Bible in 90 Days

¹⁶ After that, Jehoiada made a covenant between himself and all the people and the king that they should be the Lord’s people. ¹⁷ Then all the people went to the temple of Baal and demolished it. They smashed its altars and its images, and they killed Mattan, the priest of Baal, in front of the altars. ¹⁸ Jehoiada entrusted the supervision of the temple of the Lord to the Levitical priests whom David had designated to present burnt offerings to the Lord, as prescribed in the law of Moses, with singing and rejoicing as David had ordained. ¹⁹ He also stationed guards at the gates of the Lord’s temple to ensure that no one should enter who was in any way unclean.

²⁰ Then Jehoiada took with him the captains of units of a hundred, the nobles, the governors of the people, and all the people of the land and escorted the king down from the house of the Lord. Entering the palace through the Upper Gate, they seated the king on the royal throne. ²¹ All the people of the land rejoiced, and the city was quiet and serene after Athaliah had been put to death by the sword.

Chapter 24

Temple Repairs.^{[a] 1} Joash was seven years old when he became king, and he reigned for forty years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Zibiah; she was from Beer-sheba. ² Joash did what was right in the eyes of the Lord as long as Jehoiada was alive. ³ Jehoiada selected two wives for him, and he became the father of several sons and daughters.

⁴ Sometime later, Joash decided to restore the temple of the Lord. ⁵ After he assembled the priests and the Levites, he said to them: “Go forth to all the towns of Judah and without any delay collect the money that is due each year so that we may make the annual repairs that are necessary. See to it that you act quickly.” However, the Levites did not hasten to proceed immediately.

⁶ Therefore, the king summoned Jehoiada, the chief priest, and asked him: “Why have you not required the Levites to bring in from Judah and Jerusalem the tax levied by Moses, the servant of the Lord, and by the assembly of Israel for the tent of the testimony?” ⁷ For the wicked Athaliah and her sons had broken into the house of God and had even given to the Baals the sacred revenues of the temple of the Lord.

⁸ Therefore, the king ordered that a chest be made and placed outside the gate of the house of the Lord. ⁹ Then a proclamation was made throughout Judah and Jerusalem to bring to the Lord the tax which Moses, the servant of God, had imposed on Israel in the desert. ¹⁰ As a result, the officials and all the people rejoiced, and they willingly brought their contributions, depositing them in the chest until it was filled.

¹¹ Whenever the chest was brought to the royal officials by the Levites, and it was evident that it contained a large amount of money, the king’s secretary and the representative of the chief priest would come to empty it and then return the chest to its designated place. They did this day after day and collected money in great abundance. ¹² Then the king and Jehoiada gave the money to those who were responsible for carrying out the work of the house of the Lord, and they also hired masons and carpenters to restore the house of the Lord, while workers skilled in iron and bronze devoted themselves to making all the necessary repairs.

¹³ The laborers concentrated on their labor, and the repairs progressed steadily at their hands. They restored the house of God to its original state and strengthened it. ¹⁴ After they had completed their work, they brought the rest of the money to the king and Jehoiada, and it was used to make vessels for the house of the Lord, vessels for the services and for burnt offerings, and basins and other gold and silver utensils. They continually offered burnt offerings in the Lord’s temple throughout the lifetime of Jehoiada.

¹⁵ Jehoiada lived to a ripe old age. He was one hundred and thirty years old when he died. ¹⁶ He was buried with the kings in the City of David because of all the good he had done in Israel for God and his temple.

¹⁷ Apostasy of King Joash.^[b] After the death of Jehoiada, the officials came and paid homage to the king, and he listened to their advice. ¹⁸ Then they forsook the temple of the Lord, the God of their ancestors, and they began to worship the sacred poles and the idols. Because of their guilt, God’s wrath descended upon Judah and Jerusalem. ¹⁹ Although the Lord sent prophets to lead them back to him, they refused to listen.

²⁰ Then the Spirit of God took possession of Zechariah, the son of Jehoiada the priest. He stood up before the people and said to them: “Thus says the Lord: ‘Why do you transgress the commands of the Lord so that you cannot prosper? Because you have abandoned the Lord, he has abandoned you.’ ”

²¹ However, they conspired against him, and at the king’s order they stoned him to death in the court of the house of the Lord. ²² Thus King Joash, forgetting the loyalty of Zechariah’s father, Jehoiada, killed his son. As he was dying, he said: “May the Lord see this and call you to account.”

²³ Retribution. At the turn of the year the Aramean army advanced against Joash. When they reached Judah and Jerusalem, they massacred all the leaders of the people and sent all their spoil to the king of Damascus. ²⁴ Although the invading Aramean army had come with only a small force, the Lord delivered into their hands a very large army because they had abandoned the Lord, the God of their ancestors. Thus they executed judgment against Joash.

²⁵ When the Arameans had withdrawn, leaving Joash severely wounded, his servants conspired against him to avenge the blood of the son of the priest Jehoiada, and they killed him on his bed. Thus he died, and they buried him in the City of David, but they did not bury him in the tombs of the kings.

²⁶ Those who conspired against him were Zabad, the son of Shimeath the Ammonite, and Jehozabad, the son of Shimrith, a Moabite. ²⁷ Accounts of his sons, of the many oracles against him, and of the rebuilding of the house of God are all recorded in the commentary of the book of kings. His son Amaziah succeeded him.

Chapter 25

Campaign in Edom. ¹ Amaziah was twenty-five years old when he ascended the throne, and he reigned for twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. His mother was Jehoaddan from Jerusalem. ² He did what was right in the sight of the Lord, although he did not do so wholeheartedly.

³ As soon as the kingdom was firmly under his control, Amaziah put to death those servants who had murdered his father, the king. ⁴ However, he did not put their children to death, in obedience to what is written in the law, in the Book of Moses, where the Lord commanded: “Parents shall not be put to death for their children, nor shall children be put to death for their parents. Each one shall he put to death for his own sin.”

⁵ Then Amaziah assembled the people of Judah and assigned them according to their ancestral houses under commanders of thousands and of hundreds for all Judah and Benjamin. He registered those who were twenty years old and upward and found that there were three hundred thousand men fit for service and capable of wielding spear and shield. ⁶ He also hired one hundred thousand valiant warriors from Israel for one hundred talents of silver.

⁷ However, a man of God came to him and said: “O king, do not permit the Israelite army to march with you, for the Lord is not with Israel or with any of the Ephraimites. ⁸ Rather, fight valiantly only with your own forces. Remember that God has the power to help you or to cause your defeat.”

⁹ Amaziah then said to the man of God: “What shall I do about the one hundred talents that I paid for the Israelite troops?” The man of God replied: “The Lord can give you much more than that.” ¹⁰ Amaziah then dismissed the troops that had come to him from Ephraim and sent them home. That caused them to be infuriated with Judah, and they returned home seething with fierce resentment.

^11 [c]Then Amaziah marshaled his courage and led out his army. They advanced to the Valley of Salt, and there they killed ten thousand men of Seir. ¹² In addition, the men of Judah captured another ten thousand men alive. Bringing them to the top of a cliff, they threw them down so that they were all dashed to pieces. ¹³ Meanwhile, the mercenaries whom Amaziah had sent back home, without allowing them to take part with him in the battle, raided the cities of Judah from Samaria to Beth-horon. They slaughtered three thousand people in those cities and carried off great quantities of plunder.

¹⁴ Infidelity of Amaziah. On his return from his slaughter of the Edomites, Amaziah brought back with him the gods of the people of Seir. He set them up as his own gods, bowed down before them, and burned sacrifices to them. ¹⁵ As a result, the Lord’s anger was aroused by Amaziah, and he sent him a prophet who said to him: “Why have you resorted to gods who could not save their own people from your clutches?”

¹⁶ While he was still speaking, however, the king said to him: “Have we appointed you as a royal counselor? Stop right now, if you value your life!” Therefore the prophet stopped, but first he said: “I know that God has decided to destroy you for having done this and for not listening to my advice.”

¹⁷ Retribution. After King Amaziah of Judah consulted his advisors, he sent a message to Joash son of Jehoahaz, son of Jehu, the king of Israel, saying: “Come and let us meet face to face.”

¹⁸ King Joash of Israel sent back this reply to King Amaziah of Judah: “The thistle on Lebanon sent a message to the cedar on Lebanon, saying: ‘Give your daughter in marriage to my son.’ However, the wild animal of Lebanon passed by and trampled down the thistle. ¹⁹ You say to yourself: ‘I have defeated Edom,’ and now you are growing ever more boastful. Remain at home. Why should you get involved with potential disaster so that you fall and bring down Judah with you?”

²⁰ However, Amaziah refused to listen, for God had resolved to hand them over because they had consulted the gods of Edom. ²¹ Therefore, King Joash of Israel marched forth, and he and King Amaziah of Judah faced one another in battle at Beth-shemesh which belongs to Judah. ²² There Judah was defeated by Israel, and everyone fled to his tent.

²³ King Joash of Israel captured King Amaziah of Judah, son of Joash, son of Jehoahaz, at Beth-shemesh and brought him to Jerusalem. Then he demolished the wall of Jerusalem from the Ephraim Gate to the Corner Gate, a distance of four hundred cubits. ²⁴ After that he took away all the gold and silver and all the vessels he found in the house of God that had been in the care of Obed-edom, together with the treasures of the palace, as well as hostages. Then he returned to Samaria.

²⁵ King Amaziah, son of Joash of Judah, lived for fifteen years after the death of King Joash, son of Jehoahaz of Israel. ²⁶ The rest of the deeds of Amaziah’s reign, from first to last, are recorded in the book of the kings of Judah and Israel.

²⁷ From the time when Amaziah turned away from the Lord, a conspiracy was formed against him in Jerusalem, and he fled to Lachish, where he was pursued and murdered. ²⁸ His body was conveyed on horses to Jerusalem, and there he was buried with his ancestors in the City of David.

Chapter 26

The Works of Uzziah.^{[d] 1} Then all the people of Judah chose Uzziah, even though he was only sixteen years old, and they made him king as the successor to his father Amaziah. ² It was he who rebuilt Elath and restored it to Judah after the king had fallen asleep with his ancestors.

³ Uzziah was sixteen years old when he ascended the throne, and he reigned in Jerusalem for fifty-two years. His mother’s name was Jecoliah; she was from Jerusalem. ⁴ He did what was right in the sight of the Lord, just as his father Amaziah had done. ⁵ Furthermore, he consulted God throughout the lifetime of Zechariah, who instructed him in the fear of God. As long as he sought the guidance of the Lord, God allowed him to prosper.^[e]

⁶ Uzziah went forth and fought the Philistines. He demolished the walls of Gath, the walls of Jabneh, and the walls of Ashdod; and he built cities in the territory of Ashdod, and elsewhere among the Philistines. ⁷ God helped him against the Philistines, against the Arabs who lived in Gur-baal, and against the Meunites.

⁸ The Ammonites paid tribute to Uzziah, and his fame spread as far as the borders of Egypt, for he became ever more powerful. ⁹ Moreover, Uzziah built towers in Jerusalem at the Corner Gate, at the Valley Gate, and at the Angle, and he fortified them. ¹⁰ He also erected towers in the wilderness and dug many cisterns, for he had large herds of cattle both in the Shephelah and in the plain; and he had farmers and vinedressers in the hills and in the fertile lands, for he loved the soil.

¹¹ Uzziah had a well-trained army ready to engage in battles and divided into divisions according to their numbers as specified by the scribe Jeiel and the staff officer Maaseiah, under the direction of Hananiah, one of the king’s commanders. ¹² The total number of the heads of ancestral houses of mighty warriors was two thousand six hundred. ¹³ Under their command was an army of three hundred and seven thousand five hundred, a powerful force to help the king against his enemies.

¹⁴ Uzziah provided for the entire army the shields, spears, helmets, coats of armor, bows, and slingstones. ¹⁵ In Jerusalem he also had requisitioned machines, invented by skilled workers, to be placed on the towers and battlements for shooting arrows and large stones. His fame spread far and wide, for he was so miraculously gifted that he became very powerful.

¹⁶ Pride and Punishment. However, when Uzziah continued to grow ever stronger, he also was afflicted with pride, and that led to his destruction. For he proved unfaithful to the Lord his God by entering the temple of the Lord to make an offering on the altar of incense. ¹⁷ Then the priest Azariah and eighty priests of the Lord who were courageous men followed him.

¹⁸ The priests confronted King Uzziah and said to him: “It is not for you, Uzziah, to burn incense to the Lord, but for the priests, the descendants of Aaron, who are consecrated to make offerings. Leave the sanctuary, for you have done wrong, and you will no longer share in the glory that comes from the Lord God.” ¹⁹ Uzziah had a censer in his hand to burn the incense, but while he showed his intense anger to the priests, leprosy broke out on his forehead, in the presence of the priests in the house of the Lord, by the altar of incense.

²⁰ When the chief priest, Azariah, and all the other priests looked at Uzziah carefully and saw that his forehead was leprous, they quickly removed him from the temple; and he himself was equally anxious to leave because the Lord had afflicted him. ²¹ King Uzziah remained a leper until the day of his death, and because he was thus afflicted, he dwelt while confined in a separate house, since he was excluded from the house of the Lord. His son Jotham was in charge of the palace of the king, and he governed the people of the land.

²² The rest of the history of Uzziah, from first to last, was written by the prophet Isaiah, the son of Amoz. ²³ Uzziah rested with his ancestors and was buried with them, but in the field adjoining the royal tombs, for they said: “He is a leper.” His son Jotham succeeded him as king.

Chapter 27

Jotham. ¹ Jotham was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem for sixteen years. His mother was Jerusha, the daughter of Zadok. ² He did what was right in the sight of the Lord just as his father had done, although he did not enter the temple of the Lord. However, the people continued their corrupt practices.

³ Jotham built the upper gate of the house of the Lord, and he supervised the extensive construction on the wall of Ophel.^{[f] 4} He also built towns in the hill country of Judah as well as forts and towers in the wooded areas.

⁵ Later Jotham went to war against the king of the Ammonites and defeated them. As a result, the Ammonites had to give him one hundred talents of silver, together with ten thousand kors of wheat and ten thousand kors of barley. The Ammonites also paid him the same amount in the second and third year afterward. ⁶ Jotham became very powerful because he followed an unswerving course in the presence of the Lord, his God.

⁷ The rest of the acts of Jotham, all his wars and other projects, are recorded in the book of the kings of Israel and Judah. ⁸ He was twenty-five years old when he ascended the throne, and he reigned for sixteen years in Jerusalem. ⁹ Jotham slept with his ancestors, and he was buried in the City of David. His son Ahaz succeeded him.

Reforms of Hezekiah and Josiah

Chapter 28

The Impiety of Ahaz. ¹ Ahaz was twenty years old when he ascended the throne, and he reigned in Jerusalem for sixteen years. Unlike what his ancestor David had done, he did not do what was right in the sight of the Lord. ² Rather, he followed the example of the kings of Israel and even cast molten idols of the Baals.

³ Furthermore, Ahaz offered burnt sacrifices in the Valley of Ben-hinnom^[g] and even went so far as to immolate his sons by fire according to the abominable practices of the nations whom the Lord had driven out before the Israelites. ⁴ He offered sacrifices and burned incense on the high places, on the hills, and under every green tree.

Retribution. ⁵ Therefore, the Lord his God delivered him over into the hands of the king of Aram. After the Arameans defeated him, they took large numbers of captives and brought them to Damascus. He was also given over into the power of the king of Israel, who inflicted heavy casualties on him.^{[h] 6} In a single day, Pekah, the son of Remaliah, killed one hundred and twenty thousand valiant warriors.

⁷ Zichri, an Ephraimite warrior, killed Maaseiah, the king’s son, Azrikam, the commander of the palace, and Elkanah, who was second only to the king in authority. ⁸ The Israelites took captive from their kinsmen two hundred thousand women, sons and daughters. They also took immense quantities of booty from them and brought it all back to Samaria.

The Prophecy of Oded. ⁹ In Samaria there was a prophet of the Lord by the name of Oded. He went out to meet the army when it returned to Samaria, and he said: “It was because the Lord, the God of your fathers, was angry with Judah that he delivered them into your hands. However, you have slaughtered them with an intense rage that has reached up to heaven.

¹⁰ “And now you have decided to force the people of Judah and Jerusalem to be your slaves. However, have you yourselves not been guilty of sins against the Lord, your God? ¹¹ Now listen to me! Release the captives you have taken from your kinsmen, for the fierce anger of the Lord has been aroused against you.”

¹² On hearing this, some of the Ephraimite leaders—Azariah, son of Jehohanan; Berechiah, son of Meshillemoth; Jehizkiah, son of Shallum; and Amasa, son of Hadlai—confronted those who were returning from the war ¹³ and said to them: “Do not bring these captives here, for what you are proposing will only increase our sins and our guilt. For our guilt is already substantial, and fierce anger threatens the security of Israel.”

¹⁴ Therefore, in the presence of the officials and the entire assembly, the soldiers surrendered the captives and the booty. ¹⁵ Then those Ephraimite leaders proceeded to help those who had been led away captive. From the booty they clothed those who were naked. They gave them clothing and sandals and gave them food, drink, and healing balm. All those who were weak they mounted on donkeys and took them to their brethren in Jericho, the city of palm trees. Then they themselves returned to Samaria.

¹⁶ Other Sins of Ahaz. At that time King Ahaz sent a plea to the king of Assyria asking for help. ¹⁷ The Edomites had once again invaded and defeated Judah, and carried away captives.

¹⁸ Meanwhile, the Philistines had raided the towns in the foothills and the Negeb of Judah. They captured and occupied Beth-shemesh, Aijalon, and Gederoth, as well as Soco with its villages, Timnah with its villages, and Gimzo with its villages, and settled there. ¹⁹ For the Lord had brought Judah low because of Ahaz, king of Israel,^[i] who had behaved without restraint in Judah and had proved to be totally unfaithful to the Lord.

²⁰ After that, Tiglath-pileser, king of Assyria, came to Ahaz, but rather than assisting him, he oppressed him instead. ²¹ Then Ahaz plundered the temple of the Lord, the palace of the king, and the house of his officials. He proceeded to give the plunder to the king of Assyria, but no help from him was forthcoming.

²² During this period of distress, King Ahaz became even more unfaithful to the Lord. ²³ He proceeded to offer sacrifices to the gods of Damascus who had defeated him, thinking: “Since the gods of the king of Aram have supported them, I will sacrifice to them so that they may decide to help me.” However, they only caused further disaster to him and to all of Israel. ²⁴ Then Ahaz gathered up the vessels of the house of God and broke them into pieces. After he shut up the doors of the house of the Lord he made altars for himself in every corner of Jerusalem. ²⁵ In every city of Judah he built high places to offer sacrifices to other gods, thus provoking the anger of the Lord, the God of his ancestors.

²⁶ The rest of his deeds and all his activities, from first to last, are written in the book of the kings of Judah and Israel. ²⁷ Ahaz slept with his ancestors, and he was buried in the city of Jerusalem, but he was not laid to rest in the tombs of the kings of Israel. His son Hezekiah succeeded him.

Chapter 29

Reforms of Hezekiah.^{[j] 1} Hezekiah was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem for twenty-nine years. His mother was Abijah, the daughter of Zechariah. ² He did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, just as his ancestor David 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 them. ⁴ Next he brought in the priests and the Levites and assembled them in the square on the east. ⁵ Then he said to them: “Listen to me, you Levites. Sanctify yourselves first. Then sanctify the house of the Lord, the God of your ancestors, and remove the filth from the sanctuary. ⁶ For our ancestors were unfaithful and did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, our God. They abandoned him, turned away their faces from him, and turned their backs on him. ⁷ They also shut the doors of the vestibule and extinguished the lamps, and they ceased to burn incense or present any burnt offerings in the sanctuary to the God of Israel.

⁸ “Therefore, the anger of the Lord fell upon Judah and Jerusalem, and he has made them an object of terror, astonishment, and derision, as you can see with your own eyes. ⁹ Our fathers have fallen by the sword, and our sons and daughters and our wives have been taken captive as a result. ¹⁰ Now I am determined to make a covenant with the God of Israel, in the hope that his fierce anger may turn away from us. ¹¹ Therefore, my sons, do not be negligent any longer, for the Lord has chosen you to sit in his presence and to serve him, to be his ministers, and to offer incense before him.”

¹² The Levites immediately set to work: from the sons of the Kohathites: Mahath, son of Amasai, and Joel, son of Azariah; from the sons of Merari: Kish, son of Abdi, and Azariah, son of Jehallel; from the Gershonites: Joah, son of Zimmah, and Eden, son of Joah; ¹³ from the sons of Elizaphan: Shimri and Jeuel; from the sons of Asaph: Zechariah and Mattaniah; ¹⁴ from the sons of Heman: Jehuel and Shimei; from the sons of Jeduthun: Shemaiah and Uzziel. ¹⁵ They gathered their brothers together and sanctified themselves; then, in obedience to the king’s order in accordance with the Lord’s command, they proceeded to purify the house of the Lord.

¹⁶ The priests entered the inner part of the Lord’s house to cleanse it, and they brought all the unclean things that they found in the temple of the Lord and deposited them in the court of the house of the Lord, where the Levites collected them and carried them out to the Kidron Valley. ¹⁷ They began the rites of sanctification on the first day of the first month, and on the eighth day of the month they had arrived at the vestibule of the Lord. Then for eight days they sanctified the Lord’s house, and on the sixteenth day of the first month they had finished.

¹⁸ Their work having been completed, they went in to King Hezekiah and said: “We have cleansed the entire house of the Lord, the altar of burnt offering with all its utensils, and the table for setting out the consecrated bread with all its utensils. ¹⁹ We have restored and consecrated all the articles that King Ahaz had cast aside during his reign because of his infidelity. They are now in place before the altar of the Lord.”

²⁰ The Rite of Expiation. King Hezekiah rose early the next morning, assembled the officials of the city, and went up to the house of the Lord. ²¹ They brought with them seven bulls, seven rams, seven lambs, and seven male goats as a sin offering for the kingdom, for the sanctuary, and for Judah, and he ordered the priests, the sons of Aaron, to offer them on the altar of the Lord.

²² Therefore, after the city officials slaughtered the bulls, the priests received the blood and sprinkled it on the altar. Then the rams were slaughtered, and, the priests sprinkled the blood on the altar. After that, the lambs were slaughtered, and the priests sprinkled the blood on the altar.

²³ Finally the he-goats for the sin offering were brought before the king and the assembly, who laid their hands on them. ²⁴ Then the priests slaughtered them and used their blood as a sin offering at the altar in order to make atonement for all Israel. For the king commanded that the burnt offering and the sin offering should be made for all Israel.

²⁵ The king stationed the Levites in the house of the Lord with cymbals, harps, and lyres, according to the ordinance prescribed by David, by Gad the king’s seer, and by Nathan the prophet. This commandment was prescribed by the Lord through his prophets. ²⁶ The Levites were stationed with the instruments of David while the priests stood ready with the trumpets. ²⁷ Then Hezekiah commanded that the burnt offering be presented on the altar. And at the moment when the burnt offering began, the song to the Lord began also, to the accompaniment of the trumpets and the instruments of King David of Israel. ²⁸ The entire assembly bowed in worship while the singers sang and the trumpeters sounded, all of this continuing until the burnt offering had been completed.

²⁹ When the burnt offering was finished, the king and all those who were present with him bowed down and worshiped. ³⁰ King Hezekiah and his officials commanded the Levites to sing praises to the Lord in the words of David and of the seer, Asaph. They joyfully sang their praises, after which they knelt down and prostrated themselves in worship.

³¹ Then Hezekiah issued this command: “Now that you have consecrated yourselves to the Lord, come forward and bring your sacrifices and thank offerings to the house of the Lord.”

Therefore, the assembly brought sacrifices and thank offerings, and all those who had generous hearts brought burnt offerings. ³² The number of burnt offerings that the assembly brought was seventy bulls, one hundred rams, and two hundred lambs. All these were designated as a burnt offering to the Lord. ³³ The consecrated offerings were six hundred bulls and three hundred sheep.

³⁴ However, the priests were too few in number to be able to skin the burnt offerings. Therefore, their brethren the Levites were clearly more conscientious than the priests in sanctifying themselves. ³⁵ In addition to a great number of burnt offerings, there was also the fat of the fellowship offerings and the libations for the burnt offerings. Thus the service of the house of the Lord was restored. ³⁶ Then Hezekiah and all the people rejoiced over what God had done for the people and how suddenly all this had been completed.

Chapter 30^[k]

Invitation to the Passover. ¹ Hezekiah sent messengers to all Israel and Judah, and he also wrote letters to Ephraim and Manas-seh, inviting them to come to the house of the Lord in Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover in honor of the Lord, the God of Israel. ^2 [l]The king and his officials and the entire assembly in Jerusalem had agreed to celebrate the Passover in the second month, ³ having been unable to celebrate it at the proper time because the priests had not sanctified themselves in sufficient numbers and the people had not yet assembled in Jerusalem.

⁴ The proposal was accepted by the king and all the assembly. ⁵ Therefore, they resolved to issue a proclamation throughout all Israel, from Dan to Beer-sheba, that the people should come to Jerusalem and celebrate the Passover in honor of the Lord, the God of Israel. For the feast had not been celebrated in large numbers in the manner prescribed. ⁶ Accordingly, couriers traveled throughout Israel and Judah with letters from the king and his officials, as the king had commanded, saying: “O people of Israel, return to the Lord, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, so that he may turn back to you, the remnant left from the hands of the kings of Assyria. ⁷ Do not be like your ancestors and your brothers who were unfaithful to the Lord, the God of their ancestors, so that he made them an object of horror, as you yourselves now see. ⁸ Do not be stiff-necked as your ancestors were, but submit yourselves to the Lord and come to his sanctuary that he has consecrated forever, and serve the Lord, your God, so that his fierce anger may turn away from you. ⁹ For when you return to the Lord, your brothers and your children will be treated with compassion by their captors and return to this land. For the Lord, your God, is gracious and compassionate, and he will not turn his face away from you if you return to him.”

¹⁰ The couriers went from town to town in Ephraim and Manasseh, and as far as Zebulun, but the people scorned and mocked them. ¹¹ Nevertheless a few people from Asher, Manasseh, and Zebulun humbled themselves and came to Jerusalem. ¹² The hand of God was also on Judah to make the people of one mind to do what the king and the officials commanded in accordance with the word of the Lord.

¹³ The Passover Celebrated. A huge crowd gathered together in Jerusalem to celebrate the Feast of Unleavened Bread in the second month. ¹⁴ They began their work by removing the altars that were in Jerusalem. Then they removed all the altars of incense and threw them into the Kidron Valley.

¹⁵ On the fourteenth day of the second month they slaughtered the Passover lamb. Meanwhile, the priests and the Levites were ashamed; after they consecrated themselves, they brought burnt offerings to the temple of the Lord. ¹⁶ Then they took their accustomed places according to the law of Moses, the man of God, while the priests sprinkled the blood that they had received from the Levites.

¹⁷ Since many people in the assembly had not sanctified themselves, the Levites had to slaughter the Passover lambs for them to the Lord.^{[m] 18} For a large number of people, mainly from Ephraim, Manasseh, Issachar, and Zebulun, had not cleansed themselves, but even so they ate the Passover contrary to what was prescribed.

However, Hezekiah prayed for them, saying: “May the good Lord grant pardon ¹⁹ to all those who are determined to seek God, the Lord, the God of their ancestors, even though they have not been purified as holiness requires.” ²⁰ The Lord listened to Hezekiah and healed the people.

²¹ With great rejoicing the Israelites who were present in Jerusalem celebrated the Feast of Unleavened Bread for seven days, while the Levites and the priests day after day praised the Lord with all their strength. ²² Hezekiah then spoke encouragingly to all the Levites who had shown themselves to be well skilled in the service of the Lord. During the seven days of the festival the people consumed their assigned portion of food, sacrificing offerings of well-being and giving thanks to the Lord, the God of their ancestors.

²³ Then the entire assembly agreed to continue the festival for another seven days, and they did so with joyous celebration. ²⁴ Hezekiah, the king of Judah, contributed to the assembly one thousand bulls and seven thousand sheep, and the officials gave to the assembly one thousand bulls and ten thousand sheep, while the priests sanctified themselves in great numbers. ²⁵ The entire assembly of Judah rejoiced, along with the priests and the Levites and the resident aliens who had come from Israel, as well as the resident aliens who dwelt in Judah. ²⁶ There was great rejoicing in Jerusalem, for since the time of Solomon, the son of King David of Israel, nothing of this magnitude had been seen in Jerusalem. ²⁷ Then the priests and the Levites stood up and blessed the people, and their voices were heard by God when their prayer reached his holy dwelling in heaven.

Chapter 31

Reform of Worship. ¹ When the festivities had come to a close, all of the Israelites who were present went forth to the towns of Judah, smashed the sacred pillars, cut down the sacred poles, and demolished the high places and the altars throughout Judah and Benjamin, as well as in Ephraim and Manasseh, until they had destroyed them all. Then all the Israelites returned to their various towns and their individual properties.

² Hezekiah reestablished the priests and the Levites into various divisions, assigning to each priest and Levite his own specific duty, whether in regard to holocausts or peace offerings, to minister or to give thanks, or to sing praises within the gates of the Lord’s dwelling.

³ The king provided from his own wealth a portion from his possessions for holocausts during the morning and evening as well as on Sabbaths, new moons, and festivals, as prescribed in the law of the Lord. ⁴ He also commanded the people who lived in Jerusalem to provide the portion due to the priests and the Levites so that they might devote themselves completely to the law of the Lord.

⁵ As soon as the command of the king had been promulgated, the Israelites provided an abundance of the firstfruits of grain, wine, oil, honey, and all the other produce of the fields; they brought in an abundant tithe of everything. ⁶ The Israelites and Judeans who lived in the towns of Judah also brought in a tithe of their cattle and sheep and a tithe of sacred gifts that had been consecrated to the Lord, their God, laying them in heaps. ⁷ They began to accumulate the heaps in the third month, and they completed that task in the seventh month.

⁸ When Hezekiah and his officials came and beheld the heaps, they blessed the Lord and his people Israel. ⁹ Then Hezekiah questioned the priests and the Levites about those heaps. ¹⁰ The chief priest Azariah, who was of the house of Zadok, replied: “Since the people began to bring their contributions to the house of the Lord, we have had enough to eat, and much more in addition. For the Lord has so greatly blessed his people that a great amount is still left over.”

¹¹ Then Hezekiah issued orders to prepare storerooms in the house of the Lord. When that task was completed, ¹² the people faithfully brought in their contributions, their tithes, and their consecrated gifts. The chief officer in charge of the donations was Conaniah the Levite, with his brother Shimei as second in command. ¹³ Jehiel, Azaziah, Nahath, Asahel, Jerimoth, Jozabad, Eliel, Ismachiah, Mahath, and Benaiah were appointed as supervisors under Conaniah and his brother, Shimei, by the order of King Hezekiah and Azariah, the chief officer of the house of God.

¹⁴ Kore, the son of Imnah the Levite, and the keeper of the east gate, was in charge of the free-will offerings to God, with the responsibility to apportion the contributions made to God and the most sacred offerings. ¹⁵ Eden, Miniamin, Jeshua, Shemaiah, Amariah, and Shecaniah faithfully assisted him in the priestly cities and distributed the portions to their kindred, old and young alike, by divisions.^[n]

¹⁶ In addition, they distributed shares to the males thirty years old and above who would enter the house of the Lord to take their part daily in the service, according to their divisions as their office required. ¹⁷ The priests were enrolled according to their ancestral houses; the Levites who were twenty years old and above were registered according to their offices.

¹⁸ The priests were enrolled with all their dependents—their little children, their wives, their sons and their daughters, the entire multitude—since in virtue of their permanent standing they had to be faithful in consecrating themselves. ¹⁹ As for the descendants of Aaron, the priests, who lived on the pasture lands belonging to their towns, designated the men to distribute portions to every male among the priests and to everyone who was registered in the genealogies of the Levites.

²⁰ Hezekiah did this throughout Judah, doing what was good and right and faithful in the eyes of the Lord, his God. ²¹ Every-thing that he undertook in the service of the house of God, and in obedience to the law and the commandments to seek his God, he did with all his heart, and he prospered.

Chapter 32

Invasion of Sennacherib. ¹ After Hezekiah had proved his fidelity by his deeds and his acts of faithfulness, King Sennacherib of Assyria invaded Judah and laid siege to the fortified towns, intending to take them by storm.

² When Hezekiah realized that Sennacherib was determined to attack Jerusalem, ³ he suggested to his officers and warriors that they block up the springs of water that were outside the city, and they supported his plan. ⁴ Then a large number of people were summoned to block up all the springs, as well as the stream that flowed through that land, saying: “Why should the kings of Assyria come here and find an abundance of water?”

⁵ Hezekiah next concentrated on strengthening his defenses. He repaired every breach in the city wall that was broken down and raised towers upon it. Then he built another wall outside that first wall. He also strengthened the Millo of the City of David and gathered large numbers of weapons and shields.

⁶ Next Hezekiah appointed military commanders over the people, and after gathering them together in his presence in the square at the gate of the city, he spoke these words of encouragement: ⁷ “Be strong and brave. Do not have any fear or be discouraged when confronted with the king of Assyria and the vast horde that serves him. Remember that there is one with us who is greater than anyone who is with him. ⁸ He has only human strength, but we have the Lord, our God, with us to help us and to fight our battles.” The people were greatly encouraged by the words of King Hezekiah of Judah.

Sennacherib’s Threat. ⁹ After this, while King Sennacherib of Assyria was besieging Lachish with all his forces, he sent his representatives to Jerusalem to deliver this message to King Hezekiah of Judah and to all the Judeans who were in Jerusalem: ¹⁰ “King Sennacherib of Assyria has this to say: What gives you the confidence to remain in Jerusalem while it is under siege? ¹¹ Hezekiah is misleading you, condemning you to die of famine and thirst, when he says: ‘The Lord, our God, will save us from the clutches of the king of Assyria.’ ¹² Was it not the same Hezekiah who removed the Lord’s shrines and altars and issued this command to Judah and Jerusalem: ‘You shall worship before only one altar, and on that altar alone you shall offer sacrifices’? ¹³ Are you not aware what I and my ancestors have done to all the peoples of other lands? Were the gods of those nations able to save their lands from my power? ¹⁴ Of all the gods of these nations which my ancestors totally destroyed, was there even one who was able to save his people from my hand? How then will your God be able to deliver you from my power?

¹⁵ “Do not permit Hezekiah to deceive you or mislead you in this way, and do not believe him. How can you place your trust in him, since no god of any nation or kingdom has been able to save his people from my hand or from the hand of my ancestors? How much less will your God be able to save you from my clutches!”

¹⁶ Sennacherib’s officials offered further negative comments against the Lord God and against his servant Hezekiah. ¹⁷ In addition, Sennacherib wrote letters filled with contemptuous remarks about the Lord, the God of Israel, saying: “Just as the gods of other nations could not rescue their people from my hands, so the God of Hezekiah will not be able to save his people from my power.”

¹⁸ Then the forces of Sennacherib shouted loudly in Hebrew to the people of Jerusalem who were stationed on the wall, trying to strike them with terror and fear, and thus hoping to be able to conquer the city. ¹⁹ They spoke of the God of Jerusalem as if he were in no way superior to any of the gods of the other peoples of the earth, simply the work of human hands.

²⁰ The Defeat of Sennacherib. Then King Hezekiah and the prophet Isaiah, the son of Amoz, prayed and cried out to heaven. ²¹ Therefore, the Lord sent an angel who destroyed every valiant warrior, leader, and commander in the camp of the king of Assyria. As a result, Sennacherib returned in disgrace to his own land. When he entered the temple of his god, some of his sons slew him with the sword.

²² Thus the Lord saved Hezekiah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem from the hands of Sennacherib and from the hands of all their enemies, affording them rest on every side. ²³ Many people brought gifts to the Lord in Jerusalem and costly gifts to King Hezekiah of Judah. From that time onward he was held in high esteem by all nations.

²⁴ Hezekiah’s Other Deeds. In those days Hezekiah fell seriously ill. Then he prayed to the Lord, and the Lord answered him by granting him a sign. ²⁵ However, Hezekiah was a proud man, and he failed to respond with gratitude for the kindness that the Lord had shown him. As a result, the wrath of the Lord fell upon him and upon Judah and Jerusalem. ²⁶ But then Hezekiah humbled himself because of the pride of heart that he had exhibited, as did also the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so that the wrath of the Lord did not fall upon them during Hezekiah’s lifetime.

²⁷ Hezekiah possessed great wealth and honor. He built for himself treasuries for his silver and gold, for his precious stones, for spices and shields and for all kinds of other costly things, ²⁸ storehouses for the harvests of grain, new wine and oil, and stalls for all kinds of cattle and flocks of sheep. ²⁹ He also built cities for himself, and he acquired flocks and herds in abundance, for God had given him very great possessions.

³⁰ This same Hezekiah closed the upper outlet of the waters of Gihon and directed their course down to the west side of the City of David. In every respect he prospered in all his works, ³¹ although when envoys were sent by the king of Babylon to ask him about the miraculous sign^[o] that had occurred in the land, God left him to himself in order to test him and to discover what was in his heart.

³² The rest of the acts of Hezekiah and his pious works are recorded in the vision of the prophet Isaiah, the son of Amoz, in the book of the kings of Judah and Israel. ³³ Hezekiah slept with his ancestors, and he was buried at the ascent to the tombs 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.

Chapter 33

Manasseh’s Rule. ¹ Manasseh was twelve years old when he ascended the throne, and he reigned for fifty-five years in Jerusalem. ² He did what was evil in the sight of the Lord by following the abominable practices of the nations that the Lord had driven out in favor of the Israelites.

³ Manasseh rebuilt the high places that his father Hezekiah had torn down, erected altars to the Baals, made sacred poles, and prostrated himself before all the host of heaven and served them. ⁴ He built altars in the temple of the Lord about which the Lord had said: “My name shall be in Jerusalem forever.”

⁵ Manasseh also built altars for all the host of heaven^[p] in the two courts of the house of the Lord. ⁶ Further, he immolated his sons by fire in the Valley of Ben-hinnom, practiced soothsaying, divination, and sorcery, and had dealings with mediums and wizards. Thus he perpetrated great evil in the sight of the Lord and aroused his anger.

⁷ Manasseh took the carved image of the idol that he had made and placed it in the house of God, concerning which God had said to David and to Solomon his son: “In this house, and in Jerusalem, the city which I chose out of all the tribes of Israel, I will establish my name forever. ⁸ I will never again allow the feet of Israel to be removed from the land which I assigned to your ancestors, provided that they are careful to observe all that I commanded them in regard to the entire law, the statutes, and the ordinances given through Moses.”

⁹ However, Manasseh led Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem astray so that they did far greater evil than the nations which the Lord had destroyed in favor of the Israelites. ¹⁰ The Lord spoke to Manasseh and his people, but they refused to listen.

¹¹ Manasseh’s Conversion. Therefore, the Lord brought against them the commanders of the army of the king of Assyria. They took Manasseh captive with hooks, shackled him with chains, and brought him to Babylon.^{[q] 12} In his distress, he entreated the mercy of the Lord, his God, and humbled himself greatly before the God of his ancestors. ¹³ After praying to him, the Lord was moved by his entreaty. Having accepted his supplication, he restored him to his kingdom in Jerusalem. Then Manasseh fully understood that the Lord is indeed God.

¹⁴ Afterward, Manasseh built an outer wall for the City of David, to the west of Gihon in the valley, and he extended it up to the entrance by the Fish Gate and encircling Ophel, raising it to a great height. He also stationed military commanders in all the fortified towns of Judah. ¹⁵ Furthermore, he removed the foreign gods and the idol from the house of the Lord, as well as all the altars that he had built on the mountain of the house of the Lord and in Jerusalem, and he cast them outside the city.

¹⁶ Manasseh also restored the altar of the Lord, and upon that altar he sacrificed peace offerings and thanksgiving offerings, while at the same time commanding Judah to serve the Lord, the God of Israel. ¹⁷ Though the people continued to sacrifice at the high places, they now did so only to the Lord, their God.

¹⁸ The rest of the acts of Manasseh, his prayer to his God, and the prophecies of the seers^[r] who spoke to him, in the name of the Lord, the God of Israel, can be found in the annals of the kings of Israel. ¹⁹ His prayer and how God was moved by his entreaty, all his sins and his infidelity, and the sites where he built high places and set up sacred poles and idols before he humbled himself, can be found recorded in the chronicles of the seers.^{[s] 20} Manasseh slept with his ancestors, and he was buried in the garden of his palace. His son Amon succeeded him.

²¹ Amon. Amon was twenty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem for two years. ²² He did what was evil in the eyes of the Lord, just as his father Manasseh had done. Amon sacrificed to all the idols that his father Manasseh had made, and he worshiped them.

²³ Amon did not humble himself before the Lord as his father Manasseh had done. On the contrary, Amon only increased his guilt. ²⁴ His servants conspired against him, and they assassinated him in the palace. ²⁵ However, the people of the land killed all those who had conspired against King Amon, and then they proclaimed his son Josiah as his successor.

Chapter 34

The Reforms of Josiah. ¹ Josiah was eight years old when he ascended the throne, and he reigned in Jerusalem for thirty-one years. ² He did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, and he followed in the ways of his ancestor David, not deviating either to the right or to the left.

³ In the eighth year of his reign, while he was still a youth, Josiah began to seek the God of his ancestor David, and in the twelfth year he began to purge Judah and Jerusalem of the high places, the sacred poles, and the carved and the cast images.^{[t] 4} Then, in his presence and following his instructions, he oversaw the destruction of the altars of the Baals, and the incense stands erected above them were torn down. The sacred poles and the carved and molten images were shattered and beaten into dust, which was then scattered over the tombs of those who had sacrificed to them. ⁵ Finally, the bones of the priests he burned upon their altars. Thus he purified Judah and Jerusalem.

⁶ In the towns of Manasseh, Ephraim, and Simeon, and in the ruined villages as far as Naphtali, ⁷ Josiah destroyed the altars, crushed the sacred poles and the images into powder, and demolished all the incense altars throughout all the land of Israel. Then he returned to Jerusalem.

The Temple Restored. ⁸ In the eighteenth year of his reign, after he had purified the land as well as the temple, Josiah sent Shaphan, the son of Azaliah, Maaseiah, the governor of the city, and Joah, the son of Joahaz the recorder, to repair and restore the house of the Lord, his God. ⁹ They came to the high priest Hilkiah and delivered the money that had been brought into the house of God, which the Levites, the guardians of the threshold, had collected from Manasseh, Ephraim, and all the remnant of Israel, as well as from all of Judah, Benjamin, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem.

¹⁰ They delivered the money to the master workmen in the house of the Lord, and these in turn used it to pay the workmen in the Lord’s house who were restoring and repairing the temple. ¹¹ They also gave money to the carpenters and the builders to purchase quarried stone, as well as timber for the rafters and beams of the buildings which the kings of Judah had permitted to fall into disrepair.

¹² The men worked conscientiously at their tasks. Their overseers who directed the work were Jahath and Obadiah, Levites of the line of Merari, and Zechariah and Meshullam, members of the Kohathites. The Levites, all of them skilled in the art of playing musical instruments, ¹³ were in charge of the men who carried the burdens, and they directed all the workers in every kind of labor, while other Levites were secretaries, officials, and gatekeepers.

¹⁴ Discovery of the Law. When they brought out the money that had been deposited in the house of the Lord, the priest Hilkiah found the book of the law of the Lord which had been given through Moses. ¹⁵ Hilkiah said to the secretary, Shaphan: “I have found the book of the law in the house of the Lord,” and then he gave the book to Shaphan.

¹⁶ Shaphan brought the book to the king and reported to him: “Your servants are doing everything that has been entrusted to them. ¹⁷ They have melted down the silver that had been deposited in the house of the Lord and have handed it over to the supervisors and the workers.” ¹⁸ Shaphan the secretary also informed the king: “Hilkiah the priest has handed over a book to me.” Then Shaphan proceeded to read extracts from the book in the presence of the king.

¹⁹ When the king heard the words of the law, he tore his garments. ²⁰ Then he issued this command to Hilkiah, Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, Abdon, the son of Micah, the secretary, Shaphan, and the king’s servant, Asaiah: ²¹ “Go forth and inquire of the Lord for me and for the remnant in Israel and in Judah concerning the words of the book that has been discovered. For the intense wrath of the Lord that has been poured out on us is great, because our ancestors did not observe the Lord’s command and do all that is written in this book.”

²² Therefore, Hilkiah and those others whom the king had designated went to the prophetess Huldah, the wife of Shallum, son of Tokhath, son of Hasrah, the guardian of the wardrobe, and consulted her at her home in the Second Quarter of Jerusalem, as they had been instructed. After they spoke to her, ²³ she replied: “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: ‘Tell the one who sent you to me: ²⁴ The Lord says: I am going to bring disaster upon this place and upon its inhabitants—all the curses written in the book that was read in the presence of the king of Judah. ²⁵ Because they have abandoned me and have burned incense to other gods, thereby provoking my anger with all the works of their hands, my wrath will be poured out on this place and it will not be quenched.’

²⁶ “As for the king of Judah who sent you to inquire of the Lord, give this response: ‘Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: In regard to the words that you have heard, ²⁷ since your heart was penitent and you humbled yourself before God when you heard his words spoken against this place and its inhabitants and tore your garments and wept before me, I in turn have listened, declares the Lord. ²⁸ I will gather you to your ancestors, and you shall be taken to your grave in peace. Your eyes will not live to behold all the disaster that I will inflict upon this place and its inhabitants.’ ” Then the representatives of the king brought back this answer to him.

²⁹ Renewal of the Covenant.^[u] Thereupon, after the king convened all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem, ³⁰ he went up to the house of the Lord with all the men of Judah, the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the priests and the Levites, and all the people, both great and small. In their hearing he read the entire contents of the book of the covenant that was discovered in the house of the Lord.

³¹ Then the king stood by his pillar and entered into a covenant before the Lord to obey him and keep his commandments, his decrees, and his statutes with all his heart and soul, and thus carry out the words of the covenant that were written in this book. ³² After that, he had all those in Jerusalem and in Benjamin pledge their conformity to the covenant of God, the God of their fathers.

³³ Josiah removed all the abominable idols from the entire territory that belonged to the people of Israel, and he made it a requirement that all those who lived in Israel must worship their God. Throughout his lifetime they did not turn away from following the Lord, the God of their ancestors.

Chapter 35

The Passover. ¹ Josiah then celebrated the Passover to the Lord in Jerusalem, with the Passover lamb being slaughtered on the fourteenth day of the first month. ² He appointed the priests to their offices and encouraged them to do their duty in the service of the house of the Lord.

³ Josiah said to the Levites who instructed all Israel and who ware consecrated to the Lord: “Put the sacred Ark in the house built by Solomon, son of David, king of Israel. You no longer need to carry it on your shoulders. Serve now the Lord, your God, and his people Israel. ⁴ Prepare yourselves by families in your ancestral houses, following the directions written by King David of Israel and by his son Solomon.

⁵ “Take your positions in the sanctuary according to the family divisions of the ancestral houses of your brethren, the laity, and let there be one division of Levites for each family division. ⁶ Slay the Passover lamb, sanctify yourselves, and on behalf of your brethren make preparations, doing what the Lord commanded through Moses.”

⁷ Then Josiah contributed to the common people, as Passover offerings for all those who were present, a flock of thirty thousand lambs and goats, in addition to three thousand bulls. All these were from the king’s own property. ⁸ His officials also contributed willingly to the people, to the priests, and to the Levites. Hilkiah, Zechariah, and Jehiel, the chief officers of the house of God, gave to the priests for the Passover offering two thousand six hundred lambs and three hundred bulls. ⁹ Conaniah, along with his brothers Shemaiah and Nethanel, and Hashabiah, Jehiel, and Jozabad, the chiefs of the Levites, contributed on behalf of the Levites for the Passover offerings five thousand lambs and kids in addition to five hundred bulls.

¹⁰ When the service had been arranged, the priests stood in their places and the Levites in their divisions, as the king had commanded. ¹¹ The Passover lambs were slaughtered, and the priests sprinkled the blood handed to them while the Levites skinned the animals.

¹² The Levites set aside the burnt offerings so that they might distribute them according to the subdivisions of the laity who would then offer them to the Lord, as it is written in the Book of Moses. They did the same with the bulls. ¹³ Then they roasted the Passover victim over an open fire as prescribed, and they boiled the holy offerings in pots, in cauldrons, and in pans, which they then distributed quickly to all the people.

¹⁴ Afterward they prepared the Passover for themselves and for the priests, since the priests, the descendants of Aaron, were kept occupied until nightfall in offering holocausts and the fatty portions. Therefore, the Levites prepared the Passover for themselves and for the priests, the descendants of Aaron. ¹⁵ The singers, the descendants of Asaph, were in their designated places in accordance with the command laid down by David, and also by Asaph, Heman, and the king’s seer, Jeduthun. The gatekeepers were stationed at each gate. They did not need to leave their stations, inasmuch as their brethren, the Levites, made the preparations for them.