Chapter 30

All Israel Invited to the Passover

1 Now Hezekiah sent to all Israel and Judah and wrote letters also to Ephraim and Manasseh, that they should come to the house of the Lord at Jerusalem to 1celebrate the Passover to the Lord God of Israel.

2 For the king and his princes and all the assembly in Jerusalem had decided ato celebrate the Passover in the second month,

3 since they could not celebrate it aat that time, because the priests had not consecrated themselves in sufficient numbers, nor had the people been gathered to Jerusalem.

4 Thus the thing was right in the sight of the king and 1all the assembly.

5 So they established a decree to circulate a 1proclamation throughout all Israel afrom Beersheba even to Dan, that they should come to celebrate the Passover to the Lord God of Israel at Jerusalem. For they had not celebrated it in great numbers as it was 2prescribed.

6 aThe 1couriers went throughout all Israel and Judah with the letters from the hand of the king and his princes, even according to the command of the king, saying, “O sons of Israel, return to the Lord God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, that He may return to those of you who escaped and are left from bthe 2hand of the kings of Assyria.

7 “aDo not be like your fathers and your brothers, who were unfaithful to the Lord God of their fathers, so that bHe made them a horror, as you see.

8 “Now do not astiffen your neck like your fathers, but 1yield to the Lord and enter His sanctuary which He has consecrated forever, and serve the Lord your God, bthat His burning anger may turn away from you.

9 “For aif you return to the Lord, your brothers and your sons will find compassion before those who led them captive and will return to this land. bFor the Lord your God is gracious and compassionate, and will not turn His face away from you if you return to Him.”

10 So the 1couriers passed from city to city through the country of Ephraim and Manasseh, and as far as Zebulun, but athey laughed them to scorn and mocked them.

11 Nevertheless asome men of Asher, Manasseh and Zebulun humbled themselves and came to Jerusalem.

12 The ahand of God was also on Judah to give them one heart to do what the king and the princes commanded by the word of the Lord.

Passover Reinstituted

13 Now many people were gathered at Jerusalem to celebrate the Feast of Unleavened Bread ain the second month, a very large assembly.

14 They arose and removed the altars which were in Jerusalem; they also aremoved all the incense altars and bcast them into the brook Kidron.

15 Then athey slaughtered the Passover lambs on the fourteenth of the second month. And bthe priests and Levites were ashamed of themselves, and consecrated themselves and brought burnt offerings to the house of the Lord.

16 aThey stood at their stations after their custom, according to the law of Moses the man of God; the priests sprinkled the blood which they received from the hand of the Levites.

17 For there were many in the assembly who had not consecrated themselves; therefore, athe Levites were over the slaughter of the Passover lambs for everyone who was unclean, in order to consecrate them to the Lord.

18 For a multitude of the people, aeven many from Ephraim and Manasseh, Issachar and Zebulun, had not purified themselves, byet they ate the Passover cotherwise than 1prescribed. For Hezekiah prayed for them, saying, “May the good Lord pardon

19 aeveryone who prepares his heart to seek God, the Lord God of his fathers, though not according to the purification rules of the sanctuary.”

20 So the Lord heard Hezekiah and ahealed the people.

21 The sons of Israel present in Jerusalem acelebrated the Feast of Unleavened Bread for seven days with great joy, and the Levites and the priests praised the Lord day after day with loud instruments to the Lord.

22 Then Hezekiah aspoke 1encouragingly to all the Levites who showed good insight in the things of the Lord. So they ate for the appointed seven days, sacrificing peace offerings and bgiving thanks to the Lord God of their fathers.

23 Then the whole assembly adecided to celebrate the feast another seven days, so they celebrated the seven days with joy.

24 For aHezekiah king of Judah had contributed to the assembly 1,000 bulls and 7,000 sheep, and the princes had contributed to the assembly 1,000 bulls and 10,000 sheep; and ba large number of priests consecrated themselves.

25 All the assembly of Judah rejoiced, with the priests and the Levites and aall the assembly that came from Israel, both the sojourners who came from the land of Israel and those living in Judah.

26 So there was great joy in Jerusalem, because there was nothing like this in Jerusalem asince the days of Solomon the son of David, king of Israel.

27 Then athe Levitical priests arose and bblessed the people; and their voice was heard and their prayer came to cHis holy dwelling place, to heaven.

Chapter 31

Idols Are Destroyed

1 Now when all this was finished, all Israel who were present went out to the cities of Judah, abroke the pillars in pieces, cut down the 1Asherim and pulled down the high places and the altars throughout all Judah and Benjamin, as well as in Ephraim and Manasseh, 2until they had destroyed them all. Then all the sons of Israel returned to their cities, each to his possession.

2 And Hezekiah appointed athe divisions of the priests and the Levites by their divisions, each according to his service, both the priests and the Levites, bfor burnt offerings and for peace offerings, to minister and to give thanks and to praise in the gates of the camp of the Lord.

Reforms Continued

3 He also appointed athe king’s portion of his goods for the burnt offerings, namely, for the morning and evening burnt offerings, and the burnt offerings for the sabbaths and for the new moons and for the fixed festivals, bas it is written in the law of the Lord.

4 Also he 1commanded the people who lived in Jerusalem to give athe portion due to the priests and the Levites, that they might devote themselves to bthe law of the Lord.

5 As soon as the 1order spread, the sons of Israel provided in abundance the first fruits of grain, new wine, oil, honey and of all the produce of the field; and they brought in abundantly athe tithe of all.

6 The sons of Israel and Judah who lived in the cities of Judah also brought in the tithe of oxen and sheep, and athe tithe of 1sacred gifts which were consecrated to the Lord their God, and placed them in heaps.

7 In the third month they began to 1make the heaps, and finished them by the seventh month.

8 When Hezekiah and the rulers came and saw the heaps, they blessed the Lord and aHis people Israel.

9 Then Hezekiah questioned the priests and the Levites concerning the heaps.

10 Azariah the chief priest aof the house of Zadok said to 1him, “bSince the contributions began to be brought into the house of the Lord, we have had enough to eat with plenty left over, for the Lord has blessed His people, and this great quantity is left over.”

11 Then Hezekiah commanded them to prepare arooms in the house of the Lord, and they prepared them.

12 They faithfully brought in the contributions and the tithes and the consecrated things; and Conaniah the Levite was the officer in charge aof them and his brother Shimei was second.

13 Jehiel, Azaziah, Nahath, Asahel, Jerimoth, Jozabad, Eliel, Ismachiah, Mahath and Benaiah were overseers 1under the authority of Conaniah and Shimei his brother by the appointment of King Hezekiah, and aAzariah was the chief officer of the house of God.

14 Kore the son of Imnah the Levite, the keeper of the eastern gate, was over the freewill offerings of God, to apportion the contributions for the Lord and the most holy things.

15 1Under his authority were aEden, Miniamin, Jeshua, Shemaiah, Amariah and Shecaniah in bthe cities of the priests, to distribute faithfully their portions to their brothers by divisions, whether great or small,

16 without regard to their genealogical enrollment, to the males from 1athirty years old and upward—everyone who entered the house of the Lord bfor his daily obligations—for their work in their duties according to their divisions;

17 as well as the priests who were enrolled genealogically according to their fathers’ households, and the Levites afrom twenty years old and upwards, by their duties and their divisions.

18 The genealogical enrollment included 1all their little children, their wives, their sons and their daughters, for the whole assembly, for they consecrated themselves 2faithfully in holiness.

19 Also for the sons of Aaron the priests who were in athe pasture lands of their cities, or in each and every city, bthere were men who were designated by name to distribute portions to every male among the priests and to everyone genealogically enrolled among the Levites.

20 Thus Hezekiah did throughout all Judah; and ahe did what was good, right and true before the Lord his God.

21 Every work which he began in the service of the house of God in law and in commandment, seeking his God, he did with all his heart and aprospered.

Chapter 32

Sennacherib Invades Judah

1 After these 1acts of faithfulness aSennacherib king of Assyria came and invaded Judah and besieged the fortified cities, and 2thought to break into them for himself.

2 Now when Hezekiah saw that Sennacherib had come and that 1he intended to make war on Jerusalem,

3 he decided with his officers and his warriors to cut off the supply of water from the springs which were outside the city, and they helped him.

4 So many people assembled aand stopped up all the springs and bthe stream which flowed 1through the region, saying, “Why should the kings of Assyria come and find abundant water?”

5 And he took courage and arebuilt all the wall that had been broken down and 1erected towers on it, and built banother outside wall and strengthened the cMillo in the city of David, and made weapons and shields in great number.

6 He appointed military officers over the people and gathered them to him in the square at the city gate, and aspoke 1encouragingly to them, saying,

7 “aBe strong and courageous, do not fear or be dismayed because of the king of Assyria nor because of all the horde that is with him; bfor the one with us is greater than the one with him.

8 “With him is only aan arm of flesh, but bwith us is the Lord our God to help us and to fight our battles.” And the people relied on the words of Hezekiah king of Judah.

Sennacherib Undermines Hezekiah

9 After this aSennacherib king of Assyria sent his servants to Jerusalem while he was 1besieging Lachish with all his forces with him, against Hezekiah king of Judah and against all Judah who were at Jerusalem, saying,

10 “Thus says Sennacherib king of Assyria, ‘On what are you trusting that you are remaining in Jerusalem under siege?

11 ‘Is not Hezekiah misleading you to give yourselves over to die by hunger and by thirst, saying, “The Lord our God will deliver us from the 1hand of the king of Assyria”?

12 ‘aHas not the same Hezekiah taken away His high places and His altars, and said to Judah and 1Jerusalem, “You shall worship before one altar, and on it you shall 2burn incense”?

13 ‘Do you not know what I and my fathers have done to all the peoples of the lands? aWere the gods of the nations of the lands able at all to deliver their land from my hand?

14 ‘aWho was there among all the gods of those nations which my fathers utterly destroyed who could deliver his people out of my hand, that your God should be able to deliver you from my hand?

15 ‘Now therefore, do not let Hezekiah deceive you or mislead you like this, and do not believe him, for ano god of any nation or kingdom was able to deliver his people from my hand or from the hand of my fathers. How much less will your God deliver you from my hand?’ ”

16 His servants spoke further against the Lord God and against His servant Hezekiah.

17 He also wrote letters to insult the Lord God of Israel, and to speak against Him, saying, “aAs the gods of the nations of the lands 1have not delivered their people from my hand, so the God of Hezekiah will not deliver His people from my hand.”

18 aThey called this out with a loud voice in the language of Judah to the people of Jerusalem who were on the wall, to frighten and terrify them, so that they might take the city.

19 They spoke 1of the God of Jerusalem as of athe gods of the peoples of the earth, the work of men’s hands.

Hezekiah’s Prayer Is Answered

20 But King Hezekiah and Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz, prayed about this and cried out to heaven.

21 And the Lord sent an angel who destroyed every mighty warrior, commander and officer in the camp of the king of Assyria. So he returned 1in shame to his own land. And when he had entered the temple of his god, some of his own children killed him there with the sword.

22 So the Lord asaved Hezekiah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem from the hand of Sennacherib the king of Assyria and from the hand of all others, and 1guided them on every side.

23 And amany were bringing gifts to the Lord at Jerusalem and choice presents to Hezekiah king of Judah, so that bhe was exalted in the sight of all nations thereafter.

24 aIn those days Hezekiah became 1mortally ill; and he prayed to the Lord, and 2the Lord spoke to him and gave him a sign.

25 But Hezekiah gave no return for the benefit 1he received, abecause his heart was 2proud; btherefore wrath came on him and on Judah and Jerusalem.

26 However, aHezekiah 1humbled the pride of his heart, both he and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so that the wrath of the Lord did not come on them in the days of Hezekiah.

27 Now Hezekiah had immense riches and honor; and he made for himself treasuries for silver, gold, precious stones, spices, shields and all kinds of valuable articles,

28 storehouses also for the produce of grain, wine and oil, pens for all kinds of cattle and 1sheepfolds for the flocks.

29 He made cities for himself and acquired flocks and herds in abundance, for aGod had given him very great 1wealth.

30 It was Hezekiah who astopped the upper outlet of the waters of bGihon and directed them to the west side of the city of David. And Hezekiah prospered in all that he did.

31 Even in the matter of athe envoys of the rulers of Babylon, who sent to him to inquire of bthe wonder that had happened in the land, God left him alone only cto test him, that He might know all that was in his heart.

32 Now the rest of the acts of Hezekiah and his deeds of devotion, behold, they are written in the vision of Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz, in the Book of the Kings of Judah and Israel.

33 So Hezekiah slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the 1upper section of the tombs of the sons of David; and all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem ahonored him at his death. And his son Manasseh became king in his place.