2 Chronicles 30–33

CELEBRATION OF THE PASSOVER

30Then Hezekiah sent word throughout all Israel and Judah, and he also wrote letters to Ephraim and Manasseh to come to the Lord’s temple in Jerusalem to observe the Passover of the Lord, the God of Israel.^{h 2}For the king and his officials and the entire congregation in Jerusalem decided to observe the Passover of the Lord in the second month,^{i 3}because they were not able to observe it at the appropriate time. Not enough of the priests had consecrated themselves,^j and the people hadn’t been gathered together in Jerusalem. ⁴The proposal pleased the king and the congregation, ⁵so they affirmed the proposal and spread the message throughout all Israel, from Beer-sheba to Dan,^k to come to observe the Passover of the Lord, the God of Israel in Jerusalem, for they hadn’t observed it often,^C as prescribed.^D

⁶So the couriers^l went throughout Israel and Judah with letters from the hand of the king and his officials, and according to the king’s command, saying, “Israelites, return to the Lord, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel so that he may return to those of you who remain, who have escaped the grasp of the kings of Assyria.^{m 7}Don’t be like your ancestors and your brothers who were unfaithful to the Lord, the God of their ancestorsⁿ so that he made them an object of horror^o as you yourselves see. ⁸Don’t become obstinate^Ap now like your ancestors did. Give your allegiance^B to the Lord, and come to his sanctuary that he has consecrated forever. Serve the Lord your God so that he may turn his burning anger away from you,^{q 9}for when you return to the Lord, your brothers and your sons will receive mercy in the presence of their captors and will return to this land.^r For the Lord your God is gracious and merciful;^s he will not turn his face away from you if you return to him.”

¹⁰The couriers traveled from city to city in the land of Ephraim and Manasseh as far as Zebulun, but the inhabitants^C laughed at them and mocked them.^{t 11}But some from Asher, Manasseh, and Zebulun humbled themselves and came to Jerusalem.^{u 12}Also, the power of God was at work in Judah to unite them^D to carry out the command of the king and his officials by the word of the Lord.

¹³A very large assembly of people was gathered in Jerusalem to observe the Festival of Unleavened Bread in the second month. ¹⁴They proceeded to take away the altars that were in Jerusalem,^v and they took away the incense altars and threw them into the Kidron Valley.^{w 15}They slaughtered the Passover lamb^x on the fourteenth day of the second month. The priests and Levites were ashamed, and they consecrated themselves and brought burnt offerings to the Lord’s temple. ¹⁶They stood at their prescribed posts,^y according to the law of Moses, the man of God. The priests splattered the blood received from the Levites, ¹⁷for there were many in the assembly who had not consecrated themselves, and so the Levites were in charge of slaughtering the Passover lambs for every unclean person to consecrate the lambs to the Lord.^{a 18}A large number of the people—many from Ephraim, Manasseh, Issachar, and Zebulun—were ritually unclean, yet they had eaten the Passover^b contrary to what was written.^c But Hezekiah had interceded for them, saying, “May the good Lord provide atonement on behalf of ¹⁹whoever sets his whole heart on seeking God,^d the Lord, the God of his ancestors, even though not according to the purification rules of the sanctuary.” ²⁰So the Lord heard Hezekiah and healed the people.^{e 21}The Israelites who were present in Jerusalem observed the Festival of Unleavened Bread seven days with great joy,^f and the Levites and the priests praised the Lord day after day with loud instruments. ²²Then Hezekiah encouraged^Eg all the Levites who performed skillfully before the Lord. They ate at the appointed festival for seven days, sacrificing fellowship offerings and giving thanks to the Lord, the God of their ancestors.^h

²³The whole congregation decided to observeⁱ seven more days, so they observed seven days with joy, ²⁴for King Hezekiah of Judah contributed one thousand bulls and seven thousand sheep for the congregation. Also, the officials contributed one thousand bulls and ten thousand sheep for the congregation,^j and many priests consecrated themselves.^{k 25}Then the whole assembly of Judah with the priests and Levites, the whole assembly that came from Israel, the resident aliens who came from the land of Israel, and those who were living in Judah, rejoiced. ²⁶There was great rejoicing in Jerusalem, for nothing like this was known since the days of Solomon son of David, the king of Israel.^l

²⁷Then the priests and the Levites^m stood to bless the people,ⁿ and God heard them, and their prayer came into his holy dwelling place^o in heaven.

REMOVAL OF IDOLATRY

31When all this was completed, all Israel who had attended went out to the cities of Judah and broke up the sacred pillars, chopped down the Asherah poles, and tore down the high places and altars^p throughout Judah and Benjamin, as well as in Ephraim and Manasseh, to the last one.^A Then all the Israelites returned to their cities, each to his own possession.

OFFERINGS FOR LEVITES

²Hezekiah reestablished the divisions^q of the priests and Levites for the burnt offerings and fellowship offerings, for ministry, for giving thanks, and for praise in the gates of the camp of the Lord,^r each division corresponding to his service among the priests and Levites. ³The king contributed^B from his own possessions^s for the regular morning and evening burnt offerings, the burnt offerings of the Sabbaths, of the New Moons, and of the appointed feasts, as written in the law of the Lord.^{t 4}He told the people who lived in Jerusalem to give a contribution^u for the priests and Levites so that they could devote their energy to the law of the Lord. ⁵When the word spread, the Israelites gave liberally of the best of the grain, new wine, fresh oil, honey, and of all the produce of the field, and they brought in an abundance, a tenth^v of everything. ⁶As for the Israelites and Judahites who lived in the cities of Judah, they also brought a tenth of the herds and flocks, and a tenth of the dedicated things that were consecrated to the Lord their God.^w They gathered them into large piles. ⁷In the third month they began building up the piles, and they finished in the seventh month. ⁸When Hezekiah and his officials came and viewed the piles, they blessed the Lord and his people Israel.

⁹Hezekiah asked the priests and Levites about the piles. ¹⁰The chief priest Azariah, of the household of Zadok,^x answered him, “Since they began bringing the offering to the Lord’s temple, we have been eating and are satisfied and there is plenty left over because the Lord has blessed his people; this abundance is what is left over.”^y

¹¹Hezekiah told them to prepare chambers^z in the Lord’s temple, and they prepared them. ¹²The offering, the tenth, and the dedicated things were brought faithfully. Conaniah the Levite was the officer in charge of them, and his brother Shimei was second.^{aa 13}Jehiel, Azaziah, Nahath, Asahel, Jerimoth, Jozabad, Eliel, Ismachiah, Mahath, and Benaiah were deputies under the authority of Conaniah and his brother Shimei by appointment of King Hezekiah and of Azariah the chief official of God’s temple.

¹⁴Kore son of Imnah the Levite, the keeper of the East Gate, was over the freewill offerings to God to distribute the contribution to the Lord and the consecrated things.^{a 15}Eden,^b Miniamin, Jeshua, Shemaiah, Amariah, and Shecaniah in the cities of the priests^c were to distribute it faithfully under his authority to their brothers by divisions, whether large or small. ¹⁶In addition, they distributed it to males registered by genealogy three^d years old and above; to all who would enter the Lord’s temple for their daily duty,^e for their service in their responsibilities according to their divisions. ¹⁷They distributed also to those recorded by genealogy of the priests by their ancestral families^B and the Levites twenty years old and above,^f by their responsibilities in their divisions; ¹⁸to those registered by genealogy—with all their dependents, wives, sons, and daughters—of the whole assembly (for they had faithfully consecrated themselves as holy); ¹⁹and to the descendants of Aaron, the priests, in the common fields of their cities,^g in each and every city. There were men who were registered by name^h to distribute a portion to every male among the priests and to every Levite recorded by genealogy.

²⁰Hezekiah did this throughout all Judah. He did what was good and upright and true before the Lord his God.^{i 21}He was diligent in every deed that he began in the service of God’s temple, in the instruction and the commands, in order to seek his God, and he prospered.

SENNACHERIB’S INVASION

32After Hezekiah’s faithful deeds, King Sennacherib of Assyria came and entered Judah. He laid siege to the fortified cities and intended^C to break into them.^{j 2}Hezekiah saw that Sennacherib had come and that he planned^D war on Jerusalem, ³so he consulted with his officials and his warriors about stopping up the water of the springs that were outside the city, and they helped him. ⁴Many people gathered and stopped up all the springs^k and the stream that flowed through the land;^l they said, “Why should the kings of Assyria come and find abundant water?” ⁵Then Hezekiah strengthened his position by rebuilding the entire broken-down wall^m and heightening the towers and the other outside wall.ⁿ He repaired the supporting terraces^o of the city of David, and made an abundance of weapons and shields.

⁶He set military commanders over the people and gathered the people in the square of the city gate. Then he encouraged them,^Ep saying, ⁷“Be strong and courageous!^q Don’t be afraid or discouraged before the king of Assyria or before the large army that is with him, for there are more with us than with him.^{r 8}He has…