2 Chronicles 28–29

CHAPTER 28

Ahaz Reigns over Judah

^1aAhaz was twenty years old when he became king, and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem; and ^bhe did not do what was right in the sight of Yahweh, as David his father had done.

^2aBut he walked in the ways of the kings of Israel; he also ^bmade molten images for the Baals.

³Moreover, ^ahe offered offerings in smoke in the valley of Ben-hinnom and ^bburned his sons in the fire, ^caccording to the abominations of the nations whom Yahweh had dispossessed from before the sons of Israel.

⁴He also sacrificed and ^aoffered offerings in smoke on the high places and on the hills and under every green tree.

Judah Carried Away by Aram

⁵So, ^aYahweh his God gave him into the hand of the king of Aram; and they struck him and carried away from him a great number of captives and brought them to Damascus. And he was also given into the hand of the king of Israel, who struck him with a great slaughter.

⁶Indeed, ^aPekah the son of Remaliah killed in Judah 120,000 in one day, all men of valor, because they had forsaken Yahweh, the God of their fathers.

⁷And Zichri, a mighty man of Ephraim, killed Maaseiah the king’s son and Azrikam the ruler of the house and Elkanah the second to the king.

^8aThen the sons of Israel carried away captive of ^btheir brothers 200,000 women, sons, and daughters; and they plundered also a great deal of spoil from them and brought the spoil to Samaria.

⁹But a prophet of Yahweh was there, whose name was Oded; and ^ahe went out before the army which came to Samaria and said to them, “Behold, because of the ^bwrath of Yahweh, the God of your fathers, against Judah, He has given them into your hand, and you have killed them in a rage ^cwhich has even reached heaven.

¹⁰“So now you are ¹intending to ^asubdue for yourselves the people of Judah and Jerusalem for male and female slaves. Surely, do you not have your own matters of guilt against Yahweh your God?

¹¹“So now, listen to me and return the captives ^awhom you carried away from your brothers, ^bfor the burning anger of Yahweh is against you.”

¹²Then some of the heads of the sons of Ephraim—Azariah the son of Johanan, Berechiah the son of Meshillemoth, Jehizkiah the son of Shallum, and Amasa the son of Hadlai—arose against those who were coming from the engagement of the army,

¹³and said to them, “You must not bring the captives in here, for you are ¹intending to bring upon us guilt against Yahweh adding to our sins and our guilt; for our guilt is great so that His burning anger is against Israel.”

¹⁴So the armed men left the captives and the plunder before the commanders and all the assembly.

¹⁵Then ^athe men who were designated by name arose, took hold of the captives, and they clothed all their naked ones from the spoil; and they gave them clothes and sandals, fed them and ^bgave them drink, anointed them with oil, led all their feeble ones on donkeys, and brought them to Jericho, ^cthe city of palm trees, to their brothers; then they returned to Samaria.

Ahaz Sends to Assyria for Help

^16aAt that time King Ahaz sent to the ¹kings of Assyria for help.

^17aIndeed, again the Edomites had come and struck Judah and carried away captives.

^18aAnd the Philistines also had raided the cities of the ¹Shephelah and of the ²Negev of Judah, and had captured Beth-shemesh, Aijalon, Gederoth, and Soco with its towns, Timnah with its towns, and Gimzo with its towns, and they settled there.

¹⁹For Yahweh humbled Judah because of Ahaz king of ^aIsrael, for he had caused it to be out of control in Judah and was very unfaithful to Yahweh.

²⁰So ^aTilgath-pilneser king of Assyria came against him and distressed him instead of strengthening him.

^21aAlthough Ahaz took a portion out of the house of Yahweh and out of the house of the king and of the princes, and gave it to the king of Assyria, it did not help him.

²²Now in the time of his distress this same King Ahaz ^abecame yet more unfaithful to Yahweh.

^23aIndeed, he sacrificed to the gods of Damascus which had struck him, and said, “^bBecause the gods of the kings of Aram helped them, I will sacrifice to them that they may help me.” But they became the stumbling of him and all Israel.

²⁴Ahaz gathered together the utensils of the house of God. Then he ^acut the utensils of the house of God in pieces; and he ^bclosed the doors of the house of Yahweh and ^cmade altars for himself in every corner of Jerusalem.

²⁵Now in each and every city of Judah he made high places to offer offerings in smoke to other gods, and provoked Yahweh, the God of his fathers, to anger.

^26aNow the rest of his acts and all his ways, from first to last, behold, they are written in the Book of the Kings of Judah and Israel.

^27aSo Ahaz slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the city, in Jerusalem, for they did not bring him into the tombs of the kings of ^bIsrael; and Hezekiah his son became king in his place.

CHAPTER 29

Hezekiah Reigns over Judah

^1aHezekiah became king when he was twenty-five years old; and he reigned twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. And his mother’s name was Abijah, the daughter of Zechariah.

^2aAnd he did what was right in the sight of Yahweh, according to all that David his father had done.

³In the first year of his reign, in the first month, he ^aopened the doors of the house of Yahweh and repaired them.

⁴And he brought in the priests and the Levites and gathered them into the square on the east.

Hezekiah Sets the House of God as Holy

⁵Then he said to them, “Listen to me, O Levites. ^aSet yourselves apart now as holy, and set apart as holy the house of Yahweh, the God of your fathers, and bring out the impurity from the holy place.

⁶“For our fathers have been unfaithful and have done what is evil in the sight of Yahweh our God, and have forsaken Him and ^aturned their faces away from the dwelling place of Yahweh, and have ¹turned their backs.

⁷“They have also ^ashut the doors of the porch and put out the lamps, and have not burned incense or offered burnt offerings in the holy place to the God of Israel.

⁸“Therefore ^athe wrath of Yahweh was against Judah and Jerusalem, and He has made them an object of terror, of horror, and of ^bhissing, as you see with your own eyes.

⁹“And behold, ^aour fathers have fallen by the sword, and our sons and our daughters and our wives are in captivity for this.

¹⁰“Now it is in my heart ^ato cut a covenant with Yahweh, the God of Israel, that His burning anger may turn away from us.

¹¹“My sons, do not be at ease now, for ^aYahweh has chosen you to stand before Him, to minister to Him, and to be His ministers and offer offerings up in smoke.”

¹²Then the Levites arose: ^aMahath, the son of Amasai and Joel the son of Azariah, from the sons of ^bthe Kohathites; and from the sons of Merari, Kish the son of Abdi and Azariah the son of Jehallelel; and from the Gershonites, Joah the son of Zimmah and Eden the son of Joah;

¹³and from the sons of Elizaphan, Shimri and ¹Jeiel; and from the sons of Asaph, Zechariah and Mattaniah;

¹⁴and from the sons of Heman, ¹Jehiel and Shimei; and from the sons of Jeduthun, Shemaiah and Uzziel.

¹⁵And they gathered their brothers, ^aset themselves apart as holy, and went in ^bto cleanse the house of Yahweh, according to the commandment of the king ^cby the words of Yahweh.

¹⁶So the priests went in to the inner part of the house of Yahweh to cleanse it, and every unclean thing which they found in the temple of Yahweh they brought out to the court of the house of Yahweh. Then the Levites received it to bring out to ^athe Kidron ¹valley, to an outer area.

¹⁷Then they began ¹to set it apart as holy ^aon the first day of the first month, and on the eighth day of the month they entered the porch of Yahweh. Then they set apart the house of Yahweh as holy in eight days, and completed it on the sixteenth day of the first month.

¹⁸Then they went in to King Hezekiah and said, “We have cleansed the whole house of Yahweh, the altar of burnt offering with all of its utensils, and the table of showbread with all of its utensils.

¹⁹“Moreover, ^aall the utensils which King Ahaz had rejected during his reign in his unfaithfulness, we have prepared and set apart as holy; and behold, they are before the altar of Yahweh.”

Hezekiah Brings an Offering

²⁰Then King Hezekiah arose early and gathered the princes of the city and went up to the house of Yahweh.

²¹And they brought seven bulls, seven rams, seven lambs, and seven male goats ^afor a sin offering for the kingdom, the sanctuary, and Judah. And he ordered the priests, the sons of Aaron, to offer them on the altar of Yahweh.

²²So they slaughtered the bulls, and the priests took the blood and splashed it on the altar. They also slaughtered the rams and splashed the blood on the altar; they slaughtered the lambs also and ^asplashed the blood on the altar.

²³Then they had the male goats of the sin offering approach before the king and the assembly, and ^athey laid their hands on them.

²⁴And the priests slaughtered them and purged the altar with their blood ^ato atone for all Israel, for the king ordered the burnt offering and the sin offering for all Israel.

^25aHe then caused the Levites to stand in the house of Yahweh with cymbals, with harps, and with lyres, ^baccording to the command of David and of ^cGad the king’s seer, and of ^dNathan the prophet; for the command was from Yahweh by the hand of His prophets.

²⁶And the Levites stood with ^athe musical instruments of David, and ^bthe priests with the trumpets.

²⁷Then Hezekiah said to offer the burnt offering on the altar. When the burnt offering began, ^athe song to Yahweh also began with the trumpets, ¹accompanied by the instruments of David, king of Israel.

²⁸While the whole assembly worshiped, the singers also sang and the trumpets sounded; all this continued until the burnt offering was completed.

²⁹Now at the completion of the burnt offerings, ^athe king and all who were present with him bowed down and worshiped.

³⁰Moreover, King Hezekiah and the officials ordered the Levites to sing praises to Yahweh with the…