Hezekiah King of Judah^(A)(B)(C)

18 In the third year of Hoshea son of Elah king of Israel, Hezekiah^(D) son of Ahaz king of Judah began to reign. ² He was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem twenty-nine years.^(E) His mother’s name was Abijah^[a] daughter of Zechariah. ³ He did what was right^(F) in the eyes of the Lord, just as his father David^(G) had done. ⁴ He removed^(H) the high places,^(I) smashed the sacred stones^(J) and cut down the Asherah poles. He broke into pieces the bronze snake^(K) Moses had made, for up to that time the Israelites had been burning incense to it. (It was called Nehushtan.^[b])

⁵ Hezekiah trusted^(L) in the Lord, the God of Israel. There was no one like him among all the kings of Judah, either before him or after him. ⁶ He held fast^(M) to the Lord and did not stop following him; he kept the commands the Lord had given Moses. ⁷ And the Lord was with him; he was successful^(N) in whatever he undertook. He rebelled^(O) against the king of Assyria and did not serve him. ⁸ From watchtower to fortified city,^(P) he defeated the Philistines, as far as Gaza and its territory.

⁹ In King Hezekiah’s fourth year,^(Q) which was the seventh year of Hoshea son of Elah king of Israel, Shalmaneser king of Assyria marched against Samaria and laid siege to it. ¹⁰ At the end of three years the Assyrians took it. So Samaria was captured in Hezekiah’s sixth year, which was the ninth year of Hoshea king of Israel. ¹¹ The king^(R) of Assyria deported Israel to Assyria and settled them in Halah, in Gozan on the Habor River and in towns of the Medes.^{(S) 12} This happened because they had not obeyed the Lord their God, but had violated his covenant^(T)—all that Moses the servant of the Lord commanded.^(U) They neither listened to the commands^(V) nor carried them out.

¹³ In the fourteenth year^(W) of King Hezekiah’s reign, Sennacherib king of Assyria attacked all the fortified cities of Judah^(X) and captured them. ¹⁴ So Hezekiah king of Judah sent this message to the king of Assyria at Lachish:^(Y) “I have done wrong.^(Z) Withdraw from me, and I will pay whatever you demand of me.” The king of Assyria exacted from Hezekiah king of Judah three hundred talents^[c] of silver and thirty talents^[d] of gold. ¹⁵ So Hezekiah gave^(AA) him all the silver that was found in the temple of the Lord and in the treasuries of the royal palace.

¹⁶ At this time Hezekiah king of Judah stripped off the gold with which he had covered the doors^(AB) and doorposts of the temple of the Lord, and gave it to the king of Assyria.

Sennacherib Threatens Jerusalem^(AC)(AD)

¹⁷ The king of Assyria sent his supreme commander,^(AE) his chief officer and his field commander with a large army, from Lachish to King Hezekiah at Jerusalem. They came up to Jerusalem and stopped at the aqueduct of the Upper Pool,^(AF) on the road to the Washerman’s Field. ¹⁸ They called for the king; and Eliakim^(AG) son of Hilkiah the palace administrator, Shebna^(AH) the secretary, and Joah son of Asaph the recorder went out to them.

¹⁹ The field commander said to them, “Tell Hezekiah:

Hezekiah Purifies the Temple^(A)

29 Hezekiah^(B) was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem twenty-nine years. His mother’s name was Abijah daughter of Zechariah. ² He did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, just as his father David^(C) had done.

³ In the first month of the first year of his reign, he opened the doors of the temple of the Lord and repaired^(D) them. ⁴ He brought in the priests and the Levites, assembled them in the square on the east side ⁵ and said: “Listen to me, Levites! Consecrate^(E) yourselves now and consecrate the temple of the Lord, the God of your ancestors. Remove all defilement from the sanctuary. ⁶ Our parents^(F) were unfaithful;^(G) they did evil in the eyes of the Lord our God and forsook him. They turned their faces away from the Lord’s dwelling place and turned their backs on him. ⁷ They also shut the doors of the portico and put out the lamps. They did not burn incense^(H) or present any burnt offerings at the sanctuary to the God of Israel. ⁸ Therefore, the anger of the Lord has fallen on Judah and Jerusalem; he has made them an object of dread and horror^(I) and scorn,^(J) as you can see with your own eyes. ⁹ This is why our fathers have fallen by the sword and why our sons and daughters and our wives are in captivity.^{(K) 10} Now I intend to make a covenant^(L) with the Lord, the God of Israel, so that his fierce anger^(M) will turn away from us. ¹¹ My sons, do not be negligent now, for the Lord has chosen you to stand before him and serve him,^(N) to minister^(O) before him and to burn incense.”

¹⁵ When they had assembled their fellow Levites and consecrated themselves, they went in to purify^(T) the temple of the Lord, as the king had ordered, following the word of the Lord. ¹⁶ The priests went into the sanctuary of the Lord to purify it. They brought out to the courtyard of the Lord’s temple everything unclean that they found in the temple of the Lord. The Levites took it and carried it out to the Kidron Valley.^{(U) 17} They began the consecration on the first day of the first month, and by the eighth day of the month they reached the portico of the Lord. For eight more days they consecrated the temple of the Lord itself, finishing on the sixteenth day of the first month.

¹⁸ Then they went in to King Hezekiah and reported: “We have purified the entire temple of the Lord, the altar of burnt offering with all its utensils, and the table for setting out the consecrated bread, with all its articles. ¹⁹ We have prepared and consecrated all the articles^(V) that King Ahaz removed in his unfaithfulness while he was king. They are now in front of the Lord’s altar.”

²⁰ Early the next morning King Hezekiah gathered the city officials together and went up to the temple of the Lord. ²¹ They brought seven bulls, seven rams, seven male lambs and seven male goats^(W) as a sin offering^[a](X) for the kingdom, for the sanctuary and for Judah. The king commanded the priests, the descendants of Aaron, to offer these on the altar of the Lord. ²² So they slaughtered the bulls, and the priests took the blood and splashed it against the altar; next they slaughtered the rams and splashed their blood against the altar; then they slaughtered the lambs and splashed their blood^(Y) against the altar. ²³ The goats^(Z) for the sin offering were brought before the king and the assembly, and they laid their hands^(AA) on them. ²⁴ The priests then slaughtered the goats and presented their blood on the altar for a sin offering to atone^(AB) for all Israel, because the king had ordered the burnt offering and the sin offering for all Israel.^(AC)

²⁵ He stationed the Levites in the temple of the Lord with cymbals, harps and lyres in the way prescribed by David^(AD) and Gad^(AE) the king’s seer and Nathan the prophet; this was commanded by the Lord through his prophets. ²⁶ So the Levites stood ready with David’s instruments,^(AF) and the priests with their trumpets.^(AG)

²⁷ Hezekiah gave the order to sacrifice the burnt offering on the altar. As the offering began, singing to the Lord began also, accompanied by trumpets and the instruments^(AH) of David king of Israel. ²⁸ The whole assembly bowed in worship, while the musicians played and the trumpets sounded. All this continued until the sacrifice of the burnt offering^(AI) was completed.

²⁹ When the offerings were finished, the king and everyone present with him knelt down and worshiped.^{(AJ) 30} King Hezekiah and his officials ordered the Levites to praise the Lord with the words of David and of Asaph the seer. So they sang praises with gladness and bowed down and worshiped.

³¹ Then Hezekiah said, “You have now dedicated yourselves to the Lord. Come and bring sacrifices^(AK) and thank offerings to the temple of the Lord.” So the assembly brought sacrifices and thank offerings, and all whose hearts were willing^(AL) brought burnt offerings.