Historical

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.^{[a] 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.^[b]

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.^{[c] 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.^{[d] 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.^[e] 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.^[f] 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.^[g] 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.^{[h] 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.^[i] 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.