2 Chronicles 30–33

¹And Hezekiah sendeth unto all Israel and Judah, and also letters he hath written unto Ephraim and Manasseh, to come in to the house of Jehovah in Jerusalem, to make a passover to Jehovah, God of Israel. ²And the king taketh counsel, and his heads, and all the assembly in Jerusalem, to make the passover in the second month, ³for they have not been able to make it at that time, for the priests have not sanctified themselves sufficiently, and the people have not been gathered to Jerusalem. ⁴And the thing is right in the eyes of the king, and in the eyes of all the assembly, ⁵and they establish the thing, to cause to pass over an intimation into all Israel, from Beer-Sheba even unto Dan, to come in to make a passover to Jehovah, God of Israel, in Jerusalem, for not for a long time had they done as it is written. ⁶And the runners go with letters from the hand of the king and his heads, into all Israel and Judah, even according to the command of the king, saying, ‘O sons of Israel, turn back unto Jehovah, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, and He doth turn back unto the escaped part that is left of you from the hand of the kings of Asshur; ⁷and do not be like your fathers, and like your brethren, who trespassed against Jehovah, God of their fathers, and He giveth them to desolation, as ye do see.

⁸‘Now, harden not your neck like your fathers, give a hand to Jehovah, and come in to His sanctuary, that He hath sanctified to the age, and serve Jehovah your God, and the fierceness of His anger doth turn back from you; ⁹for in your turning back unto Jehovah, your brethren and your sons have mercies before their captors, even to return to this land, for gracious and merciful is Jehovah your God, and He doth not turn aside the face from you, if ye turn back unto Him.’ ¹⁰And the runners are passing over from city to city, in the land of Ephraim and Manasseh, even unto Zebulun: and they are laughing at them, and mocking at them, ¹¹only, certain from Asher, and Manasseh, and from Zebulun, have been humbled, and come in to Jerusalem. ¹²Also, in Judah hath the hand of God been to give to them one heart to do the command of the king and of the heads, in the matter of Jehovah.

¹³And much people are gathered to Jerusalem, to make the feast of unleavened things in the second month—a mighty assembly for multitude. ¹⁴And they arise and turn aside the altars that are in Jerusalem, and all the perfume altars they have turned aside, and cast them to the brook Kidron; ¹⁵and they slaughter the passover-offering on the fourteenth of the second month, and the priests and the Levites have been ashamed, and sanctify themselves, and bring in burnt-offerings to the house of Jehovah. ¹⁶And they stand on their station according to their ordinance; according to the law of Moses the man of God the priests are sprinkling the blood out of the hand of the Levites, ¹⁷for many are in the assembly who have not sanctified themselves, and the Levites are over the slaughtering of the passover-offerings for every one not clean, to sanctify him to Jehovah: ¹⁸for a multitude of the people, many from Ephraim and Manasseh, Issachar, and Zebulun, have not been cleansed, but have eaten the passover otherwise than it is written; but Hezekiah prayed for them, saying, ‘Jehovah, who is good, doth receive atonement for every one ¹⁹who hath prepared his heart to seek God—Jehovah, God of his fathers—yet not according to the cleansing of the sanctuary;’ ²⁰and Jehovah hearkeneth unto Hezekiah, and healeth the people.

²¹And the sons of Israel, those found in Jerusalem, make the feast of unleavened things seven days with great joy; and giving praise to Jehovah day by day are the Levites and the priests, with instruments of praise before Jehovah. ²²And Hezekiah speaketh unto the heart of all the Levites, those giving good understanding concerning Jehovah, and they eat the appointed thing seven days; sacrificing sacrifices of peace-offerings, and making confession to Jehovah, God of their fathers. ²³And all the assembly take counsel to keep other seven days, and they keep seven days with joy; ²⁴for Hezekiah king of Judah hath presented to the assembly a thousand bullocks, and seven thousand sheep; and the heads have presented to the assembly bullocks a thousand, and sheep ten thousand; and priests sanctify themselves in abundance. ²⁵And all the assembly of Judah rejoice, and the priests, and the Levites, and all the assembly, those coming in from Israel, and the sojourners, those coming in from the land of Israel, and those dwelling in Judah, ²⁶and there is great joy in Jerusalem; for from the days of Solomon son of David king of Israel there is not like this in Jerusalem, ²⁷and the priests, the Levites, rise and bless the people, and their voice is heard, and their prayer cometh in to His holy habitation, to the heavens.

Chapter 31

¹And at the completion of all this, gone out have all Israel who are found present to the cities of Judah, and break the standing-pillars, and cut down the shrines, and break down the high places and the altars, out of all Judah and Benjamin, and in Ephraim and Manasseh, even to completion, and all the sons of Israel turn back, each to his Possession, to their cities. ²And Hezekiah appointeth the courses of the priests, and of the Levites, by their courses, each according to his service, of the priests and of the Levites, for burnt-offering, and for peace-offerings, to minister, and to give thanks, and to give praise in the gates of the camps of Jehovah. ³And a portion of the king, from his substance, is for burnt-offerings, for burnt-offerings of the morning, and of the evening, and the burnt-offerings of sabbaths, and of new moons, and of appointed seasons, as it is written in the law of Jehovah. ⁴And he saith to the people, to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, to give the portion of the priests, and of the Levites, so that they are strengthened in the law of Jehovah; ⁵and at the spreading forth of the thing have the sons of Israel multiplied the first-fruit of corn, new wine, and oil, and honey, and of all the increase of the field, and the tithe of the whole in abundance they have brought in. ⁶And the sons of Israel and Judah, those dwelling in cities of Judah, they also a tithe of herd and flock, and a tithe of the holy things that are sanctified to Jehovah their God, have brought in, and they give—heaps, heaps; ⁷in the third month they have begun to lay the foundation of the heaps, and in the seventh month they have finished. ⁸And Hezekiah and the heads come in and see the heaps, and bless Jehovah and His people Israel, ⁹and Hezekiah inquireth at the priests and the Levites concerning the heaps, ¹⁰and Azariah the head priest, of the house of Zadok, speaketh unto him, and saith, ‘From the beginning of the bringing of the heave-offering to the house of Jehovah, there is to eat, and to be satisfied, and to leave abundantly, for Jehovah hath blessed His people, and that left is this store.’

¹¹And Hezekiah saith to prepare chambers in the house of Jehovah, and they prepare, ¹²and they bring in the heave-offering, and the tithe, and the holy things faithfully; and over them is a leader, Conaniah the Levite, and Shimei his brother is second; ¹³and Jehiel, and Azaziah, and Nahath, and Asahel, and Jerimoth, and Jozabad, and Eliel, and Ismachiah, and Mahath, and Benaiah, are inspectors under the hand of Conaniah and Shimei his brother, by the appointment of Hezekiah the king, and Azariah leader of the house of God. ¹⁴And Kore son of Imnah the Levite, the gatekeeper at the east, is over the willing-offerings of God, to give the heave-offering of Jehovah, and the most holy things. ¹⁵And by his hand are Eden, and Miniamin, and Jeshua, and Shemaiah, Amariah, and Shechaniah, in cities of the priests, faithfully to give to their brethren in courses, as the great so the small, ¹⁶apart from their genealogy, to males from a son of three years and upward, to every one who hath gone in to the house of Jehovah, by the matter of a day in its day, for their service in their charges, according to their courses; ¹⁷and the genealogy of the priests by the house of their fathers, and of the Levites, from a son of twenty years and upward, in their charges, in their courses; ¹⁸and to the genealogy among all their infants, their wives, and their sons, and their daughters to all the congregation, for in their faithfulness they sanctify themselves in holiness. ¹⁹And to sons of Aaron, the priests, in the fields of the suburb of their cities, in every city and city, are men who have been defined by name, to give portions to every male among the priests, and to every one who reckoned himself by genealogy among the Levites. ²⁰And Hezekiah doth thus in all Judah, and doth that which is good, and that which is right, and that which is true, before Jehovah his God; ²¹and in every work that he hath begun for the service of the house of God, and for the law, and for the command, to seek to his God, with all his heart he hath wrought and prospered.

Chapter 32

¹After these things and this truth, come hath Sennacherib king of Asshur, yea, he cometh in to Judah, and encampeth against the cities of the bulwarks, and saith to rend them unto himself. ²And Hezekiah seeth that Sennacherib hath come, and his face is to the battle against Jerusalem, ³and he taketh counsel with his heads and his mighty ones, to stop the waters of the fountains that are at the outside of the city—and they help him, ⁴and much people are gathered, and they stop all the fountains and the brook that is rushing into the midst of the land, saying, ‘Why do the kings of Asshur come, and have found much water?’ ⁵And he strengtheneth himself, and buildeth the whole of the wall that is broken, and causeth it to ascend unto the towers, and at the outside of the wall another, and strengtheneth Millo, in the city of David, and maketh darts in abundance, and shields. ⁶And he putteth heads of war over the people, and gathereth them unto…