2 Chronicles 28–29

Ahaz ^awas twenty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem: but he did not that which was right in the sight of the Lord, like David his father: ²for he walked in the ways of the kings of Israel, and made also ^bmolten images for ^cBaalim. ³Moreover he burnt incense in ^dthe valley of the son of Hinnom, and burnt ^ehis children in the fire after the abominations of the heathen whom the Lord had cast out before the children of Israel. ⁴He sacrificed also and burnt incense in the high places, and on the hills, and under every green tree. ⁵Wherefore the Lord his God delivered him into the hand of the king of Syria; and they ^esmote him, and carried away a great multitude of them captives, and brought them to Damascus. And he was also delivered into the hand of the king of Israel, who smote him with a great slaughter. ⁶For ^fPekah the son of Remaliah slew in Judah an hundred and twenty thousand in one day, which were all valiant men; because they had forsaken the Lord God of their fathers. ⁷And Zichri, a mighty man of Ephraim, slew Maaseiah ^gthe king’s son, and Azrikam ^gthe governor of the house, and Elkanah that was next to the king. ⁸And the children of Israel carried away captive of their ^hbrethren two hundred thousand, women, sons, and daughters, and took also away much spoil from them, and brought the spoil to Samaria. ⁹But a prophet of the Lord was there, whose name was Oded: and he went out before the host that came to Samaria, and said unto them, Behold, ⁱbecause the Lord God of your fathers was wroth with Judah, he hath delivered them into your hand, and ye have slain them in a rage that ^jreacheth up unto heaven. ¹⁰And now ye purpose to keep under the children of Judah and Jerusalem for bondmen and bondwomen unto you: but are there not with you, even with you, sins against the Lord your God? ¹¹Now hear me therefore, and deliver the captives again, which ye have taken captive of your brethren: for the fierce wrath of the Lord is upon you. ¹²Then certain of the heads of the children of Ephraim, Azariah the son of Johanan, Berechiah the son of Meshillemoth, and ^kJehizkiah the son of ^lShallum, and Amasa the son of Hadlai, stood up against them that came from the war, ¹³and said unto them, Ye shall not bring in the captives hither: for whereas we have offended against the Lord already, ye intend to add more to our sins and to our trespass: for our trespass is great, and there is fierce wrath against Israel. ¹⁴So ^mthe armed men left the captives and the spoil before the princes and all the congregation. ¹⁵And the men ⁿwhich were expressed by name rose up, and took the captives, and with the spoil clothed all that were naked among them, and arrayed them, and shod them, and ^ogave them to eat and to drink, and ^panointed them, and carried all the feeble of them upon asses, and brought them to Jericho, ^qthe city of palm trees, to their brethren: then they returned to Samaria.

^16rAt that time did king Ahaz send unto the kings of Assyria to help him. ¹⁷For again the Edomites had come and smitten Judah, and carried away captives. ¹⁸The ^sPhilistines also had ^tinvaded the cities of ^uthe low country, and of the south of Judah, and had taken ^wBeth-shemesh, and ^xAjalon, and ^yGederoth, and ^zShocho with the ^avillages thereof, and ^bTimnah with the ^avillages thereof, Gimzo also and the ^avillages thereof: and they dwelt there. ¹⁹For the Lord brought Judah low because of Ahaz king of ^cIsrael; for he ^dmade Judah naked, and transgressed sore against the Lord. ²⁰And ^eTilgath-pilneser king of Assyria came unto him, and distressed him, but strengthened him not. ^21fFor Ahaz took away a portion out of the house of the Lord, and out of the house of the king, and of the princes, and gave it unto the king of Assyria: but he helped him not.

²²And in the time of his distress did he trespass yet more against the Lord: this is that king Ahaz. ²³For ^ghe sacrificed unto the gods of Damascus, which smote him: and he said, Because the gods of the kings of Syria help them, therefore will I sacrifice to them, ^hthat they may help me. But they ⁱwere the ruin of him, and of all ^cIsrael. ²⁴And Ahaz gathered together the vessels of the house of God, and ^jcut in pieces the vessels of the house of God, and ^kshut up the doors of the house of the Lord, and ^lhe made him altars in every corner of Jerusalem. ²⁵And in every several city of Judah he made high places to burn incense unto other gods, and ^mprovoked to anger the Lord God of his fathers. ²⁶ⁿNow the rest of his acts and of all his ways, ^ofirst and last, behold, they are written in the book of the kings of Judah and Israel. ²⁷And Ahaz slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the city, even in Jerusalem: ^pbut they brought him not into the sepulchres of the kings of ^cIsrael: and Hezekiah his son reigned in his stead.

XXIX.Hezekiah ^abegan to reign when he was five and twenty years old, and he reigned nine and twenty years in Jerusalem. And his mother’s name was Abijah, the daughter of ^bZechariah. ²And he did that which was right in the sight of the Lord, according to all that David his father had done. ³He in the first year of his reign, in the first month, ^copened the doors of the house of the Lord, and repaired them. ⁴And he brought in the priests and the Levites, and gathered them together into the east street, ⁵and said unto them, Hear me, ye Levites, ^dsanctify now yourselves, and sanctify the house of the Lord God of your fathers, and carry forth the filthiness out of the holy place. ⁶For our fathers have trespassed, and done that which was evil in the eyes of the Lord our God, and have forsaken him, and have ^eturned away their faces from the habitation of the Lord, and turned their backs. ⁷Also they have ^fshut up the doors of the porch, and put out the lamps, and have not burnt incense nor offered burnt offerings in the holy place unto the God of Israel. ⁸Wherefore the ^gwrath of the Lord was upon Judah and Jerusalem, and he hath delivered them to trouble, to astonishment, and to ^hhissing, as ye see with your eyes. ⁹For lo, ⁱour fathers have fallen by the sword, and our sons and our daughters and our wives are in captivity for this. ¹⁰Now it is ^jin mine heart to make ^ka covenant with the Lord God of Israel, that his fierce wrath may turn away from us. ¹¹My sons, be not now negligent: for the Lord hath ^lchosen you to stand before him, to serve him, and that you should minister unto him, and burn incense.

¹²Then the Levites arose, ^mMahath the son of Amasai, and Joel the son of Azariah, of the sons of the ⁿKohathites: and of the sons of ⁿMerari, ^oKish the son of Abdi, and ^mAzariah the son of Jehalelel: and of the ⁿGershonites; ^pJoah the son of Zimmah, and ^mEden the son of Joah: ¹³and of the sons of ^qElizaphan; Shimri, and Jeiel: and of the sons of ^rAsaph; Zechariah, and Mattaniah: ¹⁴and of the sons of ^sHeman; ^mJehiel, and ^mShimei: and of the sons of ^sJeduthun; ^mShemaiah, and Uzziel. ¹⁵And they gathered their brethren, and ^tsanctified themselves, and came, according to the commandment of the king, by the words of the Lord, ^uto cleanse the house of the Lord. ¹⁶And the priests went into the inner part of the house of the Lord, to cleanse it, and brought out all the uncleanness that they found in the temple of the Lord into the court of the house of the Lord. And the Levites took it, to carry it out abroad into the ^xbrook Kidron. ¹⁷Now they began on the first day of ^ythe first month to sanctify, and on the eighth day of the month came they to the porch of the Lord: so they sanctified the house of the Lord in eight days; and in the sixteenth day of the first month they made an end. ¹⁸Then they went in to Hezekiah the king, and said, ^uWe have cleansed all the house of the Lord, and the altar of burnt offering, with all the vessels thereof, and the shewbread table, with all the vessels thereof. ¹⁹Moreover ^zall the vessels, which king Ahaz in his reign did cast away in his transgression, have we prepared and sanctified, and behold, they are before the altar of the Lord. ²⁰Then Hezekiah the king rose early, and gathered the rulers of the city, and went up to the house of the Lord. ²¹And they brought ^aseven bullocks, and seven rams, and seven lambs, and seven ^ahe goats, for a ^bsin offering for the kingdom, and for the sanctuary, and for Judah. And he commanded the priests the sons of Aaron to offer them on the altar of the Lord. ²²So they killed the bullocks, and the priests received the blood, and ^csprinkled it on the altar: likewise, when they had killed the rams, they sprinkled the blood upon the altar: they killed also the lambs, and they sprinkled the blood upon the altar. ²³And they brought forth the he goats for the sin offering before the king and the congregation; and ^dlaid their hands upon them: ²⁴and the priests killed them, and they made reconciliation with their blood upon the altar, ^eto make an atonement for all Israel: for the king commanded that the burnt offering and the sin offering should be made for all Israel. ²⁵And ^fhe set the Levites in the house of the Lord with cymbals, with psalteries, and with harps, ^gaccording to the commandment of David, and of ^hGad the king’s ⁱseer, and ^kNathan the prophet: for so was the commandment of the Lord by his prophets. ²⁶And the Levites stood with ^lthe instruments of David, and ^mthe priests with the trumpets. ²⁷And Hezekiah commanded to offer the burnt offering upon the altar. And when the burnt offering began, the song of the Lord began also with ^mthe trumpets, and with the instruments ordained by David king of Israel. ²⁸And all the congregation worshipped, and the singers sang, and ^mthe trumpeters sounded: and all this continued until the burnt offering was finished. ²⁹And when they had made an end of offering, ⁿthe king and all that were present with him bowed themselves, and worshipped. ³⁰Moreover Hezekiah the king and the princes commanded the Levites to sing…