2 Chronicles 28–29

Judah’s King Ahaz

28Ahaz was 20 years old ^rwhen he became king and reigned 16 years in Jerusalem. He did not do what was right in the Lord’s sight ^slike his ancestor David, ²for he walked in the ways of the kings of Israel ^tand made cast images of the Baals. ^u3He burned incense in the Valley of Hinnom ^vand burned his children in ^wxthe fire, imitating the detestable practices of the nations the Lord had dispossessed before the Israelites. ^y4He sacrificed and burned incense on the high places, ^zon the hills, and under every green tree.

⁵So the Lord his God handed Ahaz over ^ato the king of Aram. He attacked him and took many captives to Damascus.

Ahaz was also handed over to the king of Israel, who struck him with great force: ⁶Pekah son of Remaliah killed 120,000 in Judah in one day—all brave men—because they had abandoned the Lord God of their ancestors. ⁷An Ephraimite warrior named Zichri killed the king’s son Maaseiah, Azrikam governor of the palace, and Elkanah who was second to the king. ⁸Then the Israelites took 200,000 captives from their brothers—women, sons, and daughters. ^bThey also took a great deal of plunder from them and brought it to Samaria.

⁹A prophet of the Lord named Oded was there. He went out to meet the army that came to Samaria and said to them, “Look, the Lord God of your ancestors handed them over to you because of His wrath against Judah, ^cbut you slaughtered them in a rage that has reached heaven. ^d10Now you plan to reduce the people of Judah and Jerusalem, male and female, to slavery. Are you not also guilty before Yahweh your God? ¹¹Listen to me and return the captives you took from your brothers, ^efor the Lord’s burning anger is on you.”

¹²So some men who were leaders of the Ephraimites—Azariah son of Jehohanan, Berechiah son of Meshillemoth, Jehizkiah son of Shallum, and Amasa son of Hadlai—stood in opposition to those coming from the war. ¹³They said to them, “You must not bring the captives here, for you plan to bring guilt on us from the Lord to add to our sins and our guilt. For we have much guilt, and burning anger is on Israel.”

¹⁴The army left the captives and the plunder in the presence of the officers and the congregation. ¹⁵Then the men who were designated by name ^ftook charge of the captives and provided clothes for their naked ones from the plunder. They clothed them, gave them sandals, food and drink, ^gdressed their wounds, and provided donkeys for all the feeble. The Israelites brought them to Jericho, the City of Palms, ^hamong their brothers. Then they returned to Samaria.

¹⁶At that time King Ahaz asked the king of Assyria for help. ⁱ¹⁷The Edomites came again, attacked Judah, and took captives. ^j18The Philistines also raided the cities of the Judean foothills ^kand the Negev of Judah ^land captured Beth-shemesh, Aijalon, Gederoth, Soco and its villages, Timnah and its villages, Gimzo and its villages, and they lived there. ¹⁹For the Lord humbled Judah because of King Ahaz of Judah, ^mwho threw off restraint in Judah and was unfaithful to the Lord. ²⁰Then Tiglath-pileser ^noking of Assyria came against Ahaz; he oppressed him and did not give him support. ^p21Although Ahaz plundered the Lord’s temple and the palace of the king and of the rulers and gave the plunder to the king of Assyria, it did not help him.

²²At the time of his distress, King Ahaz himself became more unfaithful to the Lord. ²³He sacrificed to the gods of Damascus which had defeated him; he said, “Since the gods of the kings of Aram are helping them, I will sacrifice to them so that they will help me.” ^qBut they were the downfall of him and of all Israel.

²⁴Then Ahaz gathered up the utensils of God’s temple, cut them into pieces, ^rshut the doors of the Lord’s temple, ^sand made himself altars on every street corner in Jerusalem. ^t25He made high places in every city of Judah to offer incense to other gods, and he provoked the Lord, the God of his ancestors.

Ahaz’s Death

²⁶As for the rest of his deeds ^uand all his ways, from beginning to end, they are written in the Book of the Kings of Judah and Israel. ²⁷Ahaz rested with his fathers and was buried in the city, in Jerusalem, but they did not bring him into the tombs of the kings of Israel. His son Hezekiah became king in his place.

Judah’s King Hezekiah

29Hezekiah was 25 years old ^vwhen he became king and reigned 29 years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Abijah ^wdaughter of Zechariah. ²He did what was right in the Lord’s sight ^xjust as his ancestor David had done.

³In the first year of his reign, in the first month, he opened the doors of the Lord’s temple and repaired them. ^y4Then he brought in the priests and Levites and gathered them in the eastern public square. ^z5He said to them, “Hear me, Levites. Consecrate yourselves ^anow and consecrate the temple of Yahweh, the God of your ancestors. Remove everything impure from the holy place. ⁶For our fathers were unfaithful and did what is evil in the sight of the Lord our God. They abandoned Him, turned their faces away from the Lord’s tabernacle, and turned their backs on Him. ^bc7They also closed the doors of the portico, extinguished the lamps, did not burn incense, and did not offer burnt offerings in the holy place of the God of Israel. ⁸Therefore, the wrath of the Lord was on Judah and Jerusalem, and He made them an object of terror, horror, and mockery, ^deas you see with your own eyes. ⁹Our fathers fell by the sword, and our sons, our daughters, and our wives are in captivity because of this. ^f10It is in my heart now to make a covenant with Yahweh, the God of Israel ^gso that His burning anger may turn away from us. ¹¹My sons, don’t be negligent now, for the Lord has chosen you to stand in His presence, to serve Him, and to be His ministers and burners of incense.” ^h

Cleansing the Temple

¹²Then the Levites stood up:

Mahath ⁱson of Amasai and Joel son of Azariah from the Kohathites;

Kish son of Abdi and Azariah son of Jehallelel from the Merarites; ^j

Joah son of Zimmah and Eden son of Joah from the Gershonites;

¹³Shimri and Jeuel from the Elizaphanites;

Zechariah and Mattaniah from the Asaphites;

¹⁴Jehiel ^kand Shimei from the Hemanites;

Shemaiah and Uzziel from the Jeduthunites.

¹⁵They gathered their brothers together, consecrated themselves, ^land went according to the king’s command by the words of the Lord ^mto cleanse the Lord’s temple. ⁿ

¹⁶The priests went to the entrance of the Lord’s temple to cleanse it. They took all the unclean things they found in the Lord’s sanctuary to the courtyard of the Lord’s temple. Then the Levites received them and took them outside to the Kidron Valley. ^o17They began the consecration on the first day of the first month, and on the eighth day of the month they came to the portico of the Lord’s temple. They consecrated the Lord’s temple for eight days, and on the sixteenth day of the first month they finished.

¹⁸Then they went inside to King Hezekiah and said, “We have cleansed the whole temple of the Lord, the altar of burnt offering and all its utensils, and the table for the rows of the bread of the Presence and all its utensils. ¹⁹We have set up and consecrated all the utensils that King Ahaz rejected during his reign ^pwhen he became unfaithful. They are in front of the altar of the Lord.”

Renewal of Temple Worship

²⁰King Hezekiah got up early, gathered the city officials, and went to the Lord’s temple. ²¹They brought seven bulls, seven rams, seven lambs, and seven male goats as a sin offering for the kingdom, for the sanctuary, and for Judah. Then he told the descendants of Aaron, the priests, to offer them on the altar of the Lord. ²²So they slaughtered the bulls, and the priests received the blood and sprinkled it on the altar. ^qThey slaughtered the rams and sprinkled the blood on the altar. They slaughtered the lambs and sprinkled the blood on the altar. ²³Then they brought the goats for the sin offering right into the presence of the king and the congregation, who laid their hands on them. ^r24The priests slaughtered the goats and put their blood on the altar for a sin offering, to make atonement for all Israel, ^sfor the king said that the burnt offering and sin offering were for all Israel.

²⁵Hezekiah stationed the Levites in the Lord’s temple with cymbals, harps, and lyres ^taccording to the command of David, ^uGad the king’s seer, ^vand Nathan the prophet. ^wFor the command was from the Lord through His prophets. ²⁶The Levites stood with the instruments of David, ^xand the priests with the trumpets. ^y

²⁷Then Hezekiah ordered that the burnt offering be offered on the altar. When the burnt offerings began, the song of the Lord and the trumpets began, accompanied by the instruments of David king of Israel. ²⁸The whole assembly was worshiping, singing the song, and blowing the trumpets—all of this continued until the burnt offering was completed. ²⁹When the burnt offerings were completed, the king and all those present with him bowed down and worshiped. ^z30Then King Hezekiah and the officials told the Levites to sing praise to the Lord in the words of David and of Asaph the seer. So they sang praises with rejoicing and bowed down and worshiped.

³¹Hezekiah concluded, “Now you are consecrated ^ato the Lord. Come near and bring sacrifices and thank offerings to the Lord’s temple.” So the congregation brought sacrifices and thank offerings, and all those with willing hearts ^bbrought burnt offerings. ³²The number of burnt offerings the congregation brought was 70 bulls, 100 rams, and 200 lambs; all these were for a burnt offering to the Lord. ³³Six hundred bulls and 3,000 sheep were consecrated.

³⁴However, since there were not enough priests, they weren’t able to skin all the burnt offerings, so their Levite brothers helped them ^cuntil the work was finished and until the priests consecrated themselves. For the Levites were more conscientious ^deto consecrate themselves than the priests were. ^f35Furthermore, the burnt…