Chapter 29

Hezekiah’s Reforms. ^1 (A)Hezekiah was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Abijah, daughter of Zechariah. ² He did what was right in the Lord’s sight, just as David his father had done. ³ In the first month of the first year of his reign, he opened the doors of the Lord’s house and repaired them.^{(B) 4} He summoned the priests and Levites, gathering them in the open space to the east, ⁵ and said to them: “Listen to me, you Levites! Sanctify yourselves now and sanctify the house of the Lord, the God of your ancestors, and clean out the filth from the sanctuary. ⁶ Our ancestors acted treacherously and did what was evil in the eyes of the Lord, our God. They abandoned him, turned away their faces from the Lord’s dwelling, and turned their backs on him. ⁷ They also closed the doors of the vestibule, extinguished the lamps, and failed to burn incense and sacrifice burnt offerings in the sanctuary to the God of Israel.^{(C) 8 (D)}Therefore the anger of the Lord has come upon Judah and Jerusalem; he has made them an object of terror, horror, and hissing, as you see with your own eyes. ⁹ For our ancestors fell by the sword, and our sons, our daughters, and our wives have been taken captive because of this. ¹⁰ Now, I intend to make a covenant with the Lord, the God of Israel, that his burning anger may turn away from us. ¹¹ My sons, do not be negligent any longer, for it is you whom the Lord has chosen to stand before him, to minister to him, to be his ministers and to offer incense.”

¹² Then the Levites arose: Mahath, son of Amasai, and Joel, son of Azariah, of the Kohathites; of the descendants of Merari: Kish, son of Abdi, and Azariah, son of Jehallel; of the Gershonites: Joah, son of Zimmah, and Eden, son of Joah; ¹³ of the sons of Elizaphan: Shimri and Jeuel; of the sons of Asaph: Zechariah and Mattaniah; ¹⁴ of the sons of Heman: Jehuel and Shimei; of the sons of Jeduthun: Shemiah and Uzziel. ¹⁵ They gathered their kinfolk together and sanctified themselves; then they came as the king had ordered, in keeping with the words of the Lord, to cleanse the Lord’s house.

¹⁶ The priests entered the interior of the Lord’s house to cleanse it. Whatever they found in the Lord’s temple that was unclean they brought out to the court of the Lord’s house, where the Levites took it from them and carried it out to the Wadi Kidron. ¹⁷ They began the work of consecration on the first day of the first month, and on the eighth day of the month they reached the vestibule of the Lord; they consecrated the Lord’s house over an eight-day period, and on the sixteenth day of the first month, they had finished.

¹⁸ Then they went inside to King Hezekiah and said: “We have cleansed the entire house of the Lord, the altar for burnt offerings with all its utensils, and the table for the showbread with all its utensils. ¹⁹ We have restored and consecrated all the articles which King Ahaz had thrown away during his reign because of his treachery; they are now before the Lord’s altar.”

The Rite of Expiation. ²⁰ Then King Hezekiah hastened to convoke the princes of the city and went up to the Lord’s house. ²¹ Seven bulls, seven rams, seven lambs, and seven he-goats were presented as a purification offering for the kingdom, for the sanctuary, and for Judah. Hezekiah ordered the sons of Aaron, the priests, to offer them on the altar of the Lord. ²² They slaughtered the bulls, and the priests collected the blood and splashed it on the altar. Then they slaughtered the rams and splashed the blood on the altar; then they slaughtered the lambs and splashed the blood on the altar. ²³ Then the he-goats for the purification offering were led before the king and the assembly, who laid their hands upon them. ²⁴ The priests then slaughtered them and offered their blood on the altar to atone for the sin of all Israel. For the king had said, “The burnt offering and the purification offering are for all Israel.”

²⁵ He stationed the Levites in the Lord’s house with cymbals, harps, and lyres, according to the command of David, of Gad the king’s seer, and of Nathan the prophet; for this command was from the Lord through his prophets. ²⁶ The Levites were stationed with the instruments of David, and the priests with the trumpets. ²⁷ Then Hezekiah ordered the burnt offering to be sacrificed on the altar. At the very moment the burnt offering began, they also began the song of the Lord, to the accompaniment of the trumpets and the instruments of David, king of Israel. ²⁸ The entire assembly bowed down, and the song was sung and the trumpets sounded until the burnt offering had been completed. ²⁹ Once the burnt offering was completed, the king and all who were with him knelt and worshiped. ³⁰ King Hezekiah and the princes then told the Levites to sing the praises of the Lord in the words of David and of Asaph the seer. They sang praises till their joy was full, then fell down and worshiped.

³¹ Hezekiah then said: “You have dedicated yourselves to the Lord. Approach, and bring forward the sacrifices and thank offerings for the house of the Lord.” Then the assembly brought forward the sacrifices and thank offerings and all their voluntary burnt offerings. ³² The number of burnt offerings that the assembly brought forward was seventy oxen, one hundred rams, and two hundred lambs: all of these as a burnt offering to the Lord. ³³ As consecrated gifts there were six hundred oxen and three thousand sheep. ³⁴ Since there were too few priests to skin all the victims for the burnt offerings, their fellow Levites assisted them until the task was completed and the priests had sanctified themselves. The Levites, in fact, were more careful than the priests to sanctify themselves.^{(E) 35} The burnt offerings were indeed many, along with the fat of the communion offerings and the libations for the burnt offerings. Thus the service of the house of the Lord was re-established. ³⁶ Hezekiah and all the people rejoiced over what God had re-established for the people, and at how suddenly this had been done.

Chapter 30

Invitation to Passover. ¹ Hezekiah sent word to all Israel and Judah, and even wrote letters to Ephraim and Manasseh, saying that they should come to the house of the Lord in Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover to the Lord, the God of Israel.^{(F) 2 (G)}The king, his princes, and the entire assembly in Jerusalem had agreed to celebrate the Passover during the second month. ³ They could not celebrate it at the regular time because the priests had not sanctified themselves in sufficient numbers, and the people were not gathered at Jerusalem. ⁴ This seemed right to the king and the entire assembly, ⁵ and they issued a decree to be proclaimed throughout all Israel from Beer-sheba to Dan, that everyone should come to celebrate the Passover to the Lord, the God of Israel, in Jerusalem; for not many had kept it in the prescribed manner. ⁶ By the king’s command, the couriers, with the letters written by the king and his princes, went through all Israel and Judah. They said: “Israelites, return to the Lord, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, that he may return to you, the remnant left from the hands of the Assyrian kings. ⁷ Do not be like your ancestors and your kin who acted treacherously toward the Lord, the God of their ancestors, so that he handed them over to desolation, as you yourselves now see.^{(H) 8} Do not be stiff-necked, as your ancestors were; stretch out your hands to the Lord and come to his sanctuary that he has consecrated forever, and serve the Lord, your God, that he may turn his burning anger from you. ⁹ If you return to the Lord, your kinfolk and your children will find mercy with their captors and return to this land. The Lord, your God, is gracious and merciful and he will not turn away his face from you if you return to him.”^(I)

¹⁰ So the couriers passed from city to city in the land of Ephraim and Manasseh and as far as Zebulun, but they were derided and scoffed at. ¹¹ Nevertheless, some from Asher, Manasseh, and Zebulun humbled themselves and came to Jerusalem. ¹² In Judah, however, the hand of God brought it about that the people were of one heart to carry out the command of the king and the princes by the word of the Lord. ¹³ Thus many people gathered in Jerusalem to celebrate the feast of Unleavened Bread in the second month; it was a very great assembly.

Passover Celebrated. ¹⁴ They proceeded to remove the altars that were in Jerusalem as well as all the altars of incense, and cast them into the Wadi Kidron.^{(J) 15} They slaughtered the Passover on the fourteenth day of the second month. The priests and Levites were shamed into sanctifying themselves and brought burnt offerings into the house of the Lord. ¹⁶ They stood in the places prescribed for them according to the law of Moses, the man of God. The priests splashed the blood given them by the Levites; ¹⁷ for many in the assembly had not sanctified themselves, and the Levites were in charge of slaughtering the Passover victims for all who were unclean so as to consecrate them to the Lord.^{(K) 18} The greater part of the people, in fact, chiefly from Ephraim, Manasseh, Issachar, and Zebulun, had not cleansed themselves. Nevertheless they ate the Passover, contrary to the prescription; because Hezekiah prayed for them, saying, “May the good Lord grant pardon to ¹⁹ all who have set their heart to seek God, the Lord, the God of their ancestors, even though they are not clean as holiness requires.” ²⁰ The Lord heard Hezekiah and healed the people.

²¹ Thus the Israelites who were in Jerusalem celebrated the feast of Unleavened Bread with great rejoicing for seven days, and the Levites and the priests sang the praises of the Lord day after day with all their strength. ²² Hezekiah spoke encouragingly to all the Levites who had shown themselves well skilled in the service of the Lord. And when they had completed the seven days of festival, sacrificing communion offerings and singing praises to the Lord, the God of their ancestors, ²³ the whole assembly agreed to celebrate another seven days. So with joy they celebrated seven days more. ²⁴ King Hezekiah of Judah had contributed a thousand bulls and seven thousand sheep to the assembly, and the princes a thousand bulls and ten thousand sheep. The priests sanctified themselves in great numbers, ²⁵ and the whole assembly of Judah rejoiced, together with the priests and Levites and the rest of the assembly that had come from Israel, as well as the resident aliens from the land of Israel and those that lived in Judah. ²⁶ There was great rejoicing in Jerusalem, for since the days of Solomon, son of David, king of Israel, there had been nothing like it in the city. ²⁷ Then the levitical priests rose and blessed the people; their voice was heard and their prayer reached heaven, God’s holy dwelling.

Chapter 31

Liturgical Reforms. ¹ After all this was over, those Israelites who had been present went forth to the cities of Judah and smashed the sacred pillars, cut down the asherahs, and tore down the high places and altars throughout Judah, Benjamin, Ephraim, and Manasseh, until they were all destroyed.^(L) Then the Israelites returned to their cities, each to his own possession.

² Hezekiah re-established the divisions of the priests and the Levites according to their former divisions, assigning to each priest and Levite his proper service, whether in regard to burnt offerings or communion offerings, thanksgiving or praise, or ministering in the gates of the encampment of the Lord. ³ From his own wealth the king allotted a portion for burnt offerings, those of morning and evening and those on sabbaths, new moons, and festivals, as is written in the law of the Lord.^{(M) 4} He also commanded the people living in Jerusalem to provide for the support of the priests and Levites, that they might firmly adhere to the law of the Lord.

⁵ As soon as the order was promulgated, the Israelites brought, in great quantities, the best of their grain, wine, oil, and honey, and all the produce of the fields; they gave a generous tithe of everything.^{(N) 6} Israelites and Judahites living in other cities of Judah also brought in tithes of oxen, sheep, and votive offerings consecrated to the Lord, their God; these they brought in and heaped up in piles.^{(O) 7} It was in the third month that they began to establish these heaps, and they completed them in the seventh month.^{[a] 8} When Hezekiah and the princes had come and seen the piles, they blessed the Lord and his people Israel. ⁹ Then Hezekiah questioned the priests and the Levites concerning the piles, ¹⁰ and the priest Azariah, head of the house of Zadok, answered him, “Since they began to bring the offerings to the house of the Lord, we have eaten, been satisfied, and had much left over, for the Lord has blessed his people. This great supply is what was left over.”^(P)

¹¹ Hezekiah then gave orders that chambers be constructed in the house of the Lord. When this had been done, ¹² they deposited the offerings, tithes, and votive offerings there for safekeeping. The overseer of these things was Conaniah the Levite, and his brother Shimei was second in command. ¹³ Jehiel, Azaziah, Nahath, Asahel, Jerimoth, Jozabad, Eliel, Ismachiah, Mahath, and Benaiah were supervisors subject to Conaniah the Levite and his brother Shimei by appointment of King Hezekiah and of Azariah, the prefect of the house of God. ¹⁴ Kore, the son of Imnah, a Levite and the keeper of the eastern gate, was in charge of the voluntary offerings made to God; he distributed the offerings made to the Lord and the most holy of the votive offerings. ¹⁵ Under him in the priestly cities were Eden, Miniamin, Jeshua, Shemaiah, Amariah, and Shecaniah, who faithfully made the distribution to their brothers, great and small alike, according to their divisions.

¹⁶ There was also a register by ancestral houses of males three years of age^[b] and over, for all priests who were eligible to enter the house of the Lord according to the daily schedule to fulfill their service in the order of their divisions.^{(Q) 17} The priests were inscribed in their family records according to their ancestral houses, as were the Levites twenty years of age and over according to their various offices and divisions.^{(R) 18} A distribution was also made to all who were inscribed in the family records, for their little ones, wives, sons and daughters—thus for the entire assembly, since they were to sanctify themselves by sharing faithfully in the votive offerings. ¹⁹ The sons of Aaron, the priests who lived on the lands attached to their cities, had in every city men designated by name to distribute portions to every male of the priests and to every Levite listed in the family records.

²⁰ Hezekiah did this in all Judah. He did what was good, upright, and faithful before the Lord, his God. ²¹ Everything that he undertook, for the service of the house of God or for the law and the commandment, was to seek his God. He did this with all his heart, and he prospered.^(S)

Chapter 32

Sennacherib’s Invasion. ¹ But after all this and all Hezekiah’s fidelity, there came Sennacherib, king of Assyria. He invaded Judah and besieged the fortified cities, intending to breach and take them.^{(T) 2} When Hezekiah saw that Sennacherib was coming with the intention of attacking Jerusalem, ³ he took the advice of his princes and warriors to stop the waters of the springs outside the city; they promised their help. ^4 (U)A large force was gathered and stopped all the springs and also the stream running nearby. For they said, “Why should the kings of Assyria come and find an abundance of water?” ⁵ He then looked to his defenses: he rebuilt the wall where it was broken down, raised towers upon it, and built another wall outside.^(V) He strengthened the Millo of the City of David and made a great number of spears and shields. ⁶ Then he appointed army commanders over the people. He gathered them together in his presence in the open space at the gate of the city and encouraged them with these words: ⁷ “Be strong and steadfast; do not be afraid or dismayed because of the king of Assyria and all the horde coming with him, for there is more with us than with him.^{(W) 8} He has only an arm of flesh, but we have the Lord, our God, to help us and to fight our battles.”^(X) And the people took confidence from the words of Hezekiah, king of Judah.

Threat of Sennacherib. ^9 (Y)After this, while Sennacherib, king of Assyria, himself remained at Lachish with all his forces, he sent his officials to Jerusalem with this message for Hezekiah, king of Judah, and all the Judahites who were in Jerusalem: ¹⁰ “Thus says Sennacherib, king of Assyria: In what are you trusting, now that you are under siege in Jerusalem? ¹¹ Is not Hezekiah deceiving you, delivering you over to a death of famine and thirst, by his claim that ‘the Lord, our God, will rescue us from the grasp of the king of Assyria’? ¹² Has not this same Hezekiah removed the Lord’s own high places and altars and commanded Judah and Jerusalem, ‘You shall bow down before one altar only, and on it alone you shall offer incense’? ¹³ Do you not know what my fathers and I have done to all the peoples of other lands? Were the gods of the nations in those lands able to rescue their lands from my hand? ¹⁴ Who among all the gods of those nations which my fathers put under the ban was able to rescue their people from my hand? Will your god, then, be able to rescue you from my hand? ¹⁵ Let not Hezekiah mislead you further and deceive you in any such way. Do not believe him! Since no other god of any other nation or kingdom has been able to rescue his people from my hand or the hands of my fathers, how much the less shall your god rescue you from my hand!”

¹⁶ His officials said still more against the Lord God and against his servant Hezekiah, ¹⁷ for he had written letters to deride the Lord, the God of Israel, speaking of him in these terms: “As the gods of the nations in other lands have not rescued their people from my hand, neither shall Hezekiah’s god rescue his people from my hand.”^{(Z) 18} In a loud voice they shouted in the language of Judah to the people of Jerusalem who were on the wall, to frighten and terrify them so that they might capture their city. ¹⁹ They spoke of the God of Israel as though he were one of the gods of the other peoples of the earth, a work of human hands. ²⁰ But because of this, King Hezekiah and Isaiah the prophet, son of Amoz, prayed and cried out to heaven.^(AA)

Sennacherib’s Defeat. ²¹ Then the Lord sent an angel, who destroyed every warrior, leader, and commander in the camp of the Assyrian king, so that he had to return shamefaced to his own country. And when he entered the temple of his god, some of his own offspring struck him down there with the sword.^{(AB) 22} Thus the Lord saved Hezekiah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem from the hand of Sennacherib, king of Assyria, as from every other power; he gave them rest on every side. ²³ Many brought gifts for the Lord to Jerusalem and costly objects for Hezekiah, king of Judah, who thereafter was exalted in the eyes of all the nations.^(AC)

Hezekiah’s Later Reign. ²⁴ In those days Hezekiah became mortally ill. He prayed to the Lord, who answered him by giving him a sign.^{(AD) 25} Hezekiah, however, did not respond with like generosity, for he had become arrogant. Therefore wrath descended upon him and upon Judah and Jerusalem. ^26 (AE)But then Hezekiah humbled himself for his pride—both he and the inhabitants of Jerusalem; and therefore the wrath of the Lord did not come upon them during the time of Hezekiah.

^27 (AF)Hezekiah possessed very great wealth and glory. He made treasuries for his silver, gold, precious stones, spices, jewels, and other precious things of all kinds; ²⁸ also storehouses for the harvest of grain, for wine and oil, and barns for the various kinds of cattle and flocks. ²⁹ He built cities for himself, and he acquired sheep and oxen in great numbers, for God gave him very great riches. ³⁰ This same Hezekiah stopped the upper outlet for water from Gihon and redirected it underground westward to the City of David. Hezekiah prospered in all his works.^{(AG) 31} Nevertheless, in respect to the ambassadors of the Babylonian officials who were sent to him to investigate the sign that had occurred in the land, God abandoned him as a test, to know all that was in his heart.

³² The rest of Hezekiah’s acts, including his good deeds, are recorded in the vision of Isaiah the prophet, son of Amoz, and in the book of the kings of Judah and Israel. ³³ Hezekiah rested with his ancestors; he was buried at the approach to the tombs^[c] of the descendants of David. All Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem paid him honor at his death. His son Manasseh succeeded him as king.