2 Chronicles 31-33

Young's Literal Translation

31 And 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.

² And 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.

³ And 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.

⁴ And 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;

⁵ and 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.

⁶ And 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;

⁷ in the third month they have begun to lay the foundation of the heaps, and in the seventh month they have finished.

⁸ And Hezekiah and the heads come in and see the heaps, and bless Jehovah and His people Israel,

⁹ and Hezekiah inquireth at the priests and the Levites concerning the heaps,

¹⁰ and 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.'

¹¹ And Hezekiah saith to prepare chambers in the house of Jehovah, and they prepare,

¹² and 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;

¹³ and 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.

¹⁴ And 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.

¹⁵ And 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,

¹⁶ apart 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;

¹⁷ and 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;

¹⁸ and 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.

¹⁹ And 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.

²⁰ And 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;

²¹ and 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.

32 After 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.

² And Hezekiah seeth that Sennacherib hath come, and his face [is] to the battle against Jerusalem,

³ and 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,

⁴ and 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?'

⁵ And 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.

⁶ And he putteth heads of war over the people, and gathereth them unto him, unto the broad place of a gate of the city, and speaketh unto their heart, saying,

⁷ `Be strong and courageous, be not afraid, nor be cast down from the face of the king of Asshur, and from the face of all the multitude that [is] with him, for with us [are] more than with him.

⁸ With him [is] an arm of flesh, and with us [is] Jehovah our God, to help us, and to fight our battles;' and the people are supported by the words of Hezekiah king of Judah.

⁹ After this hath Sennacherib king of Asshur sent his servants to Jerusalem -- and he [is] by Lachish, and all his power with him -- against Hezekiah king of Judah, and against all Judah, who [are] in Jerusalem, saying,

¹⁰ `Thus said Sennacherib king of Asshur, On what are ye trusting and abiding in the bulwark, in Jerusalem?

¹¹ `Is not Hezekiah persuading you, to give you up to die by famine, and by thirst, saying, Jehovah our God doth deliver us from the hand of the king of Asshur?

¹² Hath not Hezekiah himself turned aside His high places, and His altars, and speaketh to Judah and to Jerusalem, saying, Before one altar ye bow yourselves, and on it ye make perfume?

¹³ `Do ye not know what I have done -- I and my fathers -- to all peoples of the lands? Were the gods of the nations of the lands at all able to deliver their land out of my hand?

¹⁴ Who among all the gods of these nations whom my fathers have devoted to destruction [is] he who hath been able to deliver his people out of my hand, that your God is able to deliver you out of my hand?

¹⁵ `And, now, let not Hezekiah lift you up, nor persuade you thus, nor give credence to him, for no god of any nation and kingdom is able to deliver his people from my hand, and from the hand of my fathers: also, surely your God doth not deliver you from my hand!'

¹⁶ And again have his servants spoken against Jehovah God, and against Hezekiah His servant,

¹⁷ and letters he hath written to give reproach to Jehovah, God of Israel, and to speak against Him, saying, `As the gods of the nations of the lands that have not delivered their people from my hand, so the God of Hezekiah doth not deliver His people from my hand.'

¹⁸ And they call with a great voice [in] Jewish, against the people of Jerusalem who [are] on the wall, to frighten them, and to trouble them, that they may capture the city,

¹⁹ and they speak against the God of Jerusalem as against the gods of the peoples of the land -- work of the hands of man.

²⁰ And Hezekiah the king prayeth, and Isaiah son of Amoz the prophet, concerning this, and they cry to the heavens,

²¹ and Jehovah sendeth a messenger, and cutteth off every mighty one of valour -- both leader and head -- in the camp of the king of Asshur, and he turneth back with shame of face to his land, and entereth the house of his god, and those coming out of his bowels have caused him to fall there by the sword.

²² And Jehovah saveth Hezekiah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem from the hand of Sennacherib king of Asshur, and from the hand of all, and He leadeth them round about;

²³ and many are bringing in an offering to Jehovah, to Jerusalem, and precious things to Hezekiah king of Judah, and he is lifted up before the eyes of all the nations after this.

²⁴ In those days hath Hezekiah been sick even unto death, and he prayeth unto Jehovah, and He speaketh to him, and a wonder hath appointed for him;

²⁵ and Hezekiah hath not returned according to the deed [done] unto him, for his heart hath been lofty, and there is wrath upon him, and upon Judah and Jerusalem;

²⁶ and Hezekiah is humbled for the loftiness of his heart, he and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and the wrath of Jehovah hath not come upon them in the days of Hezekiah.

²⁷ And Hezekiah hath riches and honour very much, and treasures he hath made to himself of silver, and of gold, and of precious stone, and of spices, and of shields, and of all [kinds] of desirable vessels,

²⁸ and storehouses for the increase of corn, and new wine, and oil, and stalls for all kinds of cattle, and herds for stalls;

²⁹ and cities he hath made for himself, and possessions of flocks and herds in abundance, for God hath given to him very much substance.

³⁰ And Hezekiah himself hath stopped the upper source of the waters of Gihon, and directeth them beneath to the west of the city of David, and Hezekiah prospereth in all his work;

³¹ and so with the ambassadors of the heads of Babylon, those sending unto him to inquire of the wonder that hath been in the land, God hath left him to try him, to know all in his heart,

³² And the rest of the matters of Hezekiah, and his kind acts, lo, they are written in the vision of Isaiah son of Amoz the prophet, on the book of the kings of Judah and Israel.

³³ And Hezekiah lieth with his fathers, and they bury him in the uppermost of the graves of the sons of David, and all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem have done honour to him at his death, and reign doth Manasseh his son in his stead.

33 A son of twelve years is Manasseh in his reigning, and fifty and five years he hath reigned in Jerusalem;

² and he doth the evil thing in the eyes of Jehovah, like the abominations of the nations that Jehovah dispossessed from the presence of the sons of Israel,

³ and he turneth and buildeth the high places that Hezekiah his father hath broken down, and raiseth altars for Baalim, and maketh shrines, and boweth himself to all the host of the heavens, and serveth them.

⁴ And he hath built altars in the house of Jehovah of which Jehovah had said, `In Jerusalem is My name to the age.'

⁵ And he buildeth altars to all the host of the heavens in the two courts of the house of Jehovah.

⁶ And he hath caused his sons to pass over through fire in the valley of the son of Hinnom, and observed clouds and used enchantments and witchcraft, and dealt with a familiar spirit, and a wizard; he hath multiplied to do the evil thing in the eyes of Jehovah, to provoke him to anger.

⁷ And he placeth the graven image of the idol that he made in the house of God, of which God said unto David, and unto Solomon his son, `In this house, and in Jerusalem that I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, I put My name to the age,

⁸ and I add not to turn aside the foot of Israel from off the ground that I appointed to your fathers, only, if they watch to do all that I have commanded them -- to all the law, and the statutes, and the ordinances by the hand of Moses.'

⁹ And Manasseh maketh Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to err, to do evil above the nations that Jehovah destroyed from the presence of the sons of Israel.

¹⁰ And Jehovah speaketh unto Manasseh and unto his people, and they have not attended,

¹¹ and Jehovah bringeth in against them the heads of the host that the king of Asshur hath, and they capture Manasseh among the thickets, and bind him with brazen fetters, and cause him to go to Babylon.

¹² And when he is in distress he hath appeased the face of Jehovah his God, and is humbled exceedingly before the God of his fathers,

¹³ and prayeth unto Him, and He is entreated of him, and heareth his supplication, and bringeth him back to Jerusalem, to his kingdom, and Manasseh knoweth that Jehovah -- He [is] God.

¹⁴ And after this he hath built an outer wall to the city of David, on the west of Gihon, in the valley, and at the entering in at the fish-gate, and it hath gone round to the tower, and he maketh it exceeding high, and he putteth heads of the force in all the cities of the bulwarks in Judah.

¹⁵ And he turneth aside the gods of the stranger, and the idol, out of the house of Jehovah, and all the altars that he had built in the mount of the house of Jehovah and in Jerusalem, and casteth [them] to the outside of the city.

¹⁶ And he buildeth the altar of Jehovah, and sacrificeth upon it sacrifices of peace-offerings and thank-offering, and saith to Judah to serve Jehovah, God of Israel;

¹⁷ but still the people are sacrificing in high places, only -- to Jehovah their God.

¹⁸ And the rest of the matters of Manasseh, and his prayer unto his God, and the matters of the seers, those speaking unto him in the name of Jehovah, God of Israel, lo, they are [on the book of] the matters of the kings of Israel;

¹⁹ and his prayer, and his entreaty, and all his sin, and his trespass, and the places in which he had built high places, and established the shrines and the graven images before his being humbled, lo, they are written beside the matters of Hozai.

²⁰ And Manasseh lieth with his fathers, and they bury him in his own house, and reign doth Amon his son in his stead.

²¹ A son of twenty and two years [is] Amon in his reigning, and two years he hath reigned in Jerusalem,

²² and he doth the evil thing in the eyes of Jehovah, as did Manasseh his father, and to all the graven images that Manasseh his father had made hath Amon sacrificed, and serveth them,

²³ and hath not been humbled before Jehovah, like the humbling of Manasseh his father, for Amon himself hath multiplied guilt.

²⁴ And his servants conspire against him, and put him to death in his own house,

²⁵ and the people of the land smite all those conspiring against king Amon, and the people of the land cause Josiah his son to reign in his stead.