Bible in 90 Days
16 Jehoiada made a covenant including himself, all the people, and the king, that they would be the Lord’s people.
17 All the people then went to the temple of Baal and tore it down. They smashed Baal’s altars and his images. They killed Mattan, the priest of Baal, in front of the altars.
18 Jehoiada posted a watch[a] over the House of the Lord. It was under the supervision of the levitical priests, whom David had given assignments in the House of the Lord to offer burnt offerings to the Lord, as written in the Law of Moses, with rejoicing and singing as David had directed. 19 He stationed the gatekeepers at the gates of the House of the Lord, so that no one could enter if he was unclean in any way.
20 He took the commanders of the hundreds, the nobles, the governors of the people, and all the people of the land. He brought the king down from the House of the Lord. They came through the upper gate of the palace of the king. They seated the king on the throne of the kingdom.
21 All the people of the land rejoiced. The city was quiet after they killed Athaliah with the sword.
Joash Repairs the Temple
24 Joash[b] was seven years old when he became king, and he ruled as king in Jerusalem for forty years. His mother’s name was Zibiah from Beersheba.
2 Joash did what was right in the eyes of the Lord all the days of Jehoiada the priest.
3 Jehoiada obtained two wives for him, and he fathered sons and daughters.
4 After this, it was on Joash’s heart to restore the House of the Lord, 5 so he gathered the priests and the Levites and said to them, “Go out to the cities of Judah and collect money from all Israel for the repairs to the house of your God. Do this annually. Get started immediately.”
The Levites, however, did not act on it quickly, 6 so the king summoned Jehoiada, the head of the project,[c] and said to him, “Why have you not required the Levites to collect from Judah and Jerusalem the tax which Moses, the servant of the Lord, established with the congregation of Israel for the Tent of Testimony?”[d]
7 (Because Athaliah was wicked, her sons had broken into the House of God and used all the dedicated things of the House of the Lord for the Baals.)
8 The king gave a command that a chest was to be made and set outside the gate of the House of the Lord.[e] 9 A proclamation was issued in Judah and Jerusalem that the tax imposed upon Israel in the wilderness by Moses, the servant of God, should be brought to the Lord. 10 All the officials and all the people rejoiced. They brought the money and dropped it into the chest until it was full.
11 From time to time the chest was delivered from the custody of the Levites to the king’s administrators. Whenever they saw that there was a large amount of silver in it, the secretary of the king and the administrator of the head priest came and emptied the chest. Then they would take the chest and return it to its place. They did this regularly and collected a large amount of silver.
12 The king and Jehoiada gave the silver to those carrying out the work on the House of the Lord. They hired stonemasons and carpenters to restore the House of the Lord, and also craftsmen who worked with iron and bronze to repair the House of the Lord.
13 The laborers carrying out the project worked hard, and the work of restoration moved forward because of the diligent work of their hands. They restored the House of God to its proper condition and strengthened it.
14 When they finished, they brought the rest of the silver to the king and to Jehoiada. They used it to make items for the House of the Lord, utensils for use in the service and for the burnt offerings, such as small dishes[f] and gold and silver vessels. So they offered burnt offerings in the House of the Lord continually, throughout all the days of Jehoiada.
Joash Turns Away From the Lord
15 Jehoiada grew old and full of days, and he died. He was one hundred thirty years old at his death.
16 They buried him in the City of David with the kings, because he had done good things for Israel in connection with God and his house.
17 After the death of Jehoiada, the officials of Judah came and bowed down to the king. Then the king began to listen to them. 18 They abandoned the House of the Lord, the God of their fathers, and served the Asherahs and the idols. Wrath fell upon Judah and Jerusalem because of their guilt.
19 God sent prophets among them to bring them back to the Lord. The prophets testified against them, but they did not listen.
20 The Spirit of God came upon[g] Zechariah, the son of Jehoiada the priest. He stood in front of the people and said to them, “This is what God says. Why do you disobey the commandments of the Lord? You will not prosper. Because you have forsaken the Lord, he has forsaken you.”
21 But they conspired against him, and by the command of the king they stoned him to death in the courtyard of the House of the Lord.
22 Thus King Joash did not remember the kindness which Jehoiada, his mentor,[h] had shown to him. Instead, he killed Jehoiada’s son. As Zechariah was dying, he said, “The Lord will see and avenge.”
The End of Joash
23 At the end of the year, the army of Aram marched out against Joash. They came to Judah and Jerusalem. They slaughtered all the officials from among the people, and they sent all their spoils to the king of Damascus. 24 Although the army of Aram had come with only a few men, the Lord delivered a very great army into their hand because Judah had forsaken the Lord, the God of their fathers. So the Arameans carried out judgment against Joash.
25 When they withdrew, leaving behind Joash, who was severely wounded, his own officials conspired against him because of the blood of the sons[i] of Jehoiada the priest. They violently attacked him on his bed, and he died. They buried him in the City of David, but they did not bury him in the tombs of the kings.
26 Those who conspired against him were Zabad son of Shimath, an Ammonite woman, and Jehozabad son of Shimrith, a Moabite woman.[j]
27 The accounts about his sons, about the many prophetic warnings against him, and about the restoration of the House of God are recorded in the notes in the Book of the Kings. His son Amaziah ruled as king in his place.
Amaziah of Judah
25 Amaziah was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he ruled as king in Jerusalem for twenty-nine years. His mother’s name was Jehoaddan of Jerusalem.
2 He did what was right in the eyes of the Lord but not with a completely committed heart.
3 As soon as the royal power was firmly in his possession, he put to death the officials who had assassinated his father the king. 4 But he did not put their children to death, because of what is written in the law in the Book of Moses, in which the Lord commanded, “Fathers are not to be put to death on account of their sons, and sons are not to be put to death on account of their fathers, but each person will die for his own sin.”[k]
War Against Edom
5 Amaziah then assembled Judah. He organized the troops on the basis of their fathers’ houses, under commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds for all of Judah and Benjamin. He took a count of all of those who were twenty years old and older. He found three hundred thousand men capable of going to war, able to handle spear and shield.
6 He also hired from Israel one hundred thousand powerful warriors for one hundred talents of silver.
7 A man of God came to him, saying, “O King, the army of Israel must not go along with you because the Lord is not with Israel. He is not with any of these descendants of Ephraim. 8 Even if you go and you take action, and you are strong for battle, God will defeat you in the face of the enemy, because God has power both to help and to defeat.”
9 Amaziah said to the man of God, “What am I to do about the hundred talents I gave to the army of Israel?”
The man of God answered, “The Lord is able to give to you much more than that.”
10 So Amaziah dismissed the troops who had come to him from Ephraim. They were told to return home, but they were very angry against Judah. They returned to their homes, burning with anger.
11 But Amaziah took courage. He led his troops out to the Valley of Salt, where he struck down ten thousand men of Seir. 12 The men of Judah captured ten thousand of them alive. They took them to the top of a cliff and threw them down from the top of the cliff. All of them were dashed to pieces.
13 But the men from the army, whom Amaziah had not allowed to go with him to battle, attacked the cities of Judah from Samaria to Beth Horon. They killed three thousand people from those cities. They also carried off a lot of plunder.
14 After Amaziah came back from the slaughter of the Edomites, he brought with him the gods of the men of Seir and set them up as his own gods. He worshipped them and made offerings to them.
15 The Lord was angry with Amaziah, so he sent a prophet to him, who said to him, “Why are you seeking the gods of another people, gods who did not deliver their own people from your hand?”
16 But while he was speaking to him, the king said to him, “Have we made you an advisor to the king? Stop! Why should you be struck down?”
So the prophet stopped, but he said, “I know that God has determined to destroy you because you have done this, and you have not listened to my advice.”
Israel Defeats Judah
17 After consulting with his advisors, Amaziah king of Judah sent a challenge to Joash son of Jehoahaz, son of Jehu, king of Israel: “Come. We will confront each other face-to-face.”
18 Joash king of Israel sent a response to Amaziah king of Judah:
A thorn bush in Lebanon sent a message to a cedar in Lebanon: “Give your daughter to my son as his wife.” But a wild animal in Lebanon passed by and trampled the thorn bush.
19 You have congratulated yourself for striking down Edom, and your heart has given you confidence to boast. But now stay home. Why should you stir up trouble? You will fall, and Judah will fall with you.
20 But Amaziah did not listen, because this was from God, in order that he might hand them over to Israel, because they had sought the gods of Edom.
21 Joash king of Israel attacked, so he and Amaziah king of Judah confronted each other face-to-face at Beth Shemesh, which belongs to Judah. 22 Judah was defeated by Israel, and each man fled to his tent.
23 At Beth Shemesh Joash king of Israel captured Amaziah king of Judah, the son of Joash, the son of Ahaziah, and brought him to Jerusalem. Joash broke down six hundred feet of the wall of Jerusalem, from the Ephraim Gate to the Corner Gate. 24 Joash took all the gold and silver, all the articles that he found with Obed Edom in the House of God and in the treasuries of the king’s palace. He also took Amaziah’s sons as hostages and returned to Samaria.
Amaziah’s Death
25 Amaziah son of Joash king of Judah lived for fifteen years after the death of Joash son of Jehoahaz king of Israel.
26 The rest of the deeds of Amaziah, from the first to the last, are they not written in the Book of the Kings of Judah and Israel?
27 After Amaziah had turned away from the Lord, a conspiracy was formed against him in Jerusalem, so he fled to Lachish. But they sent men after him to Lachish, and they killed him there. 28 They brought him back on horses and buried him with his fathers in the City of Judah.
Uzziah (Azariah) King of Judah
26 All the people of Judah took Uzziah,[l] who was sixteen years old, and made him king in place of his father Amaziah.
2 He was the one who built Elat and restored it to Judah after King Amaziah rested with his fathers.
3 Uzziah was sixteen years old when he became king, and he ruled in Jerusalem for fifty-two years. His mother’s name was Jekoliah[m] from Jerusalem.
4 He did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, like everything that his father Amaziah had done. 5 He continued to seek God throughout the days of Zechariah, who trained him in the fear[n] of God. As long as he sought the Lord, God made him prosper.
6 He went out and waged war against the Philistines. He broke down the wall of Gath, the wall of Javneh, and the wall of Ashdod. He built cities in the territory of Ashdod and among the Philistines. 7 God helped him against the Philistines, against the Arabs who lived in Gur Baal, and against the Meunites.
8 The Ammonites paid tribute to Uzziah. His reputation spread as far as the border of Egypt because he had become very strong. 9 Uzziah built towers in Jerusalem at the Corner Gate, at the Valley Gate, and at the Angle, and he fortified them.
10 He built towers in the wilderness. He dug many cisterns because he had large herds both in the Shephelah and on the plains. He also had farmers and vineyard workers in the highlands and in the fertile lands,[o] because he loved the soil.
11 Uzziah had an army, well trained and ready for war, organized in divisions based on the numbers from the census taken by Jeiel the secretary and Ma’aseiah the officer, under the direction of Hananiah, one of the king’s officials.
12 The total number of the leading fathers[p] who led the powerful warriors was 2,600. 13 Under their command there was a strong army of 307,500 men, able to wage war as a very powerful force, to help the king against the enemy. 14 Uzziah supplied the whole army with shields, spears, helmets, coats of mail, bows, and stones for slingshots. 15 In Jerusalem he made war machines produced by clever inventors to be mounted on the towers and at the corners, to shoot arrows and hurl large stones. His reputation spread far and wide because he received marvelous help until he was strong.
Uzziah’s Sinful Pride and Death
16 But when he had grown powerful, the pride in his heart led to his destruction. He was unfaithful to the Lord his God. He entered the temple of the Lord to burn incense on the altar of incense.
17 Azariah the priest went in after him. He was followed by eighty priests of the Lord, brave men. 18 They confronted King Uzziah and said to him, “It is not right for you, Uzziah, to burn incense to the Lord. That is for the priests, the sons of Aaron, who are consecrated to burn incense. Get out of the sanctuary, because you have been unfaithful. This action will not result in any praise for you from the Lord God.”
19 Uzziah became angry. He had a censer for burning incense in his hand. When he became angry with the priests, leprosy[q] broke out on his forehead in the presence of the priests, beside the altar of incense in the House of the Lord. 20 When Azariah, the head priest, and all the other priests looked at him, they immediately realized he had leprosy on his forehead. They rushed him out of there. He himself also was in a hurry to leave because the Lord had struck him.
21 King Uzziah remained a leper until the day of his death. He lived in a quarantined house because he was a leper. He was excluded from the House of the Lord. Jotham his son was in charge of the palace of the king and administered justice for the people of the land.
22 The rest of the acts of Uzziah, from first to last, were recorded by Isaiah son of Amoz, the prophet.
23 Uzziah rested with his fathers and was buried with his fathers in the burial field that belonged to the kings, because they said, “He is a leper.” His son Jotham ruled as king in his place.
Jotham King of Judah
27 Jotham was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he ruled in Jerusalem for sixteen years. His mother’s name was Jerushah daughter of Zadok.
2 He did what was right in the eyes of the Lord in everything, as his father Uzziah had done, but he did not go into the temple of the Lord as Uzziah had done. The people, however, still followed corrupt practices.
3 He built the upper gate of the House of the Lord. He also carried out extensive construction work on the wall of Ophel. 4 He also built cities in the hill country of Judah. On the wooded hills he built forts and towers.
5 He waged war against the king of the Ammonites and defeated them. That year the Ammonites gave him one hundred talents of silver, sixty thousand bushels[r] of wheat, and sixty thousand bushels of barley. The Ammonites paid him this amount also in the second and third years.
6 Jotham became powerful because he aligned his ways with the ways of the Lord his God.
7 You can find the rest of the acts of Jotham and all his wars and his ways written in the Book of the Kings of Israel and Judah.
8 He was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he ruled in Jerusalem for sixteen years.
9 Jotham rested with his fathers and was buried in the City of David. His son Ahaz ruled as king in his place.
Ahaz of Judah
28 Ahaz was twenty years old when he became king, and he ruled in Jerusalem for sixteen years. He did not do what was right in the eyes of the Lord as his father David had done. 2 Instead, he walked in the ways of the kings of Israel. He even made cast images for the Baals 3 and sent up sacrifices in smoke in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom. He burned his sons in the fire, in keeping with the disgusting practices of the nations whom the Lord had driven out before the people of Israel. 4 He also sacrificed and burned incense on the high places, on the hills, and under every leafy tree.
5 So the Lord his God gave him into the hand of the king of Aram. The Arameans defeated him and captured a great number of prisoners, who were taken to Damascus. Ahaz was also given into the hand of the king of Israel, who dealt him a heavy blow.
6 In one day, Pekah son of Remaliah killed one hundred twenty thousand men in Judah, all of them strong warriors, because they had forsaken the Lord, the God of their fathers. 7 Zikri, a strong warrior from Ephraim, killed the king’s son Ma’aseiah, as well as Azrikam chief officer of the palace, and Elkanah second in command to the king.
8 The men from Israel took two hundred thousand of their fellow Israelites captive, including wives, sons, and daughters. They also seized a large amount of plunder from them and took it to Samaria.
9 There was a prophet of the Lord there, whose name was Oded. He went out to meet the army that came to Samaria and said to them, “Look! Because the Lord, the God of your fathers, was angry against Judah, he gave them into your hand. You have killed them in a rage that reaches up to heaven. 10 Now you intend to subjugate the people of Judah and Jerusalem as male and female slaves for yourselves. Do you not have enough guilt of your own against the Lord your God? 11 Now hear me. Send back the captives whom you have taken from your brothers, because the fierce anger of the Lord is upon you.”
12 Some of the leaders of Ephraim, Azariah son of Johanan, Berekiah son of Meshillemoth, Jehizkiah son of Shallum, and Amasa son of Hadlai, took a stand against those returning from the battle. 13 They said to them, “You must not bring the captives here, because it would make us guilty before the Lord. You are proposing to increase our sins and our guilt, because great guilt rests upon us and fierce anger burns against Israel.”
14 So the armed men left the captives and the plunder in front of the officials and the whole assembly. 15 The men who had been designated by name got up and took custody of the captives. From the spoils they provided clothing for all those who were naked. They clothed them and provided them with sandals, with food and drink, and with salve for their wounds. They transported all those who were weak on donkeys. They brought them to Jericho, the City of Palms, to their fellow Israelites. Then they returned to Samaria.
16 At that time King Ahaz sent a request for help to the kings of Assyria. 17 Once again the Edomites came and defeated Judah and carried away captives.
18 The Philistines also made raids on the cities in the Shephelah and the Negev of Judah. They captured Beth Shemesh, Aijalon, Gederoth, Soko with its villages, Timnah with its villages, and Gimzo with its villages, and they settled there.
19 The Lord brought Judah low, because Ahaz king of Israel[s] had led Judah to throw off all restraint. He had been very unfaithful to the Lord.
20 When Tiglath Pileser[t] king of Assyria came, he marched against Ahaz and oppressed him instead of strengthening him. 21 Ahaz took some things from the House of the Lord, from the palace of the king, and from the officials, and he gave them to the king of Assyria, but it did not help him.
22 In the time of his distress King Ahaz became even more unfaithful to the Lord. That was the way he was. 23 He sacrificed to the gods of Damascus that had defeated him. He said, “Because the gods of the kings of Aram helped them, I will sacrifice to them so that they may help me.” But they were his ruin and the ruin of all Israel.
24 Ahaz gathered the articles from the House of God and cut all these things from the House of God to pieces. He shut the doors of the House of the Lord and made altars for himself in every corner of Jerusalem. 25 In each and every city throughout Judah, he made high places to burn incense to other gods. He provoked the Lord, the God of his fathers, to anger.
26 As for the rest of his acts and all his ways, from first to last, you can find them written in the Book of the Kings of Judah and Israel.
27 Ahaz rested with his fathers and was buried in the city of Jerusalem. They did not bury him in the tombs of the kings of Israel. His son Hezekiah ruled as king in his place.
Hezekiah King of Judah
29 Hezekiah became king when he was twenty-five years old, and he ruled as king in Jerusalem for twenty-nine years. His mother’s name was Abijah daughter of Zechariah.
2 He did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, like everything that his father David had done.
Restoration of the Temple
3 In the first month of the first year of his reign, Hezekiah opened the doors of the House of the Lord and repaired them. 4 He brought the priests and the Levites and assembled them in the eastern square. 5 He said to them:
Listen to me, you Levites! Consecrate yourselves now, and consecrate the House of the Lord, the God of your fathers. Remove the filth from the holy place, 6 for our fathers have been unfaithful. They have done evil in the eyes of the Lord our God. They have forsaken him. They have turned their faces away from the dwelling of the Lord. They have turned their backs. 7 They also have shut the doors of the porch of the temple and have extinguished the lamps. They have not burned incense or offered burnt offerings in the holy place to the God of Israel.
8 So the wrath of the Lord is on Judah and Jerusalem. He has made them into an object of terror, horror, and hissing, as you see with your own eyes. 9 Look! Our fathers have fallen by the sword, and our sons, our daughters, and our wives are in captivity because of this. 10 Now it is in my heart to make a covenant with the Lord, the God of Israel, so that his fierce anger will turn away from us. 11 Now, you my sons, do not be negligent, for you are the ones the Lord has chosen to stand in his presence, to minister to him, to serve him, and to burn incense to him.
12 These are the Levites who responded:
from the descendants of the Kohathites: Mahath son of Amasai and Joel son of Azariah,
from the descendants of Merari: Kish son of Abdi and Azariah son of Jahallelel,
from the Gershonites: Joah son of Zimmah and Eden son of Joah,
13 from the descendants of Elizaphan: Shimri and Jeiel, from the descendants of Asaph: Zechariah and Mattaniah,
14 from the descendants of Heman: Jehiel and Shimei, and from the descendants of Jeduthun: Shemaiah and Uzziel.
15 They gathered their brother Levites, consecrated themselves, and went to cleanse the House of the Lord, as the king commanded by the words of the Lord.
16 The priests entered the inner part of the Lord’s house to cleanse it. They brought every unclean thing that they found in the Lord’s temple out into the courtyard of the House of the Lord. The Levites took it and carried it out to the Kidron Valley.
17 On the first day of the first month, they began to consecrate the temple. By the eighth day of the month they had gotten as far as the porch of the Lord. They continued to purify the House of the Lord for eight more days. On the sixteenth day of the first month, they completed the work.
18 They went in to King Hezekiah and said, “We have cleansed the entire House of the Lord, the altar of burnt offering and all its utensils, and the table for the presentation of bread and all its utensils. 19 We have prepared and consecrated all the utensils which King Ahaz discarded during his reign, when he was unfaithful. Look! They are right there in front of the altar of the Lord.”
20 King Hezekiah got up early. He gathered the officials of the city and went up to the House of the Lord.
21 They brought seven bulls, seven rams, seven lambs, and seven male goats as a sin offering for the kingdom, for the sanctuary, and for Judah. He commanded the sons of Aaron, the priests, to offer them on the altar of the Lord. 22 So they slaughtered the cattle. The priests collected the blood and splashed it against the altar. They killed the rams and splashed the blood against the altar. They killed the lambs and splashed the blood against the altar. 23 Then they brought the male goats for the sin offering to the king and the assembly, and they laid their hands on them. 24 The priests slaughtered them and made a sin offering with their blood on the altar to make atonement for all Israel, because the king had commanded a burnt offering and a sin offering for all Israel.
25 He stationed the Levites in the House of the Lord with cymbals, harps, and lyres according to the command of David, of Gad the king’s seer, and of Nathan the prophet, because a command that comes through the hand of his prophets is a command from the hand of the Lord. 26 The Levites stood with the musical instruments prescribed by David, and the priests stood with the trumpets.
27 Hezekiah commanded that the burnt offering be offered on the altar. At the time that the burnt offering began, the song to the Lord and the trumpets also began. While the instruments prescribed by David king of Israel were playing, 28 the whole assembly bowed down and worshipped. The singers sang. The trumpeters sounded the trumpets. All this continued until the burnt offering was completed.
29 When the burnt offering was finished, the king and all those present with him bowed down and worshipped.
30 King Hezekiah and his officials commanded the Levites to sing praises to the Lord with the words of David and of Asaph the seer. They sang glad praises and bowed down and worshipped.
31 Hezekiah responded, “Now you have taken up your duty to the Lord.[u] Approach and bring sacrifices and thank offerings to the House of the Lord.” The assembly brought sacrifices and thank offerings. All those whose hearts were willing brought burnt offerings.
32 The number of burnt offerings which the assembly brought was seventy cattle, one hundred rams, and two hundred lambs. All these served as a burnt offering to the Lord. 33 The consecrated offerings consisted of six hundred cattle and three thousand sheep.
34 But the priests were too few to be able to skin all the burnt offerings. So, their brothers, the Levites, helped them until the work was completed and until more priests had consecrated themselves, because the Levites were more upright in heart[v] in consecrating themselves than the priests.
35 In addition to the great number of burnt offerings, they presented both the fat of the fellowship offerings and the drink offerings that accompanied the burnt offerings. So the service of the House of the Lord was restored.
36 Hezekiah and all the people rejoiced because God had restored this for the people, and all this had been done very quickly.
The Great Passover Celebration
30 Hezekiah sent messengers to all Israel and Judah. He also wrote letters inviting Ephraim and Manasseh to come to the House of the Lord at Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover for the Lord, the God of Israel. 2 The king, his officials, and the whole assembly in Jerusalem had made plans to celebrate the Passover in the second month. 3 They were not able to celebrate it at its proper time, because the priests had not consecrated themselves in sufficient number, and the people had not assembled in Jerusalem.
4 The plan seemed right in the eyes of the king and in the eyes of the whole assembly. 5 So they decided to issue a proclamation throughout Israel from Beersheba to Dan to come to observe the Passover for the Lord, the God of Israel, at Jerusalem, because they had not been celebrating it with large numbers of people as had been commanded. 6 Runners were sent out with letters from the hand of the king and from his officials to all Israel and Judah. Because of the command of the king, they made the following announcement:
People of Israel! Return to the Lord, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, and he will return to the remnant of you who have escaped from the hand of the kings of Assyria.
7 You must not be like your fathers or like your brothers, who were unfaithful to the Lord, the God of their fathers. That is why he gave them up to desolation, as you see.
8 Now you must not be stiff-necked like your fathers. Give your hand[w] to the Lord. Come to his sanctuary, which he has consecrated forever. Serve the Lord your God, so that his fierce anger will turn away from you.
9 For if you return to the Lord, your brothers and your children will be shown compassion in the presence of their captors and be permitted to return to this land, for the Lord your God is gracious and merciful. He will not turn his face away from you if you return to him.
10 The runners went from city to city through the land of Ephraim and Manasseh and even as far as Zebulun, but people laughed at them and ridiculed them. 11 Nevertheless, some men from Asher, Manasseh, and Zebulun humbled themselves and came to Jerusalem.
12 But in Judah the hand of God was present to give them one heart to follow the command of the king and the command of the officials, in agreement with the word of the Lord. 13 Many people gathered in Jerusalem to keep the Festival of Unleavened Bread in the second month—a very great assembly.
14 They quickly removed the altars from Jerusalem. They took away all the altars for burning incense and threw them into the Kidron Valley.
15 They slaughtered the Passover lambs on the fourteenth day of the second month. The priests and the Levites had been put to shame, so they consecrated themselves and brought burnt offerings into the House of the Lord. 16 They took up their positions as prescribed in the Law of Moses, the man of God. The priests splashed the blood, which was given to them by the Levites, against the altar. 17 Because many of the assembly had not consecrated themselves,[x] the Levites carried out the slaughtering of the Passover lambs for everyone who was not ceremonially clean, to make them holy to the Lord.
18 A large number of the people, many of whom were from Ephraim, Manasseh, Issachar, and Zebulun, had not purified themselves, but they ate the Passover anyway, in a manner not in keeping with what is written. So Hezekiah prayed for them: “May the good Lord pardon everyone all around, 19 that is, everyone who seeks God the Lord, the God of his fathers, with all his heart, even though he does not have the ceremonial purity required by the holy place.”
20 The Lord heard Hezekiah and healed the people.
21 The people of Israel who were present in Jerusalem observed the Festival of Unleavened Bread for seven days with great rejoicing. The Levites and the priests praised the Lord day by day with loud instruments for the Lord.
22 Hezekiah encouraged the hearts of all the Levites, who displayed wonderful skills in service of the Lord. They ate the food of the festival for the appointed seven days, presenting fellowship sacrifices and giving thanks to the Lord, the God of their fathers.
23 The entire assembly agreed to celebrate for another seven days. They gladly did it for another seven days, 24 because Hezekiah king of Judah provided one thousand bulls and seven thousand sheep for the assembly, and the officials contributed one thousand bulls and ten thousand sheep for the assembly. The priests consecrated themselves in great number.
25 The whole assembly of Judah rejoiced together with the priests, the Levites, the entire assembly from Israel, the aliens who resided in the land of Israel, and the people who lived in Judah. 26 There was great joy in Jerusalem, because since the time of Solomon, the son of David, the king of Israel, there had been nothing like this in Jerusalem.
27 Then the levitical priests arose and blessed the people, and their voice was heard. Their prayer ascended to the Lord’s holy dwelling in heaven.
Hezekiah Restores Proper Worship of the Lord
31 When all this was finished, all the Israelites who were present went out to the cities of Judah. They broke the sacred memorial pillars into pieces, chopped down the Asherah poles, and smashed the high places and the altars throughout Judah, Benjamin, Ephraim, and Manasseh until the task was finished. Then all the people of Israel returned to their cities, each of them to his own property.
2 Hezekiah appointed the divisions of the priests and Levites, assigning each man to his area of service according to his division. The priests and Levites were responsible for burnt offerings and fellowship offerings, in order to minister and to give thanks and praise in the gates of the camps[y] of the Lord.
3 The king’s contribution from his own personal property was designated for the morning and evening burnt offerings, as well as for burnt offerings on the sabbaths, the new moons, and the designated festivals, as it is written in the Law of the Lord. 4 He commanded the people living in Jerusalem to contribute the portion designated for the priests and the Levites, so that they could hold tightly to the Law of the Lord.
5 As soon as the order was made public, the people of Israel gave their firstfruits of grain, wine, oil, honey, and all the produce of the field in abundance. They brought an abundant tithe of everything.
6 All the people of Israel and Judah who lived in the cities of Judah also brought their tithe of the cattle and sheep, and a tithe of the holy things dedicated for the Lord their God. They piled up one heap on top of another. 7 In the third month they began to accumulate it, and they finished by the seventh month.
8 When Hezekiah and the officials came, they saw the piles and blessed the Lord and his people Israel. 9 Hezekiah asked the priests and Levites about the piles. 10 Azariah, the head priest of the house of Zadok, answered, “Ever since they began bringing their contributions into the House of the Lord, the people have had plenty to eat and drink, enough to be full, with plenty left over. The Lord has blessed his people, and this great amount is left over.”
11 Hezekiah told them to prepare rooms in the House of the Lord, and they did so. 12 They faithfully brought the special contributions, tithes, and dedicated things. Konaniah the Levite was the chief officer over them, and his brother Shimei was second in command. 13 Jehiel, Azaziah, Nahath, Asahel, Jerimoth, Jozabad, Eliel, Ismakiah, Mahath, and Benaiah were administrators under the supervision of Konaniah and his brother Shimei, by the appointment of King Hezekiah. Azariah was the chief officer of the House of God. 14 Kore son of Imnah the Levite, the keeper of the East Gate, was in charge of the voluntary offerings to God. He was responsible for distributing the special contribution given to the Lord[z] and the most holy offerings. 15 Faithfully assisting him in the cities of the priests were Eden, Miniamin, Jeshua, Shemaiah, Amariah, and Shekaniah, who were making distributions to their brothers, according to their divisions, the same to old and young alike.
16 Besides that, they gave support to all those enrolled by genealogy, to the males from three years old and up, to all who came to the House of the Lord for their daily service in their assigned offices in their divisions. 17 They also gave support to those enrolled as priests on the basis of the house of their fathers, also to the Levites from twenty years old and older, according to their assigned offices in their divisions, 18 to those enrolled with all their dependents, their wives and their sons and daughters—to the entire group—because they were faithfully keeping themselves holy. 19 For the descendants of Aaron, those priests who were living in the fields of the common pastureland around their cities, in every city, men designated by name were assigned to give portions to every male among the priests and to all the enrolled Levites.
20 Hezekiah carried this out in all Judah. He did what was good, right, and faithful before the Lord his God. 21 In all the work which he began in service to the House of God, to the law, and to the commandment, he sought his God and acted with all his heart, and he prospered.
The King of Assyria Threatens Jerusalem
32 After these events and this faithfulness, Sennacherib king of Assyria came into Judah and laid siege to the fortified cities. He intended to capture them for himself.
2 When Hezekiah saw that Sennacherib had come and was ready to wage war against Jerusalem, 3 he made plans with his officials and soldiers to block the water supply from the springs outside the city. They helped him 4 by gathering a large group of people, who stopped all the springs and the water channel that flowed through the middle of the land.[aa] They said, “Why should the kings of Assyria come and find abundant water?”
5 Hezekiah strengthened his position. He rebuilt the whole part of the wall that had been broken down. He made the towers taller. He made a second wall outside the first wall. He strengthened the Millo[ab] of the City of David. He made many weapons and shields. 6 He set military officers over the people. He brought them together with him in the square at the city gate. He spoke to encourage them: 7 “Be strong. Be courageous. Do not be afraid. Do not be terrified because of the presence of the king of Assyria and the horde that is with him, because the one with us is greater than all those who are with him. 8 With him is only an arm of flesh. With us is the Lord our God to help us and to fight our battles.” The people were encouraged by the words of Hezekiah king of Judah.
9 After this, while Sennacherib king of Assyria was attacking Lachish with his powerful forces, he sent his officials to Jerusalem, to Hezekiah king of Judah and to all the people of Judah who were in Jerusalem.
10 Sennacherib’s officials proclaimed:
This is what Sennacherib king of Assyria says. What are you relying on as you sit there under siege in Jerusalem? 11 Isn’t Hezekiah misleading you? He is handing you over to die by famine and by thirst, when he says, “The Lord our God will deliver us from the hand of the king of Assyria.”
12 Hasn’t this same Hezekiah taken away the Lord’s high places and altars and commanded Judah and Jerusalem: “You are to worship in front of one altar, and you are to send up sacrifices only from it”?
13 Don’t you know what I and my fathers have done to all the people of the other lands? Were the gods of those foreign nations ever able to deliver their land from my hand? 14 Who among all the gods of those nations that my fathers devoted to destruction was able to deliver his people from my hand? So, will your God be able to deliver you from my hand?
15 Now don’t let Hezekiah deceive you and mislead you like this. Do not believe him, for no god of any nation or kingdom has been able to deliver his people from my hand or from the hand of my father. How much less will your God! He will not deliver you from my hand.
16 These officials had even more to say against the Lord God and against his servant Hezekiah. 17 The king of Assyria wrote letters to heap scorn on the Lord, the God of Israel, and to speak against him by saying, “Like the gods of those foreign nations, which have not delivered their people from my hands, the god of Hezekiah will not deliver his people from my hand.”
18 They shouted loudly in the language of Judah to the people of Jerusalem who were on the wall, in order to frighten them and terrify them so that they could take the city. 19 They spoke about the God of Jerusalem in the same way that they spoke about the gods of the peoples of the earth, the work of human hands.
The Lord Saves Jerusalem
20 Hezekiah the king and Isaiah son of Amoz, the prophet, prayed about this, crying out to heaven.
21 So the Lord sent an angel, who wiped out all the powerful warriors, the commanders, and the officers in the camp of the king of Assyria, and he returned to his land in disgrace. There he went into the house of his god, and some of his offspring from his own body struck him down with the sword.
22 So the Lord saved Hezekiah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem from the hand of Sennacherib king of Assyria and from the hand of everyone else. He gave them rest on all sides.
23 Many people kept bringing gifts for the Lord to Jerusalem and precious things to Hezekiah king of Judah. He was exalted in the eyes of all the nations after this.
The Lord Humbles Hezekiah
24 In those days Hezekiah became sick and was dying. He prayed to the Lord, and the Lord answered him and gave him a sign. 25 But Hezekiah did not respond to the benefit granted to him, because his heart was proud. So there was wrath against him and against Judah and Jerusalem.
26 But Hezekiah humbled himself for the pride of his heart, both he and the inhabitants of Jerusalem. So the wrath of the Lord did not come upon them during the days of Hezekiah.
Hezekiah’s Wealth
27 Hezekiah had very great wealth and honor. He made treasuries for his silver, gold, precious stones, spices and incense, shields, and all kinds of expensive items.
28 He made storehouses for the harvest of grain, new wine, and olive oil, as well as stalls for all kinds of cattle and pens for flocks of sheep and goats. 29 He built cities for himself and amassed flocks of sheep and very many cattle, for God had given him very much property and many possessions.
30 This Hezekiah was the one who closed the upper outlet of the Gihon Spring. He directed the water down to the west side of the City of David. Hezekiah was successful in everything he did.
31 When the envoys from the officials of Babylon were sent to him to inquire about the sign that had occurred in the land, God left him to test him and to know everything that was in his heart.
Hezekiah’s Death
32 You can find the rest of the acts of Hezekiah and his faithfulness written in the vision of Isaiah son of Amoz, the prophet, in the Book of the Kings of Judah and Israel.
33 Hezekiah rested with his fathers and was buried in the upper part of[ac] the tombs of the sons of David. All Judah and the residents of Jerusalem honored him at his death. Then his son Manasseh became king in his place.
Manasseh King of Judah
33 Manasseh was twelve years old when he became king, and he ruled as king in Jerusalem for fifty-five years.
2 He did evil in the eyes of the Lord by following the disgusting practices of the nations which the Lord had driven out before the people of Israel. 3 He rebuilt the high places which his father Hezekiah had torn down. He erected altars to the Baals and made Asherah poles. He worshipped the whole army of the heavens[ad] and served them. 4 He built altars in the House of the Lord, about which the Lord had said, “In Jerusalem my Name will be forever.” 5 He built altars for the whole army of the heavens in the two courtyards of the House of the Lord.
6 He made his sons pass through the fire in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom. He practiced fortune telling and sought omens and consulted mediums and spiritists. He greatly increased the evil deeds he did in the eyes of the Lord and provoked him to anger.
7 He placed the image of the carved idol that he had made in the House of God, about which God had said to David and to his son Solomon, “In this house and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, I will put my Name forever. 8 I will not make the feet of Israel wander again from the land which I assigned to their fathers, but only if they are conscientious to carry out everything I have commanded them, all of the law, the statutes, and the ordinances given through Moses.”
9 Manasseh seduced Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to do more evil than the nations whom the Lord had destroyed before the people of Israel.
The Lord’s Discipline Leads to Repentance
10 The Lord spoke to Manasseh and to his people, but they paid no attention. 11 So the Lord brought the officials of the army of the king of Assyria against them. They led Manasseh captive with hooks. They bound him with bronze shackles and took him to Babylon.
12 When he was in distress, he sought the favor of the Lord his God and humbled himself deeply before the God of his fathers. 13 He prayed to the Lord, and the Lord responded to his prayer and heard his plea for mercy. He brought him back to Jerusalem into his own kingdom. Then Manasseh knew that the Lord is the true God.
14 Afterward he built an outer wall for the City of David in the valley, from west of the Gihon Spring up to the entrance by the Fish Gate. He encircled Ophel with it and raised it to a very great height. He also put commanders of the army in all the fortified cities in Judah.
15 He removed the foreign gods and the idol from the House of the Lord. He removed all the altars he had built on the mountain of the House of the Lord and in Jerusalem and threw them outside of the city. 16 He restored the altar of the Lord and offered sacrifices of fellowship offerings and thank offerings on it. He commanded Judah to serve the Lord, the God of Israel.
17 Nevertheless, the people still sacrificed at the high places, but only to the Lord their God.
Manasseh’s Death
18 You can find the rest of the acts of Manasseh, his prayer to his God, and the words of the seers who spoke to him in the name of the Lord, the God of Israel, in the annals of the kings of Israel.
19 His prayer and how the Lord received it, all his sin and his unfaithfulness, and the sites on which he built the high places and set the Asherah poles and the carved images before he humbled himself, you can find recorded in the chronicles of the seers.
20 Manasseh rested with his fathers, and he was buried in his own house. Amon his son became king in his place.
Amon King of Judah
21 Amon was twenty-two years old when he became king, and he ruled as king in Jerusalem for two years.
22 He did what was evil in the eyes of the Lord, just as his father Manasseh had done. Amon sacrificed to all the images that Manasseh his father had made, and he served them. 23 But he did not humble himself before the Lord, as Manasseh his father had humbled himself. Instead, Amon even multiplied the guilt.
24 His servants conspired against him and put him to death in his own house. 25 Then the people of the land killed all those who had conspired against King Amon. The people of the land made his son Josiah king in his place.
Josiah King of Judah
34 Josiah was eight years old when he became king, and he ruled as king in Jerusalem for thirty-one years.
2 He did what was right in the eyes of the Lord. He walked in the ways of his father David. He did not turn aside to the right or to the left.
Josiah Cleanses the Land
3 In the eighth year of his reign, when he was still a youth, he began to seek the God of his father David. In the twelfth year he began to purify Judah and Jerusalem from the high places, the Asherah poles, the carved images, and the cast images. 4 In his presence they tore down the altars of the Baals. He chopped down the sun pillars, which stood above them. He broke the Asherah poles, the carved images, and the cast images into pieces and ground them to dust, which he scattered over the graves of those who had sacrificed to them. 5 He burned the bones of their priests on their altars. In this way he purified Judah and Jerusalem. 6 In the cities of Manasseh, Ephraim, Simeon, and as far as Naphtali, as well as in the ruins around them, 7 he tore down the altars, the Asherah poles, and the images. He ground them into powder. He cut to pieces all the sun pillars throughout all the land of Israel. Then he returned to Jerusalem.
Josiah Repairs the Temple
8 In the eighteenth year of his rule, in order to purify the land and the House, he sent Shaphan son of Azaliah, Ma’aseiah the administrator of the city, and Joah son of Joahaz, the recorder, to repair the House of the Lord his God. 9 They went to Hilkiah the high priest and gave him the silver that had been brought into the house of God, which the Levites, the keepers of the threshold, had collected from Manasseh and Ephraim, from all of the remnant of Israel, and from all of Judah, Benjamin, and the residents of Jerusalem. 10 They gave it to those doing the work, to the ones who were organized to work in the House of the Lord. Those who were doing the work in the House of the Lord used it to repair and restore the building. 11 They gave it to the carpenters and the builders to buy quarried stones and timbers for joists and beams for the buildings which the kings of Judah had allowed to fall into ruin.
12 The men were doing the work faithfully. The supervisors appointed to oversee the work were Jahath and Obadiah, who were Levites descended from Merari, and Zechariah and Meshullam, who were Levites descended from Kohath. These Levites were all skillful with musical instruments. 13 They were in charge of the people transporting material and were overseers for all those doing the different kinds of work. Some of the Levites also served as scribes, officials, and gatekeepers.
Hilkiah Finds the Book of the Law
14 When they brought out the silver that had been brought into the House of the Lord, Hilkiah the priest found the Book of the Law of the Lord that had been received from the hand of Moses. 15 Hilkiah responded by telling Shaphan the secretary, “I have found the Book of the Law in the House of the Lord.” Hilkiah then gave the scroll to Shaphan.
16 Shaphan brought the scroll to the king. He also brought this report to the king: “Your servants are doing everything they were assigned to do. 17 They have emptied the silver found in the House of the Lord from the chest and have delivered it to the overseers and to the workmen.”
18 Shaphan the secretary then told the king, “Hilkiah the priest has given me a scroll.” Shaphan read it in the presence of the king. 19 When the king heard the words of the law, he tore his clothing.
20 The king gave this command to Hilkiah and to Ahikam son of Shaphan, Abdon son of Micah, Shaphan the secretary, and Asaiah servant of the king:[ae] 21 “Go and inquire of the Lord for me and for those who remain in Israel and in Judah concerning the words of the book which has been found. For great is the wrath of the Lord that is being poured out on us because our fathers have not kept the word of the Lord by doing everything that is written in this book.”
22 Hilkiah and the men the king sent with him went to Huldah the prophetess, the wife of Shallum, the son of Tokhath, the son of Hasrah,[af] the keeper of the vestments.[ag] She was living in Jerusalem in the Second District. They spoke to her concerning this matter.
23 She told them:
This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says. Tell the man who sent you to me that 24 this is what the Lord says:
Look! I am bringing disaster on this place and on its inhabitants—all the curses written in the book which they read before the king of Judah— 25 because they have forsaken me and have burned incense to other gods, provoking me to anger with all the work of their hands. My anger will be poured out on this place. It will not be quenched.
26 To the king of Judah, who sent you to inquire of the Lord, you will also say this:
The Lord, the God of Israel, has spoken the words which you have heard. 27 But because your heart was receptive, and you humbled yourself before God when you heard his words against this place and its inhabitants, and because you have humbled yourself before me, have ripped your clothing, and have wept before me, I also have heard you, declares the Lord.
28 Listen to my response! I will gather you to your fathers. You will be gathered to your grave in peace. Your eyes will not see all the disaster I will bring upon this place and its inhabitants.
They brought back this message to the king.
The Book of the Covenant Is Read and Followed
29 The king then summoned all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem. 30 The king went up to the House of the Lord with all the men of Judah, with the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the priests, the Levites, and all the people from the least to the greatest. In their hearing he read all the words of the Book of the Covenant, which had been found in the House of the Lord.
31 The king stood in his place by the pillar and made a covenant before the Lord to walk in the way of the Lord, to keep his commandments, his testimonies, and his statutes with all his heart and with all his soul, and to uphold the words of the covenant that were written in this book.
32 Then he made all those who were present in Jerusalem and Benjamin stand up and do the same. The inhabitants of Jerusalem acted according to the covenant of God, the God of their fathers.
Josiah Cleanses the Land
33 Josiah removed all the abominations from all the lands that belonged to the people of Israel. He influenced everyone in Israel to serve the Lord their God. Throughout all his days, they did not turn away from the Lord, the God of their fathers.
Josiah Celebrates a Passover
35 Josiah celebrated a Passover to the Lord in Jerusalem. They slaughtered the Passover lamb on the fourteenth day of the first month. 2 He appointed the priests to their offices. He encouraged them in the service for the House of the Lord.
3 He said this to the Levites, who taught all Israel and who were holy to the Lord:
Keep the holy ark in the house built by Solomon, the son of David, the king of Israel. Do not carry it on your shoulders anymore. Now serve the Lord your God and his people Israel. 4 Prepare yourselves according to your divisions, by your fathers’ house, as instructed by David king of Israel and his son Solomon.
5 Take up your positions in this holy place with a group of Levites assigned to each fathers’ house of your brothers, the people of Israel. Part of a fathers’ house of the Levites is assigned to each group. 6 Slaughter the Passover lamb. Consecrate yourselves. Prepare it for your brother Israelites according to the word of the Lord through Moses.
7 Josiah contributed a total of thirty thousand lambs and young goats as Passover offerings for all the people who were present, and three thousand cattle. These were contributed from the possessions of the king. 8 His officials contributed toward a voluntary offering on behalf of the people, the priests, and the Levites.
Hilkiah, Zechariah, and Jehiel, the chief officers of the House of God, gave the priests twenty-six hundred lambs for Passover offerings and three hundred cattle.
9 Konaniah and his brothers Shemaiah and Nethanel, with Hashabiah, Jeiel and Jozabad, the officials of the Levites, contributed five thousand Passover lambs and five hundred cattle to the Levites.
10 When preparations for the service had been completed, the priests stood in their places, and the Levites stood in their divisions as the king had commanded. 11 They slaughtered the Passover lambs. The priests applied the blood they had received, while the Levites skinned the animals. 12 They set aside the burnt offerings to present them on behalf of the groups of fathers’ houses of the people, to offer them to the Lord as is written in the Book of Moses. They did the same with the cattle. 13 They roasted the Passover lamb with fire according to the regulation. They boiled the holy offerings in pots, kettles, and pans. They distributed them quickly to all the people.
14 Afterward, they made preparations for themselves and for the priests, because the priests, the descendants of Aaron, were busy offering the burnt offerings and the fat portions until it was nighttime. So the Levites prepared for themselves and for the priests, the descendants of Aaron.
15 The singers, the descendants of Asaph, were in their places according to the command of David, Asaph, Heman, and Jeduthun, the king’s seer.
The gatekeepers at each gate did not need to leave their assigned posts because their brother Levites prepared the Passover for them.
The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.