2 Chronicles 28–29

Ahaz Reigns in Judah

28Ahaz ^awas twenty years old when he became king, and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem; and he did not do what was right in the sight of the Lord, as his father David had done. ²For he walked in the ways of the kings of Israel, and made ^bmolded images for ^cthe Baals. ³He burned incense in ^dthe Valley of the Son of Hinnom, and burned ^ehis children in the ^ffire, according to the abominations of the nations whom the Lord had ^gcast out before the children of Israel. ⁴And he sacrificed and burned incense on the ¹high places, on the hills, and under every green tree.

Syria and Israel Defeat Judah

⁵Therefore ^hthe Lord his God delivered him into the hand of the king of Syria. They ⁱdefeated him, and carried away a great multitude of them as captives, and brought them to Damascus. Then he was also delivered into the hand of the king of Israel, who defeated him with a great slaughter. ⁶For ^jPekah the son of Remaliah killed one hundred and twenty thousand in Judah in one day, all valiant men, ^kbecause they had forsaken the Lord God of their fathers. ⁷Zichri, a mighty man of Ephraim, killed Maaseiah the king’s son, Azrikam the officer over the house, and Elkanah who was second to the king. ⁸And the children of Israel carried away captive of their ^lbrethren two hundred thousand women, sons, and daughters; and they also took away much ²spoil from them, and brought the spoil to Samaria.

Israel Returns the Captives

⁹But a ^mprophet of the Lord was there, whose name was Oded; and he went out before the army that came to Samaria, and said to them: “Look, ⁿbecause the Lord God of your fathers was angry with Judah, He has delivered them into your hand; but you have killed them in a rage that ^oreaches up to heaven. ¹⁰And now you propose to force the children of Judah and Jerusalem to be your ^pmale and female slaves; but are you not also guilty before the Lord your God? ¹¹Now hear me, therefore, and return the captives, whom you have taken captive from your brethren, ^qfor the fierce wrath of the Lord is upon you.”

¹²Then some of the heads of the children of Ephraim, Azariah the son of Johanan, Berechiah the son of Meshillemoth, Jehizkiah the son of Shallum, and Amasa the son of Hadlai, stood up against those who came from the war, ¹³and said to them, “You shall not bring the captives here, for we already have offended the Lord. You intend to add to our sins and to our guilt; for our guilt is great, and there is fierce wrath against Israel.” ¹⁴So the armed men left the captives and the ³spoil before the leaders and all the assembly. ¹⁵Then the men ^rwho were designated by name rose up and took the captives, and from the ⁴spoil they clothed all who were naked among them, dressed them and gave them sandals, ^sgave them food and drink, and anointed them; and they let all the feeble ones ride on donkeys. So they brought them to their brethren at Jericho, ^tthe city of palm trees. Then they returned to Samaria.

Assyria Refuses to Help Judah

^16uAt the same time King Ahaz sent to the ⁵kings of Assyria to help him. ¹⁷For again the ^vEdomites had come, attacked Judah, and carried away captives. ^18wThe Philistines also had invaded the cities of the lowland and of the South of Judah, and had taken Beth Shemesh, Aijalon, Gederoth, Sochoh with its villages, Timnah with its villages, and Gimzo with its villages; and they dwelt there. ¹⁹For the Lord ⁶brought Judah low because of Ahaz king of ^xIsrael, for he had ^yencouraged moral decline in Judah and had been continually unfaithful to the Lord. ²⁰Also ^zTiglath-Pileser ⁷king of Assyria came to him and distressed him, and did not assist him. ²¹For Ahaz took part of the treasures from the house of the Lord, from the house of the king, and from the leaders, and he gave it to the king of Assyria; but he did not help him.

Apostasy and Death of Ahaz

²²Now in the time of his distress King Ahaz became increasingly unfaithful to the Lord. This is that King Ahaz. ²³For ^ahe sacrificed to the gods of Damascus which had defeated him, saying, “Because the gods of the kings of Syria help them, I will sacrifice to them ^bthat they may help me.” But they were the ruin of him and of all Israel. ²⁴So Ahaz gathered the articles of the house of God, cut in pieces the articles of the house of God, ^cshut up the doors of the house of the Lord, and made for himself altars in every corner of Jerusalem. ²⁵And in every single city of Judah he made ⁸high places to burn incense to other gods, and provoked to anger the Lord God of his fathers.

^26dNow the rest of his acts and all his ways, from first to last, indeed they are written in the book of the kings of Judah and Israel. ²⁷So Ahaz ⁹rested with his fathers, and they buried him in the city, in Jerusalem; but they ^edid not bring him into the tombs of the kings of Israel. Then Hezekiah his son reigned in his place.

Hezekiah Reigns in Judah

29Hezekiah ^abecame king when he was twenty-five years old, and he reigned twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was ¹Abijah the daughter of Zechariah. ²And he did what was right in the sight of the Lord, according to all that his father David had done.

Hezekiah Cleanses the Temple

³In the first year of his reign, in the first month, he ^bopened the doors of the house of the Lord and repaired them. ⁴Then he brought in the priests and the Levites, and gathered them in the East Square, ⁵and said to them: “Hear me, Levites! Now ²sanctify yourselves, ^csanctify the house of the Lord God of your fathers, and carry out the rubbish from the holy place. ⁶For our fathers have trespassed and done evil in the eyes of the Lord our God; they have forsaken Him, have ^dturned their faces away from the ³dwelling place of the Lord, and turned their backs on Him. ^7eThey have also shut up the doors of the vestibule, put out the lamps, and have not burned incense or offered burnt offerings in the holy place to the God of Israel. ⁸Therefore the ^fwrath of the Lord fell upon Judah and Jerusalem, and He has ^ggiven them up to trouble, to desolation, and to ^hjeering, as you see with your ⁱeyes. ⁹For indeed, because of this ^jour fathers have fallen by the sword; and our sons, our daughters, and our wives are in captivity.

¹⁰“Now it is in my heart to make ^ka covenant with the Lord God of Israel, that His fierce wrath may turn away from us. ¹¹My sons, do not be negligent now, for the Lord has ^lchosen you to stand before Him, to serve Him, and that you should minister to Him and burn incense.”

¹²Then these Levites arose: ^mMahath the son of Amasai and Joel the son of Azariah, of the sons of the ⁿKohathites; of the sons of Merari, Kish the son of Abdi and Azariah the son of Jehallelel; of the Gershonites, Joah the son of Zimmah and Eden the son of Joah; ¹³of the sons of Elizaphan, Shimri and Jeiel; of the sons of Asaph, Zechariah and Mattaniah; ¹⁴of the sons of Heman, Jehiel and Shimei; and of the sons of Jeduthun, Shemaiah and Uzziel.

¹⁵And they gathered their brethren, ^osanctified ⁴themselves, and went according to the commandment of the king, at the words of the Lord, ^pto cleanse the house of the Lord. ¹⁶Then the priests went into the inner part of the house of the Lord to cleanse it, and brought out all the debris that they found in the temple of the Lord to the court of the house of the Lord. And the Levites took it out and carried it to the Brook ^qKidron.

¹⁷Now they began to ⁵sanctify on the first day of the first month, and on the eighth day of the month they came to the vestibule of the Lord. So they sanctified the house of the Lord in eight days, and on the sixteenth day of the first month they finished.

¹⁸Then they went in to King Hezekiah and said, “We have cleansed all the house of the Lord, the altar of burnt offerings with all its articles, and the table of the showbread with all its articles. ¹⁹Moreover all the articles which King Ahaz in his reign had ^rcast aside in his transgression we have prepared and ⁶sanctified; and there they are, before the altar of the Lord.”

Hezekiah Restores Temple Worship

²⁰Then King Hezekiah rose early, gathered the rulers of the city, and went up to the house of the Lord. ²¹And they brought seven bulls, seven rams, seven lambs, and seven male goats for a ^ssin offering for the kingdom, for the sanctuary, and for Judah. Then he commanded the priests, the sons of Aaron, to offer them on the altar of the Lord. ²²So they killed the bulls, and the priests received the blood and ^tsprinkled it on the altar. Likewise they killed the rams and sprinkled the blood on the altar. They also killed the lambs and sprinkled the blood on the altar. ²³Then they brought out the male goats for the sin offering before the king and the assembly, and they laid their ^uhands on them. ²⁴And the priests killed them; and they presented their blood on the altar as a sin offering ^vto make an atonement for all Israel, for the king commanded that the burnt offering and the sin offering be made for all Israel.

^25wAnd he stationed the Levites in the house of the Lord with cymbals, with stringed instruments, and with harps, ^xaccording to the commandment of David, of ^yGad the king’s seer, and of Nathan the prophet; ^zfor thus was the commandment of the Lord by his prophets. ²⁶The Levites stood with the instruments ^aof David, and the priests with ^bthe trumpets. ²⁷Then Hezekiah commanded them to offer the burnt offering on the altar. And when the burnt offering began, ^cthe song of the Lord also began, with the trumpets and with the instruments of David king of Israel. ²⁸So all the assembly worshiped, the singers sang, and the trumpeters sounded; all this continued until the burnt offering was finished. ²⁹And when they had finished offering, ^dthe king and all who were present with him bowed and worshiped. ³⁰Moreover King Hezekiah and the leaders commanded the Levites to sing praise to the Lord with the words of David and of Asaph the seer. So they sang praises with gladness, and they bowed their heads and…