon them and another wall outside.^[cg] And he strengthened the Millo of the city of David and made much weaponry and small shields. ⁶ And he appointed commanders for battle over the people and gathered them to himself into the public square of the gate of the city. And he spoke to their hearts, saying, ⁷ “Be strong! Be courageous! Do not fear and do not be dismayed before the king of Assyria and before all the crowd that is with him, for there are more with us than with him. ⁸ With him is the arm of flesh, and with us is Yahweh our God, to help us and to fight our battles.” And the people took confidence with the words of Hezekiah, king of Judah.

⁹ After this Sennacherib the king of Assyria sent his servants to Jerusalem (now he and all his armies with him were against Lachish) to Hezekiah king of Judah and to all of Judah that was in Jerusalem, saying, ¹⁰ “Thus says Sennacherib the king of Assyria: ‘On what are you relying that you are dwelling in siege works in Jerusalem? ¹¹ Is not Hezekiah urging you to give you up to die by starvation and thirst, saying, “Yahweh our God will save us from the hand of the king of Assyria”? ¹² Has not Hezekiah himself removed his high places and his altars and said to Judah and to Jerusalem, saying, “You must bow down before one altar and upon it you must make offerings”? ¹³ Do you not know what I have done, I and my ancestors,^[ch] to all the peoples of the lands? Were the gods of the nations of all the lands at all able to save their land from my hand? ¹⁴ Who among all the gods of those nations whom my ancestors^[ci] utterly destroyed was able to save his people from my hand, that your God will be able to save you from my hand? ¹⁵ So now, do not let Hezekiah deceive you. Do not let him urge you according to this. Do not put trust in him, for no god of any nation and kingdom has been able to save his people from my hand and from the hand of my ancestors.^[cj] Surely then your God will not save you from my hand!’”

¹⁶ And still more his servants said against Yahweh God and against Hezekiah his servant. ¹⁷ And he wrote letters to treat Yahweh the God of Israel with contempt and spoke against him, saying, “As the gods of the nations of the earth who did not save their people from my hand, so likewise the God of Hezekiah will not save his people from my hand.” ¹⁸ Then they called with a great voice in Judean to the people of Jerusalem who were upon the wall to frighten them and terrify them, so that they could take the city captive. ¹⁹ And they spoke about the God of Jerusalem as about the gods of the peoples of the earth, the works of the hands of humankind.

Yahweh’s Deliverance of Jerusalem

²⁰ Then King Hezekiah and Isaiah the son of Amoz, the prophet, prayed concerning this. And they cried to the heavens. ²¹ Then Yahweh sent an angel, and he destroyed every mighty warrior of strength, commander, and officer in the camp of the king of Assyria. And he returned with shamed face to his land and went into the house of his god. And some of the offspring of his loins fell upon him there with the sword. ²² So Yahweh saved Hezekiah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem from the hand of Sennacherib, king of Assyria, and from the all their enemies, and gave them rest all around. ²³ And many brought tribute to Yahweh, to Jerusalem, and precious things to Hezekiah king of Judah, so that he was exalted in the eyes of all the nations thereafter.

The Rest of Hezekiah’s Reign

²⁴ In those days Hezekiah fell ill unto death, and he prayed to Yahweh. And he answered him and gave him a sign. ²⁵ But Hezekiah did not reciprocate according to the benefit placed upon him, because his heart became proud. So wrath was upon him and upon Judah and Jerusalem. ²⁶ But Hezekiah humbled himself with respect to the arrogance of his heart, he and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so that the wrath of Yahweh did not come upon them in the days of Hezekiah.

²⁷ And Hezekiah had very much wealth and honor, and he made storehouses for himself for silver, gold, precious stones, spices, small shields, and all sorts of desirable objects; ²⁸ and storage buildings for the yield of grain, new wine, and olive oil; and animal stalls for all kinds of animals, and animals and herds for animal stalls. ²⁹ And he made cities for himself, and livestock of sheep and abundant cattle, for God had given to him very abundant possessions. ³⁰ And this same Hezekiah blocked off the flow of the waters of the upper Gihon, and directed them down the west side of the city of David. And Hezekiah prospered in all his works. ³¹ And thus in the matter of the envoys of the commanders of Babylon who had been sent to him to seek the sign that had happened in the land, God forsook him, to test him and to know all that was in his heart.

³² Now the remainder of the words of Hezekiah and his loyal love, behold, they are written in the visions of Isaiah the son of Amoz, the prophet, upon the scroll of the kings of Judah and Israel. ³³ And Hezekiah slept with his ancestors,^[ck] and they buried him in the upper part of the burial sites of the descendants^[cl] of David. And all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem did him honor at his death. And Manasseh his son became king in his place.

The Reign of Manasseh

33 Manasseh was twelve years old when he began to reign, and he reigned fifty-five years in Jerusalem. ² And he did evil in the eyes of Yahweh according to the detestable things of the nations whom Yahweh drove out before the Israelites.^{[cm] 3} And he rebuilt^[cn] the high places that Hezekiah his father broke down, and he set up altars for the Baals, made Asherahs, and bowed down to the host of heaven and served them. ⁴ And he built altars in the house of Yahweh, of which Yahweh had said, “In Jerusalem my name shall be forever.” ⁵ And he built altars to all the host of heaven in the two courtyards of the house of Yahweh. ⁶ And he himself burned his sons in the fire in the Valley of Ben-Hinnom. And he practiced sorcery and divination, and he engaged in witchcraft and dealt with mediums and spiritists. And he did much evil in the eyes of Yahweh, to provoke him to anger. ⁷ And he placed the carved image of the idol that he had made in the house of God, of which God had said to David and to Solomon his son, “In this house and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen from all the tribes of Israel, I will put my name forever. ⁸ And I will never^[co] remove the foot of Israel from upon the land that I appointed to your ancestors,^[cp] if only you will take care to do all that I have commanded them, all the law, the regulations, and the judgments by the hand of Moses.” ⁹ And Manasseh seduced Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to do evil more than the nations that Yahweh destroyed before the Israelites.^[cq]

Manasseh’s Repentance

¹⁰ And Yahweh spoke to Manasseh and to his people, but they would not listen. ¹¹ So Yahweh brought the commanders of the army of the king of Assyria upon them, and they took Manasseh captive with hooks, and they bound him with bronze fetters and brought him to Babylon. ¹² And when he was in distress he entreated Yahweh his God and greatly humbled himself before the God of his ancestors^{[cr] 13} and prayed to him. And God responded to him and heard his plea and let him return to Jerusalem to his kingdom. And Manasseh knew that Yahweh was God.

¹⁴ Then afterward he built an outer wall for the city of David west of the Gihon in the valley, and for the entrance into the Gate of the Fishes. And it encircled the Ophel and raised it very high. Then he placed strong commanders in all the fortified cities of Judah. ¹⁵ And he removed the foreign gods and the carved image from the house of Yahweh and all the altars which he built on the mountain of the house of Yahweh and in Jerusalem, and he threw them outside the city. ¹⁶ And he restored the altar of Yahweh and offered sacrifices of peace offerings and thank offerings upon it. And he commanded Judah to serve Yahweh, the God of Israel. ¹⁷ Nevertheless, the people offered at the high places, but only to Yahweh their God.

¹⁸ Now the remainder of the words of Manasseh and his prayer to his God and the words of the seers who spoke to him in the name of Yahweh, the God of Israel, behold, they are in the words of the kings of Israel. ¹⁹ And his prayer, and how he^[cs] responded to him, all his sin and his unfaithful acts, and the places where he built the high places and set up Asherahs and idols before he humbled himself, behold, they are written in the words of the seers.

Amon’s Reign

²⁰ And Manasseh slept with his ancestors,^[ct] and they buried him in his house. And Amon his son became king in his place. ²¹ Amon was twenty-two years old when he began to reign, and he reigned two years in Jerusalem. ²² And he did what was evil in the eyes of Yahweh as Manasseh his father had done. And Amon sacrificed to all the idols that Manasseh his father had made, and he served them. ²³ And he did not humble himself before Yahweh, as Manasseh his father humbled himself, but Amon himself multiplied his guilt. ²⁴ And his servants conspired against him and killed him in his house. ²⁵ But the people of the land struck down all who conspired against King Amon. And the people of the land made his son Josiah king in his place.

The Reign of Josiah

34 Josiah was eight years old when he became king, and he reigned thirty-one years in Jerusalem. ² And he did what was right in the eyes of Yahweh, and he walked in the ways of David his ancestor^[cu] and did not deviate to the right or to the left. ³ In the eighth year of his reign, while he was still a boy, he began to seek the God of David his ancestor.^[cv] And in the twelfth year he began to cleanse Judah and Jerusalem of the high places, the Asherahs, the idols, and the images. ⁴ And he destroyed before him the altars for the Baals, and he cut down the incense stands above them. And the Asherahs, the idols, and the images he smashed. And he ground them to powder and sprinkled the dust over the burial sites of those who sacrificed to them. ⁵ And he burned the bones of the priests on the altars and cleansed Judah and Jerusalem. ⁶ And in the cities of Manasseh, Ephraim, Simeon, and as far as Naphtali, in their ruins all around, ⁷ he broke down the altars and the Asherahs and crushed the idols, grinding them to dust, and he cut down all the incense stands in all the land of Israel. Then he returned to Jerusalem.

The Scroll of the Law Discovered

⁸ Now in the eighteenth year of his reign after he purged the land and the house, he sent Shaphan the son of Azaliah, Maaseiah the commander of the city, and Joah the son of Joahaz, the recorder, to repair the house of Yahweh his God. ⁹ And they came to Hilkiah the high priest and gave the money that was brought for the house of God, which the Levites, the guardians of the threshold, had gathered from the hand of Manasseh, Ephraim, and from the whole remnant of Israel, and from all Judah and Benjamin and the inhabitants of Jerusalem. ¹⁰ And they delivered it into the hand of the workmen who were appointed in the house of Yahweh, and they in turn gave it to those doing the work who were at work in the house of Yahweh, to repair and restore the house. ¹¹ And they dispensed^[cw] it to the skilled craftsmen and the builders to buy stone for hewing and timber for the seams and for binding the houses that the kings of Judah had destroyed. ¹² And the men did the work faithfully. Over them as supervisors were appointed Jahath and Obadiah, the Levites from the Merarites, and Zechariah and Meshullam from the Kohathites. And other Levites, all who were skilled in instruments of song, ¹³ were over the porters and were directing all who worked on each task.^[cx] And some of the Levites were scribes, officials, and gatekeepers.

¹⁴ And when they brought out the money that had been brought to the house of Yahweh, Hilkiah the priest found a scroll of the law of Yahweh by the hand of Moses. ¹⁵ And Hilkiah answered and said to Shaphan the scribe, “I have found a scroll of the law in the house of Yahweh!” Then Hilkiah gave the scroll to Shaphan. ¹⁶ And Shaphan brought the scroll to the king and also informed^[cy] the king, saying, “All that was put into the hand of your servants they are doing. ¹⁷ They have dispensed^[cz] the money which was found in the house of Yahweh and have put it into the hand of the overseers and those doing the work.” ¹⁸ Then Shaphan the scribe reported to the king, “Hilkiah the priest gave to me a scroll.” Then Shaphan read from it before the king. ¹⁹ And when the king heard the words of the law, he tore his garments, ²⁰ and the king commanded Hilkiah, Ahikam the son of Shaphan, Abdon the son of Micah, Shaphan the scribe, and Asaiah the servant of the king, saying, ²¹ “Go! Seek Yahweh on my behalf and on behalf of those remaining in Israel and Judah concerning the words of the scroll that was found, for the anger of Yahweh that was poured out on us is great, because our ancestors^[da] have not kept the word of Yahweh, to do all that is written in this scroll.”

²² Then Hilkiah and those whom the king had sent went to Huldah the prophetess, the wife of Shallum, son of Tikvath, son of Hasrah, keeper of the garments. (Now she was living in Jerusalem in the second district.) And they spoke to her concerning this. ²³ And she said to them, “Thus says Yahweh, the God of Israel: ‘Say to the man who sent you all to me: ²⁴ “Thus says Yahweh: ‘Behold, I am bringing disaster upon this place and upon its inhabitants—all the curses written in the scroll that were read before the king of Judah— ²⁵ because they have abandoned me and burned incense to other gods so as to provoke me to anger with all the works of their hands. And my wrath will be poured out on this place and it will not be quenched.’ ²⁶ But to the king of Judah who sent you to seek Yahweh, thus shall you say to him: ‘Thus says Yahweh, the God of Israel: As for the words which you heard, ²⁷ because your heart was responsive and you humbled yourself before God when you heard his words against this place and against its inhabitants and you humbled yourself before me and tore your garments and wept before me, now I also have heard,’ declares^[db] Yahweh. ²⁸ ‘Behold, I will gather you to your ancestors,^[dc] and you will be gathered to your grave in peace. Your eyes will not see any of the disaster that I am bringing upon this place.’”’”

²⁹ Then they sent word to the king, and he gathered all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem. ³⁰ And the king went up to the house of Yahweh with all the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, with the priests and the Levites—all the people from great to small—and they read in their ears all the words of the scroll of the covenant that was found in the house of Yahweh. ³¹ And the king stood at his position. And he made the covenant before Yahweh, to walk after Yahweh and to keep his commands and statutes and regulations with all his heart and with all his soul, to do the words of the covenant that were written on this scroll. ³² Then he obligated^[dd] all who were found in Jerusalem and in Benjamin, that the inhabitants of Jerusalem would do according to the covenant of God, the God of their ancestors.^{[de] 33} And Josiah removed all the detestable things from the whole land that belonged to the Israelites^[df] and obligated^[dg] all who were found in Israel to serve Yahweh their God. All his days they did not turn aside from following^[dh] Yahweh, the God of their ancestors.^[di]

Josiah Observes the Passover

35 Josiah kept^[dj] the Passover to Yahweh in Jerusalem. And they slaughtered the Passover sacrifice on the fourteenth day of the first month. ² And he set the priests at their posts and encouraged them in the service of the house of Yahweh. ³ And he said to the Levites who were teaching all Israel, who were sanctified to Yahweh, “Put the holy ark in the house which Solomon the son of David, king of Israel, built. There is no need to carry it on your shoulders. Now serve Yahweh your God and his people Israel. ⁴ And prepare yourselves according to your families,^[dk] according to your working groups, according to the decree^[dl] of David king of Israel and according to the decree^[dm] of Solomon his son. ⁵ And stand in the sanctuary according to the clans of your families^[dn] for your brothers, the lay people,^[do] and a part of the family^[dp] of the Levites. ⁶ And slaughter the Passover lamb and consecrate yourself and prepare for your brothers to do according to the word of Yahweh by the hand of Moses.

⁷ Then Josiah provided for the lay people^[dq] sheep, lambs, and young goats, all for the Passover for all who were found there, to the sum of thirty thousand, along with three thousand bulls. These were the possession of the king. ⁸ And his officials contributed a freewill offering to the people, to the priests, and to the Levites. Hilkiah, Zechariah, and Jehiel, commanders of the house of God, gave to the priests two thousand six hundred Passover lambs and three hundred bulls. ⁹ Conaniah also, and Shemaiah and Nethanel his brothers, and Hashabiah and Jeiel and Jehozabad, commanders of the Levites, contributed to the Levites five thousand Passover lambs and five hundred bulls.

¹⁰ And when the work had been completed, the priests stood at their positions and the Levites in their working groups according to the command of the king. ¹¹ And they slaughtered the Passover lamb, and the priests sprinkled the blood from their hand, and the Levites flayed the sacrifices. ¹² And they set aside the burnt offerings to give them to the clans of the families^[dr] for the lay people,^[ds] to offer to Yahweh according to what is written in the scroll of Moses. And thus they did with the bulls. ¹³ Then they roasted the Passover lamb in the fire according to the ordinance. And they boiled the holy offerings in pots, in kettles, and in dishes and brought it quickly to the lay people.^{[dt] 14} And afterward they prepared for themselves and for the priests, since the priests, the descendants^[du] of Aaron, were busy with offering the burnt offerings and the fat until night. So the Levites prepared for themselves and for the priests, the descendants^[dv] of Aaron. ¹⁵ And the singers, the descendants^[dw] of Asaph, were at their stations according to the decree^[dx] of David and Asaph and Heman and Jeduthun, the seer of the king. And the gatekeepers were at each gate.^[dy] They did not need to depart from their service, for their brothers the Levites had made preparations for them.