2 Chronicles 27–32

The Reign of Jotham

27Jotham was twenty-five years old^a when he became king, and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem. And the name of his mother was Jerusha the daughter of Zadok. ²And he did what was right in the eyes of Yahweh, according to all that his father Uzziah had done—only he did not go into the temple of Yahweh. But the people still acted corruptly. ³He built the upper gate of the house of Yahweh, and he did much restoration^b on the wall of Ophel. ⁴And he built cities in the hill country of Judah, and he built forts and towers in the wooded places. ⁵Now he fought with the king of the Ammonites^c and prevailed against them. And the Ammonites^d gave to him in that year one hundred talents of silver and ten thousand measures of wheat and ten thousand measures of barley. This is what the Ammonites^e rendered to him, as well as in the second and third year. ⁶And Jotham strengthened himself, for he established his ways before Yahweh his God.

⁷Now the remainder of the words of Jotham and all his wars and his ways, behold, they are written upon the scroll of the kings of Israel and Judah. ⁸He was twenty-five years old^f when he became king, and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem. ⁹And Jotham slept with his ancestors,^g and they buried him in the city of David. And his son Ahaz became king in his place.

The Reign of Ahaz

28Ahaz was twenty years old^a when he became king, and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem. And he did not do what is right in the eyes of Yahweh like David his ancestor.^{b 2}But he walked in the ways of the kings of Israel and also made molten idols for the Baals. ³And he himself burned incense in the valley of Ben-Hinnom and burned his sons in the fire, according to the detestable practices of the nations whom Yahweh drove out before the Israelites. ⁴And he sacrificed and burned incense at the high places, on the hilltops, and under every flourishing tree.

⁵Then Yahweh his God gave him into the hand of the king of Aram^c who defeated him and captured many captives from him and brought them to Damascus. Moreover, he was also given into the hand of the king of Israel, and he defeated him by a great attack. ⁶And Pekah, the son of Remaliah, killed in one day one hundred and twenty thousand in Judah, all men of strength, because they forsook Yahweh the God of their ancestors.^{d 7}And Zikri, a mighty warrior of Ephraim, killed Maaseiah the son of the king, Azrikam the commander of the house, and Elkanah the second to the king. ⁸And the Israelites captured two hundred thousand of their brothers, women, sons, and daughters. And they also plundered much booty from them and brought the booty to Samaria.

⁹Now a prophet of Yahweh was there; Oded was his name. And he went out before the army that was coming to Samaria and said to them, “Look, it is on account of the anger of Yahweh, the God of your ancestors,^e against Judah that he gave them into your hands, and you killed them in a rage reaching to the heavens. ¹⁰So now, you yourselves plan to subdue people of Judah and Jerusalem as slaves and female servants for yourselves. Is there not also guilt on your part^f against Yahweh your God? ¹¹So now, listen to me and return the captives of your brothers whom you have taken captive, for the fierce anger of Yahweh is against you.”

¹²Then men from the heads of Ephraim—Azariah the son of Jehohanan, Berekiah the son of Meshillemoth, Hezekiah the son of Shallum, and Amasa the son of Hadlai—stood against those returning from the fight. ¹³And they said to them, “You shall not bring the captives here, for it is as guilt against Yahweh upon us. You yourselves plan to add to our sins and to our guilt, but our guilt is very great, and there is great anger against Israel.” ¹⁴So the soldiers left the captives and the plunder before the commanders and all the assembly. ¹⁵Then the men designated by name arose and took the captives and from the plunder clothed all their nakedness. So they clothed them, gave them sandals, gave them food to eat, gave them water to drink, anointed them, and guided them with the donkeys provided for all those who stumbled, and brought them to Jericho, the city of the palm trees, next to their brothers. Then they returned to Samaria.

¹⁶At that time King Ahaz sent to the king of Assyria to help him, ¹⁷since again the Edomites came and struck against Judah and took captives. ¹⁸And the Philistines sent raids into the cities of the Shephelah and the Negeb of Judah. And they captured Beth-Shemesh, Aijalon, Gederoth, Socoh with its villages, Timnah with its villages, and Gimzo with its villages. And they settled there. ¹⁹For Yahweh subdued Judah for the sake of Ahaz, king of Israel, for he created disorder in Judah and acted unfaithfully against Yahweh. ²⁰Then Tiglath-Pileser^g the king of Assyria came against him and brought trouble for him, instead of helping him,^{h 21}for Ahaz took a portion from the house of Yahweh and the house of the king and the princes, and he gave it to the king of Assyria, but it was no help to him.

²²And in the time of his distress, King Ahaz continued to act unfaithfully against Yahweh. ²³He sacrificed to the gods of Damascus that had defeated him and said, “Because the gods of the king of Aramⁱ helped them, I will sacrifice to them so that they will help me.” But they were a disaster^j to him and to all Israel. ²⁴Then Ahaz gathered the objects of the house of God, and he cut the objects of the house of God to pieces. And he shut the doors of the house of Yahweh and made for himself altars in every corner of Jerusalem. ²⁵And in every city^k of Judah he made high places to burn incense to other gods, and he provoked Yahweh, the God of his ancestors,^l to anger.

²⁶Now the remainder of his words and all his ways, from the first to the last, behold, they are written upon the scroll of the kings of Judah and Israel. ²⁷And Ahaz slept with his ancestors,^m and they buried him in the city, in Jerusalem, for they did not bring him to the burial site of the kings of Israel. And Hezekiah his son became king in his place.

The Reign of Hezekiah

29Hezekiah became king when he was twenty-five years old,^a and he reigned twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. And the name of his mother was Abijah the daughter of Zechariah. ²And he did that which was right in the eyes of Yahweh, according to all that David his father had done.

³In the first year of his kingship, in the first month, he opened the doors of the house of Yahweh and strengthened them. ⁴And he brought in the priests and the Levites, and he gathered them into the eastern square. ⁵And he said to them, “Hear me, O Levites! Sanctify yourselves now, and sanctify the house of Yahweh, the God of your ancestors,^b and bring out the defilement from the sanctuary. ⁶For our ancestors^c acted unfaithfully and did evil in the sight of Yahweh our God, and have forsaken him and turned away their faces from the dwelling place of Yahweh. They have turned their backs^d on it. ⁷They also shut the doors of the portico and extinguished the lamps. And they did not burn incense or offer burnt offerings in the sanctuary to the God of Israel. ⁸And the wrath of Yahweh was upon Judah and Jerusalem. And he made them as an abhorrence, as a desolation and an object of scorn, as you see with your own eyes. ⁹Now behold, our fathers have fallen by the sword, and our sons and our daughters and our wives are in captivity on account of this. ¹⁰Now it is in my heart^e to make^f a covenant with Yahweh, the God of Israel, so that his fierce anger might turn away from him. ¹¹Now, my sons, do not be negligent, for Yahweh has chosen you to stand before him to serve him and to be his servants and incense burners.”

¹²Then the Levites arose—Mahath the son of Amasai and Joel the son of Azariah, from the Kohathites; and Kish the son of Abdi and Azariah the son of Jehallelel from the Merarites; and Joah son of Zimmah and Eden son of Joah, from the Gershonites. ¹³And from the descendants^g of Elizaphan: Shimri and Jeiel; and from the descendants^h of Asaph: Zechariah and Mattaniah; ¹⁴and from the descendantsⁱ of Heman: Jeiel and Shimei; and from the descendants^j of Jeduthun: Shemaiah and Uzziel— ¹⁵and they gathered their brothers and sanctified themselves, and they went in according to the command of the king because of the words of Yahweh, to purify the house of Yahweh. ¹⁶And the priests went into the inner part of the house of Yahweh to purify it. And they brought out all the impurity that they found in the temple of Yahweh out to the courtyard of the house of Yahweh. And the Levites took them to bring them outside to the Wadi^k Kidron. ¹⁷And they began to sanctify themselves on the first day of the first month. And on the eighth day of the month they came to the portico of Yahweh. And they sanctified the house of Yahweh for eight days, and on the sixteenth day of the first month they finished. ¹⁸And they went into the inner part to King Hezekiah and said, “We have cleansed all the house of Yahweh: the altar of burnt offering, all its objects, the table of the rows of bread and all its objects, ¹⁹and all the objects that King Ahaz discarded in his reign when he sinned, we have prepared and sanctified. Look, they are before the altar of Yahweh.”

²⁰Then King Hezekiah rose early and gathered the officials of the city, and he went up to the house of Yahweh. ²¹And they brought seven bulls, seven rams, seven lambs, and seven male goats as a purification offering for the kingdom, for the sanctuary, and for Judah. And he commanded the descendants^l of Aaron, the priests, to offer them on the altar of Yahweh. ²²And they slaughtered the cattle, and the priests received the blood and threw it toward the altar. Then they slaughtered the rams and threw the blood toward the altar, and then they slaughtered the lambs and threw the blood toward the altar. ²³Then they brought the goats of the sin offering before the king and the assembly, and they laid hands…