2 Chronicles 30–33

And Hezekiah sent to all Israel and Judah, and wrote letters also to Ephraim and Manasseh, that they should come to the house of the Lord at Jerusalem, to keep the passover unto the Lord God of Israel. ²For the king had taken counsel, and his princes, and all the congregation in Jerusalem, to keep the passover in the ^asecond month. ³For they could not keep it ^bat that time, ^cbecause the priests had not sanctified themselves sufficiently, neither had the people gathered themselves together to Jerusalem. ⁴And the thing pleased the king and all the congregation. ⁵So they established a decree to ^dmake proclamation throughout all Israel, ^efrom Beer-sheba even to Dan, that they should come to keep the passover unto the Lord God of Israel at Jerusalem: for they had not done it of a long time in such sort as it was written. ⁶So ^fthe posts went with the letters from the king and his princes throughout all Israel and Judah, and according to the commandment of the king, saying, Ye children of Israel, ^gturn again unto the Lord God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, and he will return to the remnant of you, that are escaped out of the hand of ^hthe kings of Assyria. ⁷And ⁱbe not ye like your fathers, and like your brethren, which trespassed against the Lord God of their fathers, who therefore ^kgave them up to desolation, as ye see. ⁸Now be ye not ^lstiffnecked, as your fathers were, but yield yourselves unto the Lord, and enter into his sanctuary, which he hath sanctified for ever: and serve the Lord your God, ^mthat the fierceness of his wrath may turn away from you. ⁹For if ye turn again unto the Lord, your brethren and your children shall find ⁿcompassion before them that lead them captive, so that they shall come again into this land: for the Lord your God is ^ogracious and ^pmerciful, and will not turn away his face from you, ^qif ye return unto him. ¹⁰So ^fthe posts passed from city to city through the country of ^rEphraim and Manasseh even unto Zebulun: but they laughed them to scorn, and ^smocked them. ¹¹Nevertheless divers of ^tAsher and Manasseh and of Zebulun humbled themselves, and came to Jerusalem. ¹²Also in Judah the hand of God was to give them one heart to do the commandment of the king and of the princes, ^uby the word of the Lord.

¹³And there assembled at Jerusalem much people to keep the feast of unleavened bread in the ^wsecond month, a very great congregation. ¹⁴And they arose and took away the ^xaltars that were in Jerusalem, and all the altars for incense took they away, and ^ycast them into the brook Kidron. ¹⁵Then they killed the passover on the fourteenth day of the ^wsecond month: and the priests and the Levites ^zwere ashamed, and ^asanctified themselves, and brought in the burnt offerings into the house of the Lord. ¹⁶And they stood in their place after their manner, according to the law of Moses ^bthe man of God: the priests sprinkled the blood, which they received of the hand of the Levites. ¹⁷For there were many in the congregation that were not sanctified: therefore the Levites had the charge of the killing of the passovers for every one that was not clean, to sanctify them unto the Lord. ¹⁸For a multitude of the people, even ^cmany of Ephraim, and Manasseh, Issachar, and Zebulun, had not cleansed themselves, yet did they eat the passover otherwise than ^dit was written. But Hezekiah prayed for them, saying, The good Lord pardon every one ¹⁹that ^eprepareth his heart to seek God, the Lord God of his fathers, though he be not cleansed according to the purification of the sanctuary. ²⁰And the Lord hearkened to Hezekiah, and healed the people. ²¹And the children of Israel that were present at Jerusalem kept the feast of unleavened bread ^fseven days with great gladness: and the Levites and the priests praised the Lord day by day, singing with loud instruments unto the Lord. ²²And Hezekiah spake comfortably unto all the Levites ^gthat taught the good knowledge of the Lord: and they did eat throughout the feast seven days, offering peace offerings, and ^hmaking confession to the Lord God of their fathers. ²³And the whole assembly took counsel to keep ⁱother seven days: and they kept other seven days with gladness. ²⁴For Hezekiah king of Judah did give to the congregation a thousand bullocks and seven thousand sheep; and the princes gave to the congregation a thousand bullocks and ten thousand sheep: and a great number of priests ^ksanctified themselves. ²⁵And all the congregation of Judah, with the priests and the Levites, and all the congregation that came out of Israel, and the strangers ^lthat came out of the land of Israel, and that dwelt in Judah, rejoiced. ²⁶So there was great joy in Jerusalem: for ^msince the time of Solomon the son of David king of Israel there was not the like in Jerusalem. ²⁷Then ⁿthe priests the Levites arose and ^oblessed the people: and their voice was heard, and their prayer came up to his holy dwelling place, even unto heaven.

XXXI.Now when all this was finished, all Israel that were present went out to the cities of Judah, and ^abrake the images in pieces, and cut down the groves, and threw down the high places and the altars out of all Judah and Benjamin, in Ephraim also and Manasseh, until they had utterly destroyed them all. Then all the children of Israel returned, every man to his possession, into their own cities. ²And Hezekiah appointed ^bthe courses of the priests and the Levites after their courses, every man according to his service, the priests and Levites ^cfor burnt offerings and for peace offerings, to minister, and to give thanks, and to praise in the gates of the tents of the Lord. ³He appointed also the king’s portion of his substance for the burnt offerings, to wit, for the ^dmorning and evening burnt offerings, and the burnt offerings for the ^esabbaths, and for the ^fnew moons, and for the ^gset feasts, as it is written in the law of the Lord. ⁴Moreover he commanded the people that dwelt in Jerusalem to give the ^hportion of the priests and the Levites, that they might be ⁱencouraged in ^jthe law of the Lord. ⁵And as soon as the commandment came abroad, the children of Israel brought in abundance the firstfruits ^kof corn, wine, and oil, and honey, and of all the increase of the field; and the tithe of all things brought they in abundantly. ⁶And concerning the children of Israel and Judah, that dwelt in the cities of Judah, they also brought in the tithe of oxen and sheep, and the ^ltithe of holy things which were consecrated unto the Lord their God, and laid them by heaps. ⁷In the third month they began to lay the foundation of the heaps, and finished them in the seventh month. ⁸And when Hezekiah and the princes came and saw the heaps, they blessed the Lord, and his people Israel. ⁹Then Hezekiah questioned with the priests and the Levites concerning the heaps. ¹⁰And ^mAzariah the chief priest of ⁿthe house of Zadok answered him, and said, Since the people began to bring the offerings into the house of the Lord, we have had enough to eat, and have left plenty: for ^othe Lord hath blessed his people; and that which is left is this great store. ¹¹Then Hezekiah commanded to prepare chambers in the house of the Lord; and they prepared them, ¹²and brought in ^pthe offerings and the tithes and ^qthe dedicate things faithfully: ^rover which Cononiah the Levite was ruler, and ^sShimei his brother was the next. ¹³And ^sJehiel, and Azaziah, and Nahath, and Asahel, and Jerimoth, and Jozabad, and Eliel, and Ismachiah, and ^sMahath, and Benaiah, were overseers under the hand of Cononiah and ^sShimei his brother, at the commandment of Hezekiah the king, and ^tAzariah the ruler of the house of God. ¹⁴And Kore the son of Imnah the Levite, the porter toward the east, was over the freewill offerings of God, to distribute ^pthe oblations of the Lord, and ^uthe most holy things. ¹⁵And next him were ^sEden, and Miniamin, and Jeshua, and ^sShemaiah, Amariah, and Shecaniah, in ^xthe cities of the priests, in their set office, to give to their brethren by courses, as well to the great as to the small: ¹⁶beside their genealogy of males, from three years old and upward, even unto every one that entereth into the house of the Lord, his ^ydaily portion for their service in their charges according to their courses; ¹⁷both to the genealogy of the priests by the house of their fathers, and the Levites ^zfrom twenty years old and upward, in their charges by their courses; ¹⁸and to the genealogy of all their little ones, their wives, and their sons, and their daughters, through all the congregation: for in their set office they sanctified themselves in holiness: ¹⁹also of the sons of Aaron the priests, which were in ^athe fields of the suburbs of their cities, in every several city, the men ^bthat were expressed by name, to give portions to all the males among the priests, and to all that were reckoned by genealogies among the Levites. ²⁰And thus did Hezekiah throughout all Judah, and ^cwrought that which was good and right and truth before the Lord his God. ²¹And in every work that he began in the service of the house of God, and in the law, and in the commandments, to seek his God, he did it with all his heart, and prospered.

XXXII.^aAfter these things, and the establishment thereof, Sennacherib king of Assyria came, and entered into Judah, and encamped against the fenced cities, and thought to win them for himself. ²And when Hezekiah saw that Sennacherib was come, and that he was purposed to fight against Jerusalem, ³he took counsel with his princes and his mighty men to stop the waters of the fountains which were without the city: and they did help him. ⁴So there was gathered much people together, who stopt all the fountains, and ^bthe brook that ran through the midst of the land, saying, Why should the kings of Assyria come, and find much water? ⁵Also he strengthened himself, ^cand built up all the wall that was broken, and raised it up to the towers, and another wall without, and…