Bible in 90 Days

Jehoiada helps the people to serve God

¹⁶ Jehoiada prepared a covenant with the Lord. He, all the people and the king agreed to serve the Lord as his people. ¹⁷ All the people went to the temple of Baal. They destroyed it. They completely knocked down its altars and idols. They killed Baal's priest, Mattan, in front of Baal's altars.

¹⁸ Then Jehoiada gave jobs to the priests and the Levites to do in the Lord's temple. That was the work that King David had told them to do in the temple. They had to offer burnt offerings as sacrifices to the Lord, and they had to praise him with happy songs. They did the things that Moses had written in God's law and that David had taught. ¹⁹ Jehoiada put guards at the gates of the Lord's temple. They would stop anyone who was unclean from going in.

²⁰ Jehoiada called together the officers of army groups, the important men, the government officers and all the other people. Jehoiada led them all to bring the king down from the Lord's temple into the palace. They went into the palace through the Higher Gate. They put Joash on the royal throne as king.

²¹ All the people were very happy. There was no longer any trouble in Jerusalem now that they had killed Athaliah as her punishment.

Joash rules Judah as king

24 Joash was seven years old when he became the king of Judah. He ruled in Jerusalem for 40 years. His mother was Zibiah, who came from Beersheba. ² Joash did things that pleased the Lord. He continued to do that all the time that Jehoiada the priest was alive. ³ Jehoiada chose two women for Joash to marry. She gave birth to sons and daughters for him.

⁴ After some time, Joash decided to repair the Lord's temple. ⁵ He brought together the priests and the Levites. He told them, ‘Go around to all the towns in Judah. Bring here all the money that Israel's people offer each year for the temple. We will use it to repair the temple of your God. Go quickly and do it now!’

But the Levites did not do it immediately.

⁶ So the king told Jehoiada, the leader of the priests, to come to him. He said to him, ‘You have not told the Levites to bring the money that the people of Judah and Jerusalem have given. Why have you not done that? The Lord's servant Moses and all Israel's people made the rule that people should give the money each year. It would be a tax to help with the tent of God's covenant.’^[a]

⁷ The sons of wicked Queen Athaliah had broken the door of God's temple. They had gone in there and they had taken the holy things. They had used them to worship the idols of Baal. That is why Joash wanted to repair the Lord's temple.

People bring money to the temple

⁸ The king told the Levites to make a big box. They put it outside the gate of the Lord's temple. ⁹ Then he sent a command to everyone in Jerusalem and in the rest of Judah. He told them to bring the money to pay their tax to the Lord. That was the tax that God's servant Moses had told the Israelites that they should pay when they were in the wilderness. ¹⁰ All the officers and all the people were happy to give this money. They brought it to Jerusalem and they threw it into the box, until the box was full. ¹¹ Every time that the box became full of money, the Levites took it to the king's officers. Then the king's secretary and the officer who served the leader of the priests took the money out of the box. Then they put the box outside the temple gate again. They did that every day, so that they had a lot of money.

¹² The king and Jehoiada gave the money to the men who would take care of the work on the Lord's temple. They paid men who could work with stone and wood to repair the temple. They also paid men who knew how to work with iron and bronze for this work.

¹³ These workers worked well so that they soon finished the work. They built the temple to be very strong, in the way that it should be. ¹⁴ When they had finished, there was some money that remained. So the workers took the money to the king and to Jehoiada. They decided to make tools to use in the temple. There were things that the priests used to serve the Lord in the temple, and to offer burnt offerings. They used gold and silver to make dishes and other things. While Jehoiada was still alive, the priests always made burnt offerings as sacrifices to the Lord in his temple.

¹⁵ But Jehoiada became very old and he died when he was 130 years old. ¹⁶ They buried him beside the kings in the City of David. They gave him that honour, because he had done many good things in Israel for God and for the temple.

Joash and the people turn away from the Lord

¹⁷ After Jehoiada died, the important officers of Judah came to the king. They bent down low in front of him to give him honour. The king listened to their advice. ¹⁸ They stopped worshipping the Lord, the God of their ancestors, in his temple. Instead, they worshipped Asherah poles and idols. So God became very angry with the people of Judah and Jerusalem, because they were guilty of these sins. ¹⁹ The Lord sent his prophets to tell the people to turn back to him. They warned the people, but the people would not listen to them.

²⁰ Then God's Spirit came to Jehoiada's son Zechariah with power. Zechariah stood in front of the people and he said, ‘This is what God says: “You are not obeying the Lord's commands. So nothing will go well for you. You have turned away from the Lord, so now he has turned away from you!” ’

²¹ The people decided to punish Zechariah. The king gave a command to punish him with death. So they threw stones at him to kill him in the yard of the Lord's temple. ²² King Joash forgot that Zechariah's father Jehoiada had been a faithful servant. He killed Jehoiada's son. Zechariah said, as he was dying, ‘I pray that the Lord sees what you have done! May he punish you because of it!’

Joash dies

²³ At the end of that year, Syria's army attacked Judah and Jerusalem, where Joash lived. They killed all the leaders of Judah's people. They took many valuable things to send to their king in Damascus. ²⁴ Syria's army was very small but the Lord gave them power over Judah's large army. He did that because Judah's people had turned away from the Lord, the God of their ancestors. Syria's army punished Joash as he deserved.

^25-26 Joash had received bad wounds in the battle. When Syria's army went away, Joash's officers decided to kill him. They were angry because he had killed Zechariah, the son of Jehoiada the priest. So they murdered him in his bed. The two officers who did this were Zabad and Jehozabad. Zabad's mother was Shimeath, who came from Ammon. Jehozabad's mother was Shimrith, who came from Moab.

Joash's people buried him in the City of David. But they did not bury him beside the graves of the other kings.

²⁷ The things that happened while Joash was king are written in a book. The book is called ‘The history of the kings’. It includes a list of Joash's sons, and the many messages that prophets spoke about him. It also includes a report of the work which he did on God's temple.

Joash's son Amaziah became king after him.

Amaziah becomes king of Judah

25 Amaziah was 25 years old when he began to rule as king. He ruled in Jerusalem for 29 years. His mother's name was Jehoaddin. She was from Jerusalem. ² He did things that the Lord said were good. But he was not completely faithful.

³ Amaziah made himself strong to rule his kingdom with authority. Then he killed the officers who had murdered his father, King Joash. ⁴ But he did not punish their sons with death. He obeyed the Lord's command that was written in the Book of the Law of Moses. The command says, ‘Do not punish fathers with death when their sons do bad things. Do not punish children with death when their fathers do bad things. Each person must die only because of his own sins.’^[b]

Amaziah's army

⁵ Then Amaziah brought all the people of Judah together. For each of their clans he chose officers to lead groups of 1,000 men and groups of 100 men. He did that for the clans of Judah's tribe and the clans of Benjamin's tribe.^[c] He counted all the men who were 20 years old or older who could fight with spears and shields. There were 300,000 of them. ⁶ He also paid 3,500 kilograms of silver for 100,000 soldiers from Israel to join his army.

⁷ But a prophet went to meet Amaziah and he said, ‘Please sir, do not take these soldiers from Israel to go and fight beside your own soldiers. The Lord has turned away from the tribe of Ephraim and all of Israel. ⁸ The Lord will allow your enemies to win against you, even if you fight very well. God has the power to help you, but he can also cause your enemies to win against you.’

⁹ Amaziah said to God's prophet, ‘But I have paid 3,500 kilograms of silver for these soldiers from Israel. What should I do about that?’ The prophet replied, ‘The Lord is able to give you much more than all that money!’

¹⁰ So Amaziah sent away the soldiers who had come from Ephraim.^[d] He told them to go back to their homes. So they became very angry with Judah's people. As they went home, they had angry thoughts.

Amaziah fights against Edom

¹¹ But Amaziah was brave. He led his army to Salt Valley. There they killed 10,000 soldiers from Edom.^{[e] 12} They also caught 10,000 soldiers as their prisoners. They took them to the top of a high rock. They threw their prisoners from the top. They all fell down onto the rocks below and they died.

¹³ But the soldiers from Israel that Amaziah had sent home attacked some towns in Judah. They were angry because Amaziah had not allowed them to join his army in the battle. They killed 3,000 men in Judah's towns between Samaria and Beth Horon. They took away many valuable things from those towns.

Amaziah worships idols

¹⁴ After Amaziah's army had killed the soldiers from Edom, he returned to Judah. He brought back some idols of the gods that the people of Edom worshipped. He started to worship them as his own gods. He offered sacrifices to them. ¹⁵ So the Lord became angry with Amaziah. He sent a prophet to him with a message. The prophet said to Amaziah, ‘You should not worship these foreign gods! They could not even save their own people from your power!’

¹⁶ While the prophet was still speaking, the king said to him, ‘We did not choose you to be the king's advisor! If you do not stop speaking, my men will kill you.’ So the prophet stopped. But then he said, ‘I know what God has decided to do. He will destroy you because you have done these bad things and you have not listened to my advice.’

Amaziah attacks Israel

¹⁷ Then King Amaziah of Judah met with his advisors. Then he sent a message to King Jehoash of Israel. He was the son of Jehoahaz and the grandson of Jehu. King Amaziah's message said, ‘Come here and meet me!’

¹⁸ But King Jehoash of Israel sent this message back to King Amaziah of Judah: ‘In Lebanon, a thorn bush sent this message to a cedar tree: “Please give your daughter to my son, to be his wife.” Then a wild animal of Lebanon came and knocked down the thorn bush. It walked all over it! ¹⁹ You are proud that you have won the fight against Edom. But do not boast about your power! You may be very happy, but stay at home! Do not try to fight against us. If you do that, you will cause trouble that destroys both you and your kingdom, Judah.’

²⁰ But Amaziah did not accept Jehoash's message. God had decided to put him under the power of his enemies because he worshipped the gods of Edom. ²¹ So King Jehoash of Israel prepared to attack Amaziah's army. Jehoash and Amaziah met together in battle at Beth Shemesh, a town in Judah. ²² Israel's army won the battle against Judah's army. All the soldiers from Judah ran back home. ²³ At Beth Shemesh, King Jehoash of Israel caught the king of Judah, Amaziah, the son of Joash and the grandson of Ahaziah. King Jehoash took him to Jerusalem. He destroyed the wall of Jerusalem, between the Ephraim Gate and the Corner Gate. That part of the wall was 180 metres long.^{[f] 24} He took away all the gold and the silver from the temple, including the valuable things that Obed-Edom was taking care of. Jehoash also took the valuable things from the king's palace. He also took some of the people away with him as prisoners. Then he returned to Samaria.

Amaziah dies

²⁵ Joash's son Amaziah, the king of Judah, lived for 15 years after Jehoahaz's son Jehoash, the king of Israel, died.^{[g] 26} All the other things that happened while Amaziah was king are written in a book. The book is called ‘The history of the kings of Judah and Israel’. ²⁷ After Amaziah had turned away from the Lord, some people in Jerusalem made a plan to kill him. So he ran away to Lachish. But the people in Jerusalem sent men to catch him in Lachish. They killed Amaziah there.^{[h] 28} They carried his dead body back to Jerusalem on a horse. They buried him there beside his ancestors in the city of Judah.

Uzziah rules Judah as king

26 All the people of Judah chose Uzziah to be their king instead of his father, King Amaziah. Uzziah was 16 years old.^{[i] 2} He built Elath again after King Amaziah had died. He made it a part of Judah again.

³ Uzziah was 16 years old when he became king. And he ruled in Jerusalem for 52 years. His mother's name was Jecoliah. She came from Jerusalem. ⁴ Uzziah did things that the Lord said were good, as his father Amaziah had done. ⁵ He served God faithfully all the time that Zechariah was alive. Zechariah taught him to respect and obey God. As long as Uzziah served the Lord faithfully, God gave him success.

God helps Uzziah

⁶ Uzziah took his army to attack the Philistines. He destroyed the walls of their cities, Gath, Jabneh and Ashdod. Then he made the towns near Ashdod strong, as well as other towns where the Philistines lived. ⁷ God helped him to win battles against the Philistines, against the Arabs who lived in Gur-Baal, and against the Meunites. ⁸ The people from Ammon paid taxes to Uzziah. He became very powerful. So everyone as far as the border of Egypt knew that he was a great king.

⁹ Uzziah built strong towers on Jerusalem's walls to make the city safe. He built them at the Corner Gate, at the Valley Gate and at the place where the wall turned. ¹⁰ He also built towers in the desert. He dug holes in the ground to contain water. He needed water for his animals on the low hills and in the valleys, because he had many of them. He also enjoyed growing crops. He had men who worked in the fields and in the vineyards. These were on the hills and in places where crops would grow well.

Uzziah's army

¹¹ Uzziah had an army of soldiers who were ready to fight battles. The king's secretary, Jeiel, and his officer, Maaseiah, put the soldiers into groups. They counted the soldiers in each group. Hananiah was the army captain who had authority over them. ¹² There were 2,600 family leaders who led the groups of soldiers. ¹³ Together they led 307,500 soldiers who knew how to fight well. They were a powerful army that could keep the king safe against his enemies. ¹⁴ Uzziah gave shields, spears, helmets and armour to the whole army. He also gave them bows and arrows, and stones to put in their slings.

¹⁵ Men in Jerusalem who had special skills built machines that could shoot arrows and big stones. Uzziah put them on the towers and at the corners of the walls around Jerusalem. God helped him in many ways, so that he became very famous and powerful.

Uzziah becomes proud and God punishes him

¹⁶ Uzziah was so powerful that he became proud. That caused him to lose his power. He began to turn away from the Lord his God. He went into the Lord's temple to burn incense on the special altar there. ¹⁷ Azariah and 80 other brave priests of the Lord went into the temple after him. ¹⁸ They warned King Uzziah. They said to him, ‘It is not right for you, Uzziah, to offer incense to the Lord. Only the priests, Aaron's descendants, may do that. They are the people that God has chosen to offer incense to him. So you must leave this Holy Place because you have done something that is wrong. As a result, the Lord God will not give you any honour.’

¹⁹ Then Uzziah became angry. In his hand, he was holding a pot with hot coals and incense in it. He was standing in the Lord's temple, near the special altar for incense. The priests were there with him. When he started to shout at the priests, a bad disease suddenly appeared on the skin of his face. ²⁰ Azariah, the leader of the priests, and all the other priests turned towards Uzziah. They saw the terrible disease on the skin at the front of his head. So they quickly took him out of the temple. Uzziah himself was also in a hurry to leave, because the Lord had punished him with this disease.^[j]

King Uzziah dies

²¹ King Uzziah had the terrible disease on his skin until the day that he died. He lived in his own house, away from other people. He could not go into the Lord's temple because of his disease. His son Jotham had authority in the palace and he ruled the people of Judah.

²² All the other things that happened while Uzziah was king are written in a book. The prophet Isaiah, Amoz's son, wrote down those things. ²³ Uzziah died and they buried him near his ancestors. Because he had the terrible disease on his skin, they did not bury him beside the other kings that had died. Instead they buried him in a field for graves that belonged to the kings of Judah.

His son Jotham became king after him.

Jotham rules Judah as king

27 Jotham was 25 years old when he became king. He ruled Judah as king in Jerusalem for 16 years. His mother's name was Jerusha. She was Zadok's daughter. ² Jotham did things that the Lord said were good, as his father Uzziah had done. But he did not try to go into the Lord's temple and offer incense, as his father had done. But the people continued to do bad things.

³ Jotham built the Higher Gate of the Lord's temple. He also did a lot of work to repair the city wall near Ophel hill. ⁴ He built towns in the hill country of Judah. He also built strong buildings and towers in the forests.^[k]

⁵ Jotham took his army to attack the king of Ammon. He won the battle against them. That year, the Ammonites gave to him 3,400 kilograms of silver. They also gave him 2,200 kilolitres of wheat and 2,200 kilolitres of barley. The Ammonites paid Jotham the same amount for each of the next two years.

⁶ Jotham became a powerful king because he faithfully obeyed the Lord his God.

Jotham dies

⁷ The other things that happened while Jotham was king are written in a book. The book is called ‘The history of the kings of Israel and Judah’. It tells about the wars that Jotham fought and the other things that he did. ⁸ He was 25 years old when he became king. He ruled Judah as king in Jerusalem for 16 years. ⁹ Jotham died and his people buried him in the City of David.

His son Ahaz became king after him.

Ahaz rules Judah as king

28 Ahaz was 20 years old when he became king. He ruled Judah as king in Jerusalem for 16 years. He did not do the things that the Lord said were good. So he was not like his ancestor, King David.^[l]

² He lived in the same bad way that the kings of Israel did. He also used metal to make images of the god Baal. ³ He offered sacrifices in Ben-Hinnom Valley. He even caused his sons to walk through fire.^[m] In this way he copied the terrible sins of the other nations in Canaan. Those were the nations that the Lord had chased out so that the Israelites could live there. ⁴ Ahaz offered sacrifices and he burned incense on altars on the hills, as well as under all the big trees.

God punishes King Ahaz

⁵ Because of this, the Lord his God put Ahaz under the power of the king of Syria. Syria's army won a battle against Ahaz's men. The king of Syria took many of Ahaz's people to Damascus as his prisoners.^[n]

The Lord also allowed the king of Israel to attack Ahaz. Israel's soldiers completely won the battle against Ahaz. ⁶ In one day, King Pekah of Israel, Remaliah's son, killed 120,000 of Judah's best soldiers. God punished the people of Judah because they had turned away from the Lord, the God of their ancestors.

⁷ Zikri, a brave soldier from Ephraim's tribe, killed Maaseiah, King Ahaz's son. He also killed Azrikam, the officer with authority over the king's palace, and Elkanah, the king's most important officer. ⁸ The Israelites took hold of 200,000 wives, sons and daughters of Judah's soldiers. They took them as their prisoners, even though they were their relatives. They also carried away to Samaria a lot of valuable things.

⁹ Oded, a prophet of the Lord, lived there. He went to meet Israel's soldiers when they arrived back in Samaria. He said to them, ‘The Lord, the God of your ancestors, was angry with Judah's people. So he let you have power over them to punish them. But you have killed them in a very cruel way. God in heaven has seen what you have done. ¹⁰ Now you want to use the men and women from Judah and Jerusalem as your slaves. So you yourselves are guilty of sins against the Lord your God. ¹¹ Now listen to me! The Lord is very angry with you. So you must send back the prisoners that you have brought here from Judah. Remember that they are your relatives.’

¹² Then some family leaders of Ephraim warned the soldiers who were returning from the battle against Judah. The leaders' names were: Jehohanan's son Azariah, Meshillemoth's son Berekiah, Shallum's son Jehizkiah and Hadlai's son Amasa. ¹³ They said to the soldiers, ‘You must not bring your prisoners here! If you do, we will be guilty of even more sins against the Lord. The Lord is already angry with us people of Israel because we are guilty. Do not make it worse.’

¹⁴ So the soldiers let their prisoners go free. They gave the people and the things that they had brought from Judah to the leaders and the other people. ¹⁵ The leaders found clothes for each of the prisoners who had no clothes. They gave the prisoners clothes, shoes, food and drink, as well as oil to put on their skin. They took all these things from the things that the soldiers had brought from Judah. They put the prisoners who were too weak to walk on donkeys. Then they took them back to their relatives in Jericho, the city with many palm trees. After that, the Israelite leaders returned to Samaria.

Ahaz asks the king of Assyria for help

¹⁶ At that time, King Ahaz asked the king of Assyria for help. ¹⁷ Soldiers from Edom had attacked Judah again. They had taken people away as their prisoners. ¹⁸ Philistine soldiers had also attacked towns in the low hills in the west of Judah and in the Negev in the south. They took these towns for themselves and they lived in them:

¹⁹ The Lord caused a lot of trouble for Judah's people because of their king, Ahaz. He turned away from the Lord and he allowed his people to do wicked things.

²⁰ King Tiglath-Pileser of Assyria came to Ahaz. But he did not help Ahaz. Instead, he caused trouble. ²¹ Ahaz took valuable things from the Lord's temple, from the king's palace and from his officers. He gave those things to the king of Assyria. But the king of Assyria still did not help him.

King Ahaz's sins

²² During this time of trouble, King Ahaz did even more bad things against the Lord. ²³ He offered sacrifices to the gods of Damascus. He thought that those gods had helped the kings of Syria to win the wars against him. He thought, ‘If I offer sacrifices to them, perhaps they will help me too.’ But that sin caused a lot of trouble for King Ahaz and for his nation.

²⁴ Ahaz took away all the things that were in God's temple. He broke them into pieces. He shut the doors of the temple so that nobody could go in. He built altars for himself at the corner of every street in Jerusalem. ²⁵ He built altars in every town in Judah to offer sacrifices to other gods. In that way he made the Lord, the God of his ancestors, very angry.

Ahaz dies

²⁶ All the other things that happened while Ahaz was king are written in a book. The book is called ‘The history of the kings of Judah and Israel’. It tells about all the things that Ahaz did. ²⁷ Ahaz died and his people buried him in the City of David. But they did not bury him near the graves of Israel's kings.

His son Hezekiah became king after him.

Hezekiah rules Judah as king

29 Hezekiah was 25 years old when he became king. He ruled Judah as king in Jerusalem for 29 years. His mother's name was Abijah. She was the daughter of Zechariah.^{[o] 2} Hezekiah did things that the Lord said were good, as his ancestor King David had done.

The Levites make the temple a holy place again

³ In the first month of the year that Hezekiah became king, he opened the doors of the Lord's temple. He repaired the doors. ⁴ He brought together the priests and the Levites in the yard at the east side of the temple. ⁵ He said to them, ‘Listen to me, you Levites. Make yourselves clean to serve the Lord. Then you can make the temple a holy place again. It is the temple of the Lord, the God of your ancestors. Take out of that holy place anything that is unclean.

⁶ Our ancestors did not serve the Lord faithfully. They did things that the Lord our God saw were evil. They turned away from him. They stopped worshipping him in his temple, where he lives. They completely turned against him. ⁷ They shut the doors at the entrance of the temple. They stopped burning oil in the lamps. They did not offer to Israel's God any incense or burnt offerings in his holy place. ⁸ So the Lord became angry with Judah and Jerusalem. He made them disgusting places which other people insult. You can see this with your own eyes. ⁹ You know that cruel enemies killed our fathers. They took away our sons, our daughters and our wives as their prisoners. That was God's punishment. ¹⁰ Now I want to make a covenant with the Lord, Israel's God. Then he will stop being angry with us.

¹¹ My sons, the Lord has chosen you to serve him in his temple and to offer sacrifices. So do your work well.’

¹² Then these Levites started to work in the temple:

¹⁵ Those men brought all the Levites together. They all made themselves clean to serve the Lord. Then they went into the temple to make it a holy place again, as the king had commanded them. They obeyed the Lord's command. ¹⁶ Then the priests went into the inside room of the Lord's temple to make it holy. They found some things in the temple that were unclean. They carried all those things out to the temple yard. Then the Levites took the unclean things out of the city to the Kidron Valley.

¹⁷ They began this work on the first day of the first month. On the 8th day of the month they reached the entrance room of the temple. They worked to make the temple a holy place for eight more days. On the 16th day of the first month they had finished the work.

¹⁸ Then they went to King Hezekiah and they said, ‘We have made the whole temple clean and holy. That includes the altar for burnt offerings and all its tools. It also includes the table for the special bread and all its tools. ¹⁹ When Ahaz was king, he removed many things from the temple when he turned away from the Lord. We have made all those things clean again. We have put them in front of the Lord's altar so that the priests can use them again.’

People worship God again in his temple

²⁰ King Hezekiah got up early the next morning. He brought the city's officers together. They all went up to the Lord's temple. ²¹ They took with them seven bulls, seven male sheep, seven lambs and seven male goats. They offered these animals as a sin offering for the kingdom, for the holy place and for the people of Judah. The king told the priests, Aaron's descendants, to offer sacrifices on the Lord's altar. ²² So they killed the bulls. The priests took the blood and they splashed it on the altar. Then they killed the male sheep. The priests splashed their blood on the altar too. Then they killed the lambs. The priests also splashed their blood on the altar. ²³ Finally, the priests brought the male goats in front of King Hezekiah and the people who were there. The king and the people put their hands on the goats. ²⁴ Then the priests killed the goats as a sin offering. They offered their blood on the altar as a sacrifice. Then all the people of Israel would no longer be guilty for their sins. This was because the king had said that the burnt offerings and the sin offerings would be for all Israel.

²⁵ The king told the Levites to stand in the Lord's temple with their cymbals, harps and lyres to make music. They stood at the places where King David, David's prophet Gad and the prophet Nathan had told the Levites to stand. This was the Lord's command that he had given to his prophets.^{[p] 26} The Levites held the musical instruments that King David had provided. The priests held their trumpets.

²⁷ Then Hezekiah told the priests to offer the burnt offering on the altar. When they began to offer the sacrifice, the singers started to sing to praise the Lord. The trumpets and the musical instruments of King David of Israel also started to make music. ²⁸ All the people there were worshipping the Lord. At the same time the singers were singing and the priests were making music with their trumpets. They all continued to do that until the priests finished making the burnt offering.

²⁹ When the priests finished offering the sacrifices, the king and everyone with him bent down low to worship God. ³⁰ King Hezekiah and his officers told the Levites to sing songs to praise the Lord. They told them to sing the songs that King David and the prophet Asaph had written. So the Levites praised God in that way. They were very happy and they bent down low to worship God.

³¹ Then Hezekiah said, ‘Now you have made yourselves clean to serve the Lord. So come to the Lord's temple and bring sacrifices and offerings to thank the Lord.’ So all the people brought their sacrifices and their offerings to thank the Lord. Everyone who wanted to offer burnt offerings brought animals for that too.

³² For their burnt offerings, the people brought 70 bulls, 100 male sheep and 200 lambs to offer to the Lord. ³³ They also brought 600 bulls and 3,000 sheep to offer to the Lord. ³⁴ But there were not enough priests to prepare all the animals for the sacrifices. So their relatives, the Levites, helped them until they had finished the work. By that time more priests had made themselves clean to serve the Lord. (The Levites had been more careful than the priests to make themselves clean for the Lord.) ³⁵ The people brought a lot of animals for burnt offerings. There was also the fat from the friendship offerings. And there were drink offerings too. The priests offered all those with the burnt offerings.

That is how they started to worship the Lord again in his temple. ³⁶ Hezekiah and all the people were happy because God had helped them. They had been able to do the work on the temple very quickly.

The people prepare for the Passover festival

30 Hezekiah sent a message to all the people of Israel and Judah. He also wrote letters to the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh. He told them to come to the Lord's temple in Jerusalem. They must come to worship the Lord, Israel's God, at the Passover festival. ² The king, his officers and all the people who lived in Jerusalem decided to have the Passover festival in the second month.^{[q] 3} Not enough priests had made themselves clean to serve the Lord. So they could not have the feast at the usual time. Also, all the people had not yet come to Jerusalem. ⁴ This idea seemed right to the king and to all the people. ⁵ So they sent a message with the king's command to all the people. They sent the message everywhere in Israel, from Beersheba to Dan. The message told the people to come to Jerusalem for the Passover festival to worship the Lord, Israel's God. Before that, they had not brought all the people together for the festival, as God's law taught them to do.

⁶ So men took the letters from the king and his officers to all the people in Israel and Judah. The king's command said this:

‘A message to the people of Israel who have escaped from the power of the kings of Assyria. Turn back now to the Lord, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel. Then he will turn back to you. ⁷ Do not be like your parents and your relatives. They turned away from the Lord, the God of their ancestors. That made him so angry that he punished them, as you can see. ⁸ Do not refuse to obey him, as your parents did. Instead, agree to serve him. Come to his temple. He has made it a holy place for ever. Serve the Lord your God so that he will stop being so angry with you. ⁹ If you turn back to serve the Lord again, your enemies will be kind to your relatives and to your children. They will let them return here to their homes. The Lord your God is kind and he is ready to forgive you. So if you turn back to him, he will not send you away.’

¹⁰ The men took this message to every town among the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh, and as far as the tribe of Zebulun. But in all those places, people insulted them and they laughed at them. ¹¹ But some people from Asher, Manasseh and Zebulun were not too proud to accept the king's message. They agreed to come to Jerusalem. ¹² As for the people of Judah, God caused them to accept the command that the king and his officers had given. They all agreed together to do what the Lord wanted them to do.^[r]

¹³ In the second month of the year, a very large crowd of people came together in Jerusalem. They came there for the Festival of Flat Bread.^{[s] 14} They removed the altars for false gods that were in Jerusalem. They also removed all the altars where people burned incense. They threw them into the Kidron Valley.

¹⁵ On the 14th day of the second month, they killed the lamb for the Passover feast. The priests and the Levites who were not yet clean became ashamed. So they made themselves clean to serve the Lord. Then they could bring burnt offerings to the Lord's temple. ¹⁶ They stood in their proper places. God's servant Moses had written in God's law where they should stand. The Levites gave the blood from the sacrifices to the priests. The priests then splashed the blood on the altar. ¹⁷ Many of the people had not made themselves properly clean. So they could not kill their lambs for the Passover and offer them to the Lord. The Levites had to kill the lambs for those people instead. ¹⁸ Most of the people who came from the tribes of Ephraim, Manasseh, Issachar and Zebulun had not made themselves properly clean. They should not have eaten the Passover meal, because God's law said that was wrong. But they still ate the meal. So Hezekiah prayed for them. He said, ‘Lord you are good. Please forgive everyone ¹⁹ who really wants to obey you, the God of their ancestors. If they have not made themselves properly clean to eat this meal, please forgive them.’ ²⁰ The Lord accepted Hezekiah's prayer. He did not punish those people.

²¹ The Israelites who were in Jerusalem enjoyed the Festival of Flat Bread for seven days. They were very happy. Every day, the Levites and the priests made loud music to praise the Lord.

²² All the Levites understood how they should serve the Lord. So King Hezekiah thanked them. The festival continued for seven days. They offered friendship offerings to the Lord. They thanked the Lord, the God of their ancestors.

²³ Then all the people who were there agreed to continue the feast for another seven days. So they did that happily for seven more days. ²⁴ King Hezekiah of Judah gave 1,000 bulls and 7,000 sheep to the people. The leaders also gave them 1,000 bulls and 10,000 sheep. Many more priests also made themselves clean to serve the Lord.

²⁵ Everyone at the festival was very happy. They included all Judah's people, the priests, the Levites and the whole group of people who had come from Israel. There were also foreign people who were living in Israel and in Judah. ²⁶ Everyone enjoyed the festival in Jerusalem. Nothing like this had happened in Jerusalem since the time when David's son Solomon was king of Israel. ²⁷ The priests and the Levites stood up and they asked God to bless the people. Their prayers reached the Lord's home in heaven, and he did what they asked for.

After the Passover

31 The Passover festival finished. Then the Israelites who were there went to all the towns in Judah. They knocked down the stone pillars that people worshipped. They also cut down the Asherah poles. They destroyed all the altars and places for worship on the hills. They did that everywhere in Judah, Benjamin, Ephraim and Manasseh. After they finished, all the Israelites returned to their homes in their own towns.

Hezekiah helps his people to worship the Lord

² Hezekiah put the priests and the Levites into several groups. Each group had special work to do. Their different jobs were to offer burnt offerings and friendship offerings, and to serve God in other ways. Some of them would thank the Lord and sing songs to praise him at the gates of his temple.

³ The king gave some of his own animals for burnt offerings. The priests offered these sacrifices in the way that the law of the Lord taught. They offered burnt offerings each morning and each evening. They also offered them on Sabbath days, on the days of New Moon festivals and on other special days. ⁴ King Hezekiah told the people who lived in Jerusalem to bring their offerings too. They must provide the proper gifts for the priests and the Levites. Then they would serve the Lord in the way that his law taught them to do.

⁵ As soon as the Israelite people received Hezekiah's message, they brought their gifts to the temple. They brought the first part of their grain, wine, olive oil, honey and all the crops that grew in their fields. They brought one tenth part of all the food that they grew, so there was a lot of it.^{[t] 6} The Israelites and the people of Judah who lived in other towns also brought gifts. They brought one animal from every ten of all their cows, sheep and goats. They also brought one thing from every ten things that they had made holy for the Lord their God. They put these things together in many heaps. ⁷ They started to bring their things in the third month of the year and they finished in the seventh month. ⁸ Hezekiah and his officers went to the temple and they saw all the things. Then they praised the Lord and they asked him to bless his people, the Israelites.

⁹ Hezekiah asked the priests and the Levites about the heaps of gifts from the people. ¹⁰ The leader of the priests, Azariah from Zadok's clan, said, ‘The people have brought a lot of gifts to the Lord's temple. Since they started to do that, we have had enough food to eat. There has been a lot more food than we need. The Lord has blessed his people, so we still have all this extra food.’

¹¹ Hezekiah told them that they must prepare some rooms in the temple to store the things. When they had done that, ¹² they put in there the gifts, the tithes and the holy things. A Levite called Konaniah had to take care of all these things. His brother Shimei helped him. ¹³ Konaniah and Shimei had authority over these people: Jehiel, Azaziah, Nahath, Asahel, Jerimoth, Jozabad, Eliel, Ismakiah, Mahath and Benaiah. King Hezekiah chose all these men to do this work. Azariah was the priest who had authority over the temple.

¹⁴ Imnah's son Kore, a Levite, was the guard who watched the East Gate of the temple. He received the gifts that people offered to the Lord. He had authority to share among the priests and the Levites the gifts that people brought and the holy things. ¹⁵ Eden, Miniamin, Jeshua, Shemaiah, Amariah and Shecaniah helped him. They lived in the towns where the priests lived. They faithfully shared the people's gifts among the other Levites and priests, group by group. They included everyone, young and old. ¹⁶ They gave gifts to all those who were in the lists of men who could serve God in the temple. They had to be three years old or older.^[u] Those men would go into the temple on the right days for their group. They would do the work that their group had to do on those days. ¹⁷ The lists of the priests showed the clans that they belonged to. The list of the Levites showed which group they belonged to. Those who were 20 years old or older had to do the work that was given to their group. ¹⁸ The young children, wives, sons and daughters of all the men in the lists also received gifts. That was because the men faithfully kept themselves clean to serve God in their work.

¹⁹ Some of the priests and Levites lived on the land around the cities that belonged to them. So the king's officers chose honest men to take the gifts to them. They gave them their proper share of the gifts. The priests had to be Aaron's descendants, and the Levites' names had to be on the list of Levite families.

²⁰ Those are the things that King Hezekiah did everywhere in Judah. He did what was good and right to please the Lord his God. ²¹ He served God faithfully with all his strength. He helped the work in the temple and he obeyed God's law and his commands. So he was successful in the things that he did.

King Sennacherib attacks Judah

32 After King Hezekiah had done all these good things, King Sennacherib of Assyria attacked Judah. He put his soldiers in camps around all the strong cities in Judah. He wanted to take the cities for himself.

² Hezekiah saw that Sennacherib had come to attack Judah. He realized that Sennacherib had decided to attack Jerusalem. ³ So Hezekiah talked with his advisors and his army officers about what they should do. They decided to stop all the water that came from springs around the city. They all agreed that this was a good idea. ⁴ A big group of people came to help. They stopped the water that came from the springs and from the stream that went through that region. They said, ‘When the kings of Assyria arrive here, we do not want them to find plenty of water.’

⁵ King Hezekiah's men worked hard to repair the city's walls where they had broken. Hezekiah built towers on the walls. He also built another wall outside the first wall. He made the Millo around the City of David stronger, too. He also made many weapons and shields.

⁶ Hezekiah chose some men as captains to lead the men of his army. He told them to meet together in the open place near the city's gate. He said to them, ⁷ ‘Be strong and brave. Do not be afraid of the king of Assyria and his large army. Do not worry! We have much greater power than he has. ⁸ He has only the strength of human soldiers to help him. But we have the Lord our God to help us and to fight our battles!’

After King Hezekiah of Judah said that to his men, they felt brave and strong.

King Sennacherib warns the people of Jerusalem

⁹ King Sennacherib of Assyria and his army were ready to attack Lachish.^[v] While he was there, he sent some men to Jerusalem with a message. The message was for King Hezekiah and all Judah's people who were in Jerusalem with him. The message said this:

¹⁰ ‘King Sennacherib of Assyria says this to you: My soldiers have made their camp around Jerusalem. So why do you remain in the city? Why are you so sure that someone will rescue you? ¹¹ Hezekiah tells you, “The Lord our God will save us from the power of Assyria's king.” But he is deceiving you. You will die because you will have no food or water. ¹² Remember that it was Hezekiah who removed the altars and the special places where you worship the Lord your God. He told the people of Judah and Jerusalem, “You must worship God only at the altar here in Jerusalem. That is the only place that you may offer sacrifices. ”

¹³ You surely know what my ancestors and I have done to all the other nations. The gods of the nations around you could not save their people from my power. ¹⁴ Look at all the nations that my ancestors completely destroyed. None of their gods could rescue any of them. So do not think that your God can save you from my power. ¹⁵ Do not let Hezekiah deceive you with his lies. Do not believe him. No god of any nation or kingdom has been able to save his people from me or from my ancestors. So your God certainly cannot save you from my power! ’

¹⁶ King Sennacherib's men continued to insult the Lord God and his servant Hezekiah. ¹⁷ Sennacherib also wrote letters to insult the Lord, Israel's God, and to laugh at him. He wrote, ‘The gods of the other nations around you could not save their people from my power. So Hezekiah's God cannot rescue his people from me either.’

¹⁸ Then Sennacherib's men shouted loudly to the people who were standing on Jerusalem's walls. They spoke in the language of Judah's people.^[w] They wanted to make the people very afraid so that they could take the city for themselves. ¹⁹ They insulted the God of Jerusalem's people, as they insulted the gods of other nations. They spoke about him as if he was only a god that people had made for themselves.

Hezekiah and Isaiah pray to the Lord

²⁰ King Hezekiah and Amoz's son, Isaiah the prophet, prayed to God in heaven. They asked him to help. ²¹ The Lord God sent an angel to destroy Assyria's army. The angel killed all the soldiers and the army officers in their camp. So the king of Assyria had to return home to his own country. He was very ashamed. He went into the temple of his god. There some of his own sons used their swords to kill him.

²² That is how the Lord saved Hezekiah and Jerusalem's people from King Sennacherib of Assyria. The Lord also saved them from all their other enemies. So all Judah had a time of peace. ²³ Many people brought gifts to Jerusalem to offer to the Lord. They also brought valuable gifts for King Hezekiah. From that time, all the other nations respected Hezekiah as a great king.

²⁴ Soon after that, Hezekiah became very ill. He nearly died. He prayed to the Lord and the Lord answered him. The Lord did a miracle to show that Hezekiah would get better.^{[x] 25} But Hezekiah did not thank the Lord for the kind thing that he had done for him. The king was too proud to do that. So the Lord became angry with him, and with the people of Judah and Jerusalem. ²⁶ But then Hezekiah and the people who lived in Jerusalem made themselves humble. They stopped being proud, so the Lord did not punish them. He was not angry with them while Hezekiah continued to be king.

²⁷ Hezekiah was very rich. People gave him great honour. He built rooms to store all his valuable things. They included silver, gold, jewels, spices and shields. ²⁸ He built rooms to store grain, wine and olive oil. He also made buildings to keep all his cows, sheep and goats. ²⁹ He built special cities for himself. He put lots of sheep and cows in them, because God had given him very many things.

³⁰ Hezekiah had stopped the water coming out from the higher spring at Gihon. Instead, he caused the water to go down to the west side of the City of David. Hezekiah was successful in all the things that he did. ³¹ After that, the rulers of Babylon sent some officers to visit Hezekiah. They wanted to ask him about the miracle that had happened in Judah. God let Hezekiah decide what to tell them. He wanted to test Hezekiah, to see if he would be faithful.

King Hezekiah dies

³² The other things that happened while Hezekiah was king are written in a book. They include his faithful love for the Lord. The prophet Isaiah, Amoz's son, wrote down these things in the book of his visions. It is part of ‘The history of the kings of Judah and Israel’.

³³ Hezekiah died and his people buried him beside the graves of King David's descendants, near the top of the hill.^[y] At his death, all the people of Judah and those who lived in Jerusalem gave him great honour.

Hezekiah's son Manasseh became king after him.

Manasseh rules Judah as king

33 Manasseh was 12 years old when he became king. He ruled as king in Jerusalem for 55 years. ² Manasseh did things that the Lord said were evil. He did the same terrible sins that the other nations in Canaan had done. Those were the nations that the Lord had chased out so that the Israelites could live there. ³ Manasseh built again the altars on the hills that his father Hezekiah had knocked down. He built altars for people to worship idols of Baal. He also made Asherah poles. He bent down low to worship all the stars in the sky. ⁴ He built altars in the Lord's temple.^[z] The Lord had said about his temple, ‘That is my home in Jerusalem where people will worship me for ever.’ ⁵ Manasseh built altars to give honour to the stars in both yards of the Lord's temple. ⁶ He burnt his own sons with fire as a sacrifice in Ben Hinnom valley. He used magic and false gods to find out what would happen in the future. He took advice from magicians and people who talked to the spirits of dead people. He did many things that the Lord said were very evil. This made the Lord very angry.

⁷ Manasseh made an image of a false god. He put this idol in God's temple. God had said this about his temple to King David and to his son King Solomon: ‘My people will worship me in my temple here in Jerusalem. That is the place that I have chosen to be my home for ever. I have chosen it from among all the tribes of Israel. ⁸ I will never cause the Israelite people to leave this land that I gave to their ancestors. But they must be careful to obey all my commands, my laws and the rules that I gave to my servant Moses for them.’

⁹ But Manasseh caused Judah's people and the people of Jerusalem to turn away from God. So they did more evil things than the people who lived in Canaan before them. The Lord had destroyed those nations so that the Israelites could live there.

The Lord punishes Manasseh

¹⁰ The Lord warned Manasseh and his people. But they would not listen to him. ¹¹ So the Lord brought the officers of the king of Assyria's army to attack them. They took hold of Manasseh. They put metal hooks in his nose and they tied bronze chains around him. Then they took him away to Babylon. ¹² This gave Manasseh a lot of pain. He asked the Lord his God to be kind to him. He made himself humble and he prayed for help to the Lord, the God of his ancestors.

¹³ When Manasseh prayed to the Lord, the Lord answered him. He was kind to Manasseh, as Manasseh had asked him to be. So the Lord brought Manasseh back to Jerusalem again, to rule there as king. Then Manasseh knew that the Lord is the true God.

¹⁴ After that, Manasseh repaired the outside wall of the City of David. He built it higher, from the west side of Gihon stream, as far as the Fish Gate. Then he continued around Ophel hill. He built the wall up higher than it had been. He also put army officers with their soldiers in all the strong cities of Judah.

¹⁵ Manasseh removed from the Lord's temple the foreign gods and the idol that he had put there. He also removed the altars that he had built on the hill of the temple and in other places in Jerusalem. He threw them away, outside the city. ¹⁶ Then he repaired the Lord's altar in the temple. He brought friendship offerings and thank offerings as sacrifices on the altar. He told Judah's people to worship the Lord, Israel's God. ¹⁷ The people still offered sacrifices at the other altars in the country. But they only offered those sacrifices to the Lord their God.

Manasseh dies

¹⁸ The other things that happened while Manasseh was king are written in a book. The book is called ‘The history of Israel's kings’. It includes Manasseh's prayer to God. It also includes the messages that the Lord, Israel's God, told his prophets to speak to Manasseh. ¹⁹ The book of the prophets' messages also includes Manasseh's prayer and how God answered him. It tells about all Manasseh's sins and how he turned away from God. It includes a list of all the places where he built altars and where he put Asherah poles and idols. He did those things before he made himself humble and he turned back to God.

²⁰ Manasseh died and his people buried him in his palace. His son Amon became king after him.

Amon rules Judah as king

²¹ Amon was 22 years old when he became king.^[aa] He ruled as king in Jerusalem for two years. ²² Amon did things that the Lord said were evil, as his father Manasseh had done. He offered sacrifices to all the idols that his father Manasseh had made. He worshipped those idols. ²³ But he did not make himself humble and turn back to the Lord, as his father Manasseh had done. Instead, Amon became guilty of even more sins.

Amon dies

²⁴ Amon's own officers decided to kill him. They killed him in his palace. ²⁵ Then the people of Judah punished all Amon's murderers with death. They chose his son Josiah to be king after him.

Josiah rules Judah as king

34 Josiah was eight years old when he became king.^[ab] He ruled as king in Jerusalem for 31 years. ² Josiah did things that the Lord said were right. He lived in the good ways of his ancestor, King David. He did not turn away from the Lord's teaching in any way.

³ When Josiah had been king for eight years, he was still a young man. At that time he began to worship God, as his ancestor David had done. When he had been king for 12 years, he started to remove the places in Jerusalem and in all Judah where people worshipped false gods. He removed the altars on the hills, the Asherah poles, the idols and the images of false gods. ⁴ He told his men to knock down the altars where people worshipped the idols of Baal. He broke into pieces the altars for incense that were near the other altars. He destroyed the Asherah poles, the idols and the images. He broke them all into very small pieces. He threw the bits over the graves of the people who had offered sacrifices to those false gods.

⁵ Josiah took the bones of the priests who had made sacrifices to the false gods. He burned the priests' bones on their own altars. That is how Josiah made Judah and Jerusalem clean again. ⁶ He went to the towns that belonged to the tribes of Manasseh, Ephraim and Simeon. He even went as far as Naphtali.^[ac] He did the same thing in all those towns, as well as in the villages around them where nobody lived. ⁷ He knocked down the altars and the Asherah poles. He completely destroyed the idols and the altars for incense everywhere in the kingdom of Israel. Then he returned to Jerusalem.

Josiah repairs the temple

⁸ When Josiah had been king for 18 years, he continued to make Judah and the temple clean places again. He sent three men to repair the temple of the Lord his God. They were Azaliah's son Shaphan, the city's officer Maaseiah, and Joah, son of Joahaz, the city's secretary.

⁹ They went to meet Hilkiah, the leader of the priests. They gave him the money that people had brought as gifts to God's temple. The people had given their money to the Levites who stood as guards at the doors of the temple. The people who brought these gifts had come from the tribes of Manasseh, Ephraim and the other people who still lived in Israel. All the people from the tribes of Judah and Benjamin, and those who lived in Jerusalem had also brought their gifts. ¹⁰ Then they gave this money to the men who had authority over the work on the Lord's temple. Those leaders then paid the workers who did the repairs to make the temple strong again. ¹¹ They gave money to the carpenters and the builders to buy stones that were ready to use and wood. The kings of Judah had not taken care of the buildings. So the workers now needed stones and wood to repair the walls and the roofs.

¹² The workers were honest men who worked well. Four Levites had authority over the workers. They were Jahath and Obadiah from Merari's clan, and Zechariah and Meshullam from Kohath's clan. Other Levites who were musicians ¹³ had authority over the men who carried the wood and the stones. They told the workers what to do as they did their different jobs. Some Levites worked as secretaries, officers or guards.

Hilkiah finds the book of God's laws

¹⁴ The Levites were bringing the money out of the Lord's temple that people had brought there.^[ad] While they were doing that, Hilkiah the priest found the book of God's laws. Those were the laws that the Lord had given to Moses for his people. ¹⁵ Hilkiah told Shaphan, the king's secretary, ‘I have found the book of the Law in the Lord's temple.’ He gave the book to Shaphan.

¹⁶ Then Shaphan took the book to the king and he said, ‘Your servants are doing everything that you told them to do. ¹⁷ They have paid out the money that was in the Lord's temple. They have given it to the leaders who have authority over the men who are doing the work.’

¹⁸ Then Shaphan, the king's secretary, told the king, ‘Hilkiah the priest has given a book to me.’ Then Shaphan read it aloud to the king. ¹⁹ When the king heard the words in the book of God's laws, he was so upset that he tore his clothes.

²⁰ King Josiah gave a command to Hilkiah, Shaphan's son Ahikam, Micah's son Abdon, Shaphan the secretary and Asaiah the king's servant. ²¹ He told them, ‘Go to the temple. Ask the Lord about the message in this book that Hilkiah has found. I need to know what I should do, as well as the people who still live in Judah and in Israel. The Lord has become very angry with us because our ancestors have not obeyed his message. They have not done the things that this book tells us that we should do.’

²² So Hilkiah and the other men that the king had sent went to speak to Huldah. Huldah was a prophetess who lived in the north part of Jerusalem. She was the wife of Shallum, the son of Tokhath. Tokhath was the son of Hasrah, who took care of the king's clothes. The king's men told Huldah why they had come to meet her.

²³ She said to them, ‘The Lord, Israel's God, says, “Tell this to the man who sent you here to me: ²⁴ This is what the Lord says: I will bring great trouble to this place and the people who live here. The message of the book that they read to the king of Judah tells about what will happen. ²⁵ I will send this trouble because they have turned away from me. They have offered sacrifices to other gods. I am very angry with them because of all the idols that they have made for themselves. My anger is like a fire that is burning and nobody can stop it!” ²⁶ The king of Judah sent you here to ask for the Lord's answer. Say to the king, “The Lord, Israel's God, says this about the message that you have heard: ²⁷ When you heard the message that I had spoken, you were very upset. You made yourself humble to respect me. You tore your clothes and you wept. You did that when you heard how I would punish this place and the people who live here. Because you became so upset, I have heard your prayer. ²⁸ So I will let you die in peace and people will bury you beside your ancestors. You yourself will never see the great trouble that I will bring to this place and the people who live here.” That is what the Lord says.’

The men took Huldah's answer back to the king.

Josiah and the people promise to obey God's laws

²⁹ Then King Josiah told all the leaders of Judah and Jerusalem to come and meet with him. ³⁰ He went up to the Lord's temple.^[ae] All the people who lived in Jerusalem and in the rest of Judah went with him. They included the priests, the Levites, young people and old people. Everyone went to the temple. They all listened while the king read to them all the words in the book of God's covenant. That was the book that Hilkiah had found in the Lord's temple. ³¹ Then the king stood in his place beside the pillar in the temple. He promised the Lord that he would obey the covenant. He agreed to serve the Lord faithfully and to obey his commands, laws and rules. Josiah agreed to obey what was written in the book of God's covenant.

³² The king told all the people who were in Jerusalem and the people of Benjamin's tribe to stand. He told them to promise to obey God's laws. So the people who lived in Jerusalem agreed to obey the covenant of God, the God of their ancestors.

³³ Josiah removed all the disgusting idols from all the land of the Israelites. He told all the people of Israel to worship the Lord their God. All the time that Josiah ruled as king, the people continued to worship the Lord, the God of their ancestors.

King Josiah prepares for the Passover festival

35 King Josiah told the people to have the Passover festival in Jerusalem, to give honour to the Lord. They killed the lambs for the Passover meal on the 14th day of the first month of the year. ² Josiah told the priests the jobs that they should do. He told them to be strong as they served the Lord in his temple. ³ The work of the Levites was to teach all the Israelites about God's laws. The Lord had chosen them to do that special work. Josiah said to them, ‘Put the holy Covenant Box in the temple that David's son, King Solomon, built. Do not carry it on your shoulders. Now you must serve the Lord your God and his people, the Israelites. ⁴ Each group of families must be ready to do their work. King David of Israel and his son Solomon decided what work each group must do. ⁵ Each group of Levites must stand in the holy place of the temple. Each group will be ready to help the people of different clans. ⁶ Kill the lambs for the Passover meal. Make yourselves clean to serve the Lord. Prepare the sacrifices for each Israelite family. Then they can eat the Passover meal, as the Lord told Moses they must do.’^[af]

Many people give offerings

⁷ Josiah took 30,000 lambs and goats, and 3,000 bulls from his own animals. He gave them to the people who were there, to kill for their Passover sacrifices.

⁸ His officers were also happy to give their animals to the people, as well as to the priests and the Levites. Hilkiah, Zechariah, and Jehiel were officers who took care of the temple. They gave 2,600 lambs and 300 bulls to the priests for Passover sacrifices. ⁹ These Levite officers gave 5,000 lambs and 500 bulls to the Levites for Passover sacrifices: Konaniah and his brothers, Shemaiah and Nethanel; Hashabiah, Jeiel and Jozabad.

The Passover meal

¹⁰ Everything was ready for the Passover to begin. The priests and the Levites stood in their places, group by group, as the king had commanded. ¹¹ Some Levites killed the lambs for the Passover meal. They gave the blood to the priests, and the priests splashed the blood on the altar. At the same time, some Levites were removing the skins from the animals. ¹² They took the animals for the burnt offerings to give to the people. They shared them among each group of families. Then each family could offer a bull to the Lord as a sacrifice, in the way that the book of Moses taught. ¹³ The Levites cooked the lambs for the Passover meal over a fire, as the rules taught. They boiled the meat of the holy offerings in pots and pans.^[ag] Then they quickly carried the meat to all the people.

¹⁴ After that, the Levites prepared the Passover meal for themselves and for the priests. The priests had been busy all day, until the evening. They were offering the burnt offerings and the pieces of fat to the Lord. So the Levites prepared the meal for themselves and for the priests, Aaron's descendants.

¹⁵ Asaph's descendants, the musicians, stood in their places. Those were the places that David, Asaph, Heman and the king's prophet, Jeduthun, had chosen. The guards continued to watch the different gates all through the day. So the other Levites prepared the meal for them too.