Bible in 90 Days

¹⁶ Then Jehoiada made an agreement with the people and the king that they would be the Lord’s special people. ¹⁷ All the people went to the temple of Baal and tore it down, smashing the altars and idols. They killed Mattan, the priest of Baal, in front of the altars.

¹⁸ Then Jehoiada chose the priests, who were Levites, to be responsible for the Temple of the Lord. David had given them duties in the Temple of the Lord. They were to offer the burnt offerings to the Lord as the Teachings of Moses commanded, and they were to offer them with much joy and singing as David had commanded. ¹⁹ Jehoiada put guards at the gates of the Temple of the Lord so that anyone who was unclean in any way could not enter.

²⁰ Jehoiada took with him the commanders of a hundred men, the important men, the rulers of the people, and all the people of the land to take the king out of the Temple of the Lord. They went through the Upper Gate into the palace, and then they seated the king on the throne. ²¹ So all the people of the land were very happy, and Jerusalem had peace, because Athaliah had been put to death with the sword.

Joash Repairs the Temple

24 Joash was seven years old when he became king, and he ruled forty years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Zibiah, and she was from Beersheba. ² Joash did what the Lord said was right as long as Jehoiada the priest was alive. ³ Jehoiada chose two wives for Joash, and Joash had sons and daughters.

⁴ Later, Joash decided to repair the Temple of the Lord. ⁵ He called the priests and the Levites together and said to them, “Go to the towns of Judah and gather the money all the Israelites have to pay every year. Use it to repair the Temple of your God. Do this now.” But the Levites did not hurry.

⁶ So King Joash called for Jehoiada the leading priest and said to him, “Why haven’t you made the Levites bring in from Judah and Jerusalem the tax money that Moses, the Lord’s servant, and the people of Israel used for the Holy Tent?”

⁷ In the past the sons of wicked Athaliah had broken into the Temple of God and used its holy things for worshiping the Baal idols.

⁸ King Joash commanded that a box for contributions be made. They put it outside, at the gate of the Temple of the Lord. ⁹ Then the Levites made an announcement in Judah and Jerusalem, telling people to bring to the Lord the tax money Moses, the servant of God, had made the Israelites give while they were in the desert. ¹⁰ All the officers and people were happy to bring their money, and they put it in the box until the box was full. ¹¹ When the Levites would take the box to the king’s officers, they would see that it was full of money. Then the king’s royal secretary and the leading priest’s officer would come and take out the money and return the box to its place. They did this often and gathered much money. ¹² King Joash and Jehoiada gave the money to the people who worked on the Temple of the Lord. And they hired stoneworkers and carpenters to repair the Temple of the Lord. They also hired people to work with iron and bronze to repair the Temple.

¹³ The people worked hard, and the work to repair the Temple went well. They rebuilt the Temple of God to be as it was before, but even stronger. ¹⁴ When the workers finished, they brought the money that was left to King Joash and Jehoiada. They used that money to make utensils for the Temple of the Lord, utensils for the service in the Temple and for the burnt offerings, and bowls and other utensils from gold and silver. Burnt offerings were given every day in the Temple of the Lord while Jehoiada was alive.

¹⁵ Jehoiada grew old and lived many years. Then he died when he was one hundred thirty years old. ¹⁶ Jehoiada was buried in Jerusalem with the kings, because he had done much good in Judah for God and his Temple.

Joash Does Evil

¹⁷ After Jehoiada died, the officers of Judah came and bowed down to King Joash, and he listened to them. ¹⁸ The king and these leaders stopped worshiping in the Temple of the Lord, the God of their ancestors. Instead, they began to worship the Asherah idols and other idols. Because they did wrong, God was angry with the people of Judah and Jerusalem. ¹⁹ Even though the Lord sent prophets to the people to turn them back to him and even though the prophets warned them, they refused to listen.

²⁰ Then the Spirit of God entered Zechariah son of Jehoiada the priest. Zechariah stood before the people and said, “This is what God says: ‘Why do you disobey the Lord’s commands? You will not be successful. Because you have left the Lord, he has also left you.’”

²¹ But the king and his officers made plans against Zechariah. At the king’s command they threw stones at him in the courtyard of the Temple of the Lord until he died. ²² King Joash did not remember Jehoiada’s kindness to him, so Joash killed Zechariah, Jehoiada’s son. Before Zechariah died, he said, “May the Lord see what you are doing and punish you.”

²³ At the end of the year, the Aramean army came against Joash. They attacked Judah and Jerusalem, killed all the leaders of the people, and sent all the valuable things to their king in Damascus. ²⁴ The Aramean army came with only a small group of men, but the Lord handed over to them a very large army from Judah, because the people of Judah had left the Lord, the God of their ancestors. So Joash was punished. ²⁵ When the Arameans left, Joash was badly wounded. His own officers made plans against him because he had killed Zechariah son of Jehoiada the priest. So they killed Joash in his own bed. He died and was buried in Jerusalem but not in the graves of the kings.

²⁶ The officers who made plans against Joash were Jozabad and Jehozabad. Jozabad was the son of Shimeath, a woman from Ammon. And Jehozabad was the son of Shimrith, a woman from Moab. ²⁷ The story of Joash’s sons, the great prophecies against him, and how he repaired the Temple of God are written in the book of the kings. Joash’s son Amaziah became king in his place.

Amaziah King of Judah

25 Amaziah was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he ruled for twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Jehoaddin, and she was from Jerusalem. ² Amaziah did what the Lord said was right, but he did not really want to obey him. ³ As soon as Amaziah took strong control of the kingdom, he executed the officers who had murdered his father the king. ⁴ But Amaziah did not put to death their children. He obeyed what was written in the Book of Moses, where the Lord commanded, “Parents must not be put to death when their children do wrong, and children must not be put to death when their parents do wrong. Each must die for his own sins.”^[a]

⁵ Amaziah gathered the people of Judah together. He grouped all the people of Judah and Benjamin by families, and he put commanders over groups of a thousand and over groups of a hundred. He counted the men who were twenty years old and older. In all there were three hundred thousand soldiers ready to fight and skilled with spears and shields. ⁶ Amaziah also hired one hundred thousand soldiers from Israel for about seventy-five hundred pounds of silver. ⁷ But a man of God came to Amaziah and said, “My king, don’t let the army of Israel go with you. The Lord is not with Israel or the people from the tribe of Ephraim. ⁸ You can make yourself strong for war, but God will defeat you. He has the power to help you or to defeat you.”

⁹ Amaziah said to the man of God, “But what about the seventy-five hundred pounds of silver I paid to the Israelite army?”

The man of God answered, “The Lord can give you much more than that.”

¹⁰ So Amaziah sent the Israelite army back home to Ephraim. They were very angry with the people of Judah and went home angry.

¹¹ Then Amaziah became very brave and led his army to the Valley of Salt in the country of Edom. There Amaziah’s army killed ten thousand Edomites. ¹² The army of Judah also captured ten thousand and took them to the top of a cliff and threw them off so that they split open.

¹³ At the same time the Israelite troops that Amaziah had not let fight in the war were robbing towns in Judah. From Samaria to Beth Horon they killed three thousand people and took many valuable things.

¹⁴ When Amaziah came home after defeating the Edomites, he brought back the idols they worshiped and started to worship them himself. He bowed down to them and offered sacrifices to them. ¹⁵ The Lord was very angry with Amaziah, so he sent a prophet to him who said, “Why have you asked their gods for help? They could not even save their own people from you!”

¹⁶ As the prophet spoke, Amaziah said to him, “We never gave you the job of advising the king. Stop, or you will be killed.”

The prophet stopped speaking except to say, “I know that God has decided to destroy you because you have done this. You did not listen to my advice.”

¹⁷ Amaziah king of Judah talked with those who advised him. Then he sent a message to Jehoash son of Jehoahaz, who was the son of Jehu king of Israel. Amaziah said to Jehoash, “Come, let’s meet face to face.”

¹⁸ Then Jehoash king of Israel answered Amaziah king of Judah, “A thornbush in Lebanon sent a message to a cedar tree in Lebanon. It said, ‘Let your daughter marry my son.’ But then a wild animal from Lebanon came by, walking on and crushing the thornbush. ¹⁹ You say to yourself that you have defeated Edom, but you have become proud, and you brag. But you stay at home! Don’t ask for trouble, or you and Judah will be defeated.”

²⁰ But Amaziah would not listen. God caused this to happen so that Jehoash would defeat Judah, because Judah asked for help from the gods of Edom. ²¹ So Jehoash king of Israel went to attack. He and Amaziah king of Judah faced each other in battle at Beth Shemesh in Judah. ²² Israel defeated Judah, and every man of Judah ran away to his home. ²³ At Beth Shemesh Jehoash king of Israel captured Amaziah king of Judah. (Amaziah was the son of Joash, who was the son of Ahaziah.) Then Jehoash brought him to Jerusalem. Jehoash broke down the wall of Jerusalem, from the Gate of Ephraim to the Corner Gate, about six hundred feet. ²⁴ He took all the gold and silver and all the utensils from the Temple of God that Obed-Edom had taken care of. He also took the treasures from the palace and some hostages. Then he returned to Samaria.

²⁵ Amaziah son of Joash, the king of Judah, lived fifteen years after the death of Jehoash son of Jehoahaz, the king of Israel. ²⁶ The other things Amaziah did as king, from the beginning to the end, are written in the book of the kings of Judah and Israel. ²⁷ When Amaziah stopped obeying the Lord, the people in Jerusalem made plans against him. So he ran away to the town of Lachish, but they sent men after him to Lachish and killed him. ²⁸ They brought his body back on horses, and he was buried with his ancestors in Jerusalem, the city of David.

Uzziah King of Judah

26 Then all the people of Judah made Uzziah^[b] king in place of his father Amaziah. Uzziah was sixteen years old. ² He rebuilt the town of Elath and made it part of Judah again after Amaziah died.

³ Uzziah was sixteen years old when he became king, and he ruled fifty-two years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Jecoliah, and she was from Jerusalem. ⁴ He did what the Lord said was right, just as his father Amaziah had done. ⁵ Uzziah obeyed God while Zechariah was alive, because he taught Uzziah how to respect and obey God. And as long as Uzziah obeyed the Lord, God gave him success.

⁶ Uzziah fought a war against the Philistines. He tore down the walls around their towns of Gath, Jabneh, and Ashdod and built new towns near Ashdod and in other places among the Philistines. ⁷ God helped Uzziah fight the Philistines, the Arabs living in Gur Baal, and the Meunites. ⁸ Also, the Ammonites made the payments Uzziah demanded. He was very powerful, so his name became famous all the way to the border of Egypt.

⁹ Uzziah built towers in Jerusalem at the Corner Gate, the Valley Gate, and where the wall turned, and he made them strong. ¹⁰ He also built towers in the desert and dug many wells, because he had many cattle on the western hills and in the plains. He had people who worked his fields and vineyards in the hills and in the fertile lands, because he loved the land.

¹¹ Uzziah had an army of trained soldiers. They were counted and put in groups by Jeiel the royal secretary and Maaseiah the officer. Hananiah, one of the king’s commanders, was their leader. ¹² There were twenty-six hundred leaders over the soldiers. ¹³ They were in charge of an army of three hundred seven thousand five hundred men who fought with great power to help the king against the enemy. ¹⁴ Uzziah gave his army shields, spears, helmets, armor, bows, and stones for their slings. ¹⁵ In Jerusalem Uzziah made cleverly designed devices. These devices on the towers and corners of the city walls were used to shoot arrows and large rocks. So Uzziah became famous in faraway places, because he had much help until he became powerful.

¹⁶ But when Uzziah became powerful, his pride led to his ruin. He was unfaithful to the Lord his God; he went into the Temple of the Lord to burn incense on the altar for incense. ¹⁷ Azariah and eighty other brave priests who served the Lord followed Uzziah into the Temple. ¹⁸ They told him he was wrong and said to him, “You don’t have the right to burn incense to the Lord. Only the priests, Aaron’s descendants, should burn the incense, because they have been made holy. Leave this holy place. You have been unfaithful, and the Lord God will not honor you for this.”

¹⁹ Uzziah was standing beside the altar for incense in the Temple of the Lord, and in his hand was a pan for burning incense. He was very angry with the priests. As he was standing in front of the priests, a skin disease broke out on his forehead. ²⁰ Azariah, the leading priest, and all the other priests looked at him and saw the skin disease on his forehead. So they hurried him out of the Temple. Uzziah also rushed out, because the Lord was punishing him. ²¹ So King Uzziah had the skin disease until the day he died. He had to live in a separate house and could not enter the Temple of the Lord. His son Jotham was in charge of the palace, and he governed the people of the land.

²² The other things Uzziah did as king, from beginning to end, were written down by the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz. ²³ Uzziah died and was buried near his ancestors in a graveyard that belonged to the kings. This was because people said, “He had a skin disease.” And his son Jotham became king in his place.

Jotham King of Judah

27 Jotham was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he ruled sixteen years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Jerusha daughter of Zadok. ² Jotham did what the Lord said was right, just as his father Uzziah had done. But Jotham did not enter the Temple of the Lord to burn incense as his father had. But the people continued doing wrong. ³ Jotham rebuilt the Upper Gate of the Temple of the Lord, and he added greatly to the wall at Ophel. ⁴ He also built towns in the hill country of Judah, as well as walled cities and towers in the forests.

⁵ Jotham also fought the king of the Ammonites and defeated them. So each year for three years they gave Jotham about seventy-five hundred pounds of silver, about sixty-two thousand bushels of wheat, and about sixty-two thousand bushels of barley. ⁶ Jotham became powerful, because he always obeyed the Lord his God.

⁷ The other things Jotham did while he was king and all his wars are written in the book of the kings of Israel and Judah. ⁸ Jotham was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he ruled sixteen years in Jerusalem. ⁹ Jotham died and was buried in Jerusalem, the city of David. Then Jotham’s son Ahaz became king in his place.

Ahaz King of Judah

28 Ahaz was twenty years old when he became king, and he ruled sixteen years in Jerusalem. Unlike his ancestor David, he did not do what the Lord said was right. ² Ahaz did the same things the kings of Israel had done. He made metal idols to worship Baal. ³ He burned incense in the Valley of Ben Hinnom and made his children pass through the fire. He did the same hateful sins as the nations had done whom the Lord had forced out of the land ahead of the Israelites. ⁴ Ahaz offered sacrifices and burned incense at the places where gods were worshiped, and on the hills, and under every green tree.

⁵ So the Lord his God handed over Ahaz to the king of Aram. The Arameans defeated Ahaz and took many people of Judah as prisoners to Damascus.

He also handed over Ahaz to Pekah king of Israel, and Pekah’s army killed many soldiers of Ahaz. ⁶ The army of Pekah son of Remaliah killed one hundred twenty thousand brave soldiers from Judah in one day. Pekah defeated them because they had left the Lord, the God of their ancestors. ⁷ Zicri, a warrior from Ephraim, killed King Ahaz’s son Maaseiah. He also killed Azrikam, the officer in charge of the palace, and Elkanah, who was second in command to the king. ⁸ The Israelite army captured two hundred thousand of their own relatives. They took women, sons and daughters, and many valuable things from Judah and carried them back to Samaria. ⁹ But a prophet of the Lord named Oded was there. He met the Israelite army when it returned to Samaria and said to them, “The Lord, the God of your ancestors, handed Judah over to you, because he was angry with those people. But God has seen the cruel way you killed them. ¹⁰ Now you plan to make the people of Judah and Jerusalem your slaves, but you also have sinned against the Lord your God. ¹¹ Now listen to me. Send back your brothers and sisters whom you captured, because the Lord is very angry with you.”

¹² Then some of the leaders in Ephraim—Azariah son of Jehohanan, Berekiah son of Meshillemoth, Jehizkiah son of Shallum, and Amasa son of Hadlai—met the Israelite soldiers coming home from war. ¹³ They warned the soldiers, “Don’t bring the prisoners from Judah here. If you do, we will be guilty of sin against the Lord, and that will make our sin and guilt even worse. Our guilt is already so great that he is angry with Israel.”

¹⁴ So the soldiers left the prisoners and valuable things in front of the officers and people there. ¹⁵ The leaders who were named took the prisoners and gave those who were naked the clothes that the Israelite army had taken. They gave the prisoners clothes, sandals, food, drink, and medicine. They put the weak prisoners on donkeys and took them back to their families in Jericho, the city of palm trees. Then they returned home to Samaria.

^16-17 At that time the Edomites came again and attacked Judah and carried away prisoners. So King Ahaz sent to the king of Assyria for help. ¹⁸ The Philistines also robbed the towns in the western hills and in southern Judah. They captured the towns of Beth Shemesh, Aijalon, Gederoth, Soco, Timnah, and Gimzo, and the villages around them. Then the Philistines lived in those towns. ¹⁹ The Lord brought trouble on Judah because Ahaz their king led the people of Judah to sin, and he was unfaithful to the Lord. ²⁰ Tiglath-Pileser king of Assyria came to Ahaz, but he gave Ahaz trouble instead of help. ²¹ Ahaz took some valuable things from the Temple of the Lord, from the palace, and from the princes, and he gave them to the king of Assyria, but it did not help.

²² During Ahaz’s troubles he was even more unfaithful to the Lord. ²³ He offered sacrifices to the gods of the people of Damascus, who had defeated him. He thought, “The gods of the kings of Aram helped them. If I offer sacrifices to them, they will help me also.” But this brought ruin to Ahaz and all Israel.

²⁴ Ahaz gathered the things from the Temple of God and broke them into pieces. Then he closed the doors of the Temple of the Lord. He made altars and put them on every street corner in Jerusalem. ²⁵ In every town in Judah, Ahaz made places for burning sacrifices to worship other gods. So he made the Lord, the God of his ancestors, very angry.

²⁶ The other things Ahaz did as king, from beginning to end, are written in the book of the kings of Judah and Israel. ²⁷ Ahaz died and was buried in the city of Jerusalem, but not in the graves of the kings of Israel. Ahaz’s son Hezekiah became king in his place.

Hezekiah Purifies the Temple

29 Hezekiah was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he ruled twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Abijah daughter of Zechariah. ² Hezekiah did what the Lord said was right, just as his ancestor David had done.

³ Hezekiah opened the doors of the Temple of the Lord and repaired them in the first month of the first year he was king. ⁴ Hezekiah brought in the priests and Levites and gathered them in the courtyard on the east side of the Temple. ⁵ Hezekiah said, “Listen to me, Levites. Make yourselves ready for the Lord’s service, and make holy the Temple of the Lord, the God of your ancestors. Remove from the Temple everything that makes it impure. ⁶ Our ancestors were unfaithful to God and did what the Lord said was wrong. They left the Lord and stopped worshiping at the Temple where he lives. They rejected him. ⁷ They shut the doors of the porch of the Temple, and they let the fire go out in the lamps. They stopped burning incense and offering burnt offerings in the holy place to the God of Israel. ⁸ So the Lord became very angry with the people of Judah and Jerusalem, and he punished them. Other people are frightened and shocked by what he did to them. So they insult the people of Judah. You know these things are true. ⁹ That is why our ancestors were killed in battle and our sons, daughters, and wives were taken captive. ¹⁰ Now I, Hezekiah, have decided to make an agreement with the Lord, the God of Israel, so he will not be angry with us anymore. ¹¹ My sons, don’t waste any more time. The Lord chose you to stand before him, to serve him, to be his servants, and to burn incense to him.”

¹² These are the Levites who started to work. From the Kohathite family there were Mahath son of Amasai and Joel son of Azariah. From the Merarite family there were Kish son of Abdi and Azariah son of Jehallelel. From the Gershonite family there were Joah son of Zimmah and Eden son of Joah. ¹³ From Elizaphan’s family there were Shimri and Jeiel. From Asaph’s family there were Zechariah and Mattaniah. ¹⁴ From Heman’s family there were Jehiel and Shimei. From Jeduthun’s family there were Shemaiah and Uzziel.

¹⁵ These Levites gathered their brothers together and made themselves holy for service in the Temple. Then they went into the Temple of the Lord to purify it. They obeyed the king’s command that had come from the Lord. ¹⁶ When the priests went into the Temple of the Lord to purify it, they took out all the unclean things they found in the Temple of the Lord and put them in the Temple courtyard. Then the Levites took these things out to the Kidron Valley. ¹⁷ Beginning on the first day of the first month, they made the Temple holy for the Lord’s service. On the eighth day of the month, they came to the porch of the Temple, and for eight more days they made the Temple of the Lord holy. So they finished on the sixteenth day of the first month.

¹⁸ Then they went to King Hezekiah and said, “We have purified the entire Temple of the Lord, the altar for burnt offerings and its utensils, and the table for the holy bread and all its utensils. ¹⁹ When Ahaz was king, he was unfaithful to God and removed some things from the Temple. But we have put them back and made them holy for the Lord. They are now in front of the Lord’s altar.”

²⁰ Early the next morning King Hezekiah gathered the leaders of the city and went up to the Temple of the Lord. ²¹ They brought seven bulls, seven male sheep, seven lambs, and seven male goats. These animals were an offering to remove the sin of the people and the kingdom of Judah and to make the Temple ready for service to God. King Hezekiah commanded the priests, the descendants of Aaron, to offer these animals on the Lord’s altar. ²² So the priests killed the bulls and sprinkled their blood on the altar. They killed the sheep and sprinkled their blood on the altar. Then they killed the lambs and sprinkled their blood on the altar. ²³ Then the priests brought the male goats for the sin offering before the king and the people there. After the king and the people put their hands on the goats, ²⁴ the priests killed them. With the goats’ blood they made an offering on the altar to remove the sins of the Israelites so they would belong to God. The king had said that the burnt offering and sin offering should be made for all Israel.

²⁵ King Hezekiah put the Levites in the Temple of the Lord with cymbals, harps, and lyres, as David, Gad, and Nathan had commanded. (Gad was the king’s seer, and Nathan was a prophet.) This command came from the Lord through his prophets. ²⁶ So the Levites stood ready with David’s instruments of music, and the priests stood ready with their trumpets.

²⁷ Then Hezekiah gave the order to sacrifice the burnt offering on the altar. When the burnt offering began, the singing to the Lord also began. The trumpets were blown, and the musical instruments of David king of Israel were played. ²⁸ All the people worshiped, the singers sang, and the trumpeters blew their trumpets until the burnt offering was finished.

²⁹ When the sacrifices were completed, King Hezekiah and everyone with him bowed down and worshiped. ³⁰ King Hezekiah and his officers ordered the Levites to praise the Lord, using the words David and Asaph the seer had used. So they praised God with joy and bowed down and worshiped.

³¹ Then Hezekiah said, “Now that you people of Judah have given yourselves to the Lord, come near to the Temple of the Lord. Bring sacrifices and offerings, to show thanks to him.” So the people brought sacrifices and thank offerings, and anyone who was willing also brought burnt offerings. ³² For burnt offerings they brought a total of seventy bulls, one hundred male sheep, and two hundred lambs; all these animals were sacrificed as burnt offerings to the Lord. ³³ The holy offerings totaled six hundred bulls and three thousand sheep and goats. ³⁴ There were not enough priests to skin all the animals for the burnt offerings. So their relatives the Levites helped them until the work was finished and other priests could be made holy. The Levites had been more careful to make themselves holy for the Lord’s service than the priests. ³⁵ There were many burnt offerings along with the fat of fellowship offerings and drink offerings. So the service in the Temple of the Lord began again. ³⁶ And Hezekiah and the people were very happy that God had made it happen so quickly for his people.

The Passover Celebration

30 King Hezekiah sent messages to all the people of Israel and Judah, and he wrote letters to the people of Ephraim and Manasseh. Hezekiah invited all these people to come to the Temple of the Lord in Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover for the Lord, the God of Israel. ² King Hezekiah, his officers, and all the people in Jerusalem agreed to celebrate the Passover in the second month. ³ They could not celebrate it at the normal time, because not enough priests had made themselves ready to serve the Lord, and the people had not yet gathered in Jerusalem. ⁴ This plan satisfied King Hezekiah and all the people. ⁵ So they made an announcement everywhere in Israel, from Beersheba to Dan,^[c] telling the people to come to Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover for the Lord, the God of Israel. For a long time most of the people had not celebrated the Passover as the law commanded. ⁶ At the king’s command, the messengers took letters from him and his officers all through Israel and Judah. This is what the letters said:

¹⁰ The messengers went to every town in Ephraim and Manasseh, and all the way to Zebulun, but the people laughed at them and made fun of them. ¹¹ But some men from Asher, Manasseh, and Zebulun were sorry for what they had done and went to Jerusalem. ¹² And God united all the people of Judah in obeying King Hezekiah and his officers, because their command had come from the Lord.

¹³ In the second month a large crowd came together in Jerusalem to celebrate the Feast of Unleavened Bread. ¹⁴ The people removed the altars and incense altars to gods in Jerusalem and threw them into the Kidron Valley.

¹⁵ They killed the Passover lamb on the fourteenth day of the second month. The priests and the Levites were ashamed, so they made themselves holy and brought burnt offerings into the Temple of the Lord. ¹⁶ They took their regular places in the Temple as the Teachings of Moses, the man of God, commanded. The Levites gave the blood of the sacrifices to the priests, who sprinkled it on the altar. ¹⁷ Since many people in the crowd had not made themselves holy, the Levites killed the Passover lambs for everyone who was not clean. The Levites made each lamb holy for the Lord. ^18-19 Although many people from Ephraim, Manasseh, Issachar, and Zebulun had not purified themselves for the feast, they ate the Passover even though it was against the law. So Hezekiah prayed for them, saying, “Lord, you are good. You are the Lord, the God of our ancestors. Please forgive all those who try to obey you even if they did not make themselves clean as the rules of the Temple command.” ²⁰ The Lord listened to Hezekiah’s prayer, and he healed the people. ²¹ The Israelites in Jerusalem celebrated the Feast of Unleavened Bread for seven days with great joy to the Lord. The Levites and priests praised the Lord every day with loud music. ²² Hezekiah encouraged all the Levites who showed they understood well how to do their service for the Lord. The people ate the feast for seven days, offered fellowship offerings, and praised the Lord, the God of their ancestors.

²³ Then all the people agreed to stay seven more days, so they celebrated with joy for seven more days. ²⁴ Hezekiah king of Judah gave one thousand bulls and seven thousand sheep to the people. The officers gave one thousand bulls and ten thousand sheep to the people. Many priests made themselves holy. ²⁵ All the people of Judah, the priests, the Levites, those who came from Israel, the foreigners from Israel, and the foreigners living in Judah were very happy. ²⁶ There was much joy in Jerusalem, because there had not been a celebration like this since the time of Solomon son of David and king of Israel. ²⁷ The priests and Levites stood up and blessed the people, and God heard them because their prayer reached heaven, his holy home.

The Collection for the Priests

31 When the Passover celebration was finished, all the Israelites in Jerusalem went out to the towns of Judah. There they smashed the stone pillars used to worship gods. They cut down the Asherah idols and destroyed the altars and places for worshiping gods in all of Judah, Benjamin, Ephraim, and Manasseh. After they had destroyed all of them, the Israelites returned to their own towns and homes.

² King Hezekiah appointed groups of priests and Levites for their special duties. They were to offer burnt offerings and fellowship offerings, to worship, and to give thanks and praise at the gates of the Lord’s house. ³ Hezekiah gave some of his own animals for the burnt offerings, which were given every morning and evening, on Sabbath days, during New Moons, and at other feasts commanded in the Lord’s Teachings.

⁴ Hezekiah commanded the people living in Jerusalem to give the priests and Levites the portion that belonged to them. Then the priests and Levites could give all their time to the Lord’s Teachings. ⁵ As soon as the king’s command went out to the Israelites, they gave freely of the first portion of their grain, new wine, oil, honey, and everything they grew in their fields. They brought a large amount, one-tenth of everything. ⁶ The people of Israel and Judah who lived in Judah also brought one-tenth of their cattle and sheep and one-tenth of the holy things that were given to the Lord their God, and they put all of them in piles. ⁷ The people began the piles in the third month and finished in the seventh month. ⁸ When Hezekiah and his officers came and saw the piles, they praised the Lord and his people, the people of Israel. ⁹ Hezekiah asked the priests and Levites about the piles. ¹⁰ Azariah, the leading priest from Zadok’s family, answered Hezekiah, “Since the people began to bring their offerings to the Temple of the Lord, we have had plenty to eat and plenty left over, because the Lord has blessed his people. So we have all this left over.”

¹¹ Then Hezekiah commanded the priests to prepare the storerooms in the Temple of the Lord. So this was done. ¹² Then the priests brought in the offerings and the things given to the Lord and one-tenth of everything the people had given. Conaniah the Levite was in charge of these things, and his brother Shimei was second to him. ¹³ Conaniah and his brother Shimei were over these supervisors: Jehiel, Azaziah, Nahath, Asahel, Jerimoth, Jozabad, Eliel, Ismakiah, Mahath, and Benaiah. King Hezekiah and Azariah the officer in charge of the Temple of God had chosen them.

¹⁴ Kore son of Imnah the Levite was in charge of the special gifts the people wanted to give to God. He was responsible for giving out the contributions made to the Lord and the holy gifts. Kore was the guard at the East Gate. ¹⁵ Eden, Miniamin, Jeshua, Shemaiah, Amariah, and Shecaniah helped Kore in the towns where the priests lived. They gave from what was collected to the other groups of priests, both young and old.

¹⁶ From what was collected, these men also gave to the males three years old and older who had their names in the Levite family histories. They were to enter the Temple of the Lord for their daily service, each group having its own responsibilities. ¹⁷ The priests were given their part of the collection, by families, as listed in the family histories. The Levites twenty years old and older were given their part of the collection, based on their responsibilities and their groups. ¹⁸ The Levites’ babies, wives, sons, and daughters also got part of the collection. This was done for all the Levites who were listed in the family histories, because they always kept themselves ready to serve the Lord.

¹⁹ Some of Aaron’s descendants, the priests, lived on the farmlands near the towns or in the towns. Men were chosen by name to give part of the collection to these priests. All the males and those named in the family histories of the Levites received part of the collection.

²⁰ This is what King Hezekiah did in Judah. He did what was good and right and obedient before the Lord his God. ²¹ Hezekiah tried to obey God in his service of the Temple of God, and he tried to obey God’s teachings and commands. He gave himself fully to his work for God. So he had success.

Assyria Attacks Judah

32 After Hezekiah did all these things to serve the Lord, Sennacherib king of Assyria came and attacked Judah. He and his army surrounded and attacked the strong, walled cities, hoping to take them for himself. ² Hezekiah knew that Sennacherib had come to Jerusalem to attack it. ³ So Hezekiah and his officers and army commanders decided to cut off the water from the springs outside the city. So the officers and commanders helped Hezekiah. ⁴ Many people came and cut off all the springs and the stream that flowed through the land. They said, “The king of Assyria will not find much water when he comes here.” ⁵ Then Hezekiah made Jerusalem stronger. He rebuilt all the broken parts of the wall and put towers on it. He also built another wall outside the first one and strengthened the area that was filled in on the east side of the old part of Jerusalem. He also made many weapons and shields.

⁶ Hezekiah put army commanders over the people and met with them at the open place near the city gate. Hezekiah encouraged them, saying, ⁷ “Be strong and brave. Don’t be afraid or worried because of the king of Assyria or his large army. There is a greater power with us than with him. ⁸ He only has men, but we have the Lord our God to help us and to fight our battles.” The people were encouraged by the words of Hezekiah king of Judah.

⁹ After this King Sennacherib of Assyria and all his army surrounded and attacked Lachish. Then he sent his officers to Jerusalem with this message for King Hezekiah of Judah and all the people of Judah in Jerusalem:

¹⁶ Sennacherib’s officers said worse things against the Lord God and his servant Hezekiah. ¹⁷ King Sennacherib also wrote letters insulting the Lord, the God of Israel. They spoke against him, saying, “The gods of the other nations could not save their people from me. In the same way Hezekiah’s god won’t be able to save his people from me.” ¹⁸ Then the king’s officers shouted in Hebrew, calling out to the people of Jerusalem who were on the city wall. The officers wanted to scare the people away so they could capture Jerusalem. ¹⁹ They spoke about the God of Jerusalem as though he were like the gods the people of the world worshiped, which are made by human hands.

²⁰ King Hezekiah and the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz prayed to heaven about this. ²¹ Then the Lord sent an angel who killed all the soldiers, leaders, and officers in the camp of the king of Assyria. So the king went back to his own country in disgrace. When he went into the temple of his god, some of his own sons killed him with a sword.

²² So the Lord saved Hezekiah and the people in Jerusalem from Sennacherib king of Assyria and from all other people. He took care of them on every side. ²³ Many people brought gifts for the Lord to Jerusalem, and they also brought valuable gifts to King Hezekiah of Judah. From then on all the nations respected Hezekiah.

Hezekiah Dies

²⁴ At that time Hezekiah became so sick he almost died. When he prayed to the Lord, the Lord spoke to him and gave him a sign.^{[d] 25} But Hezekiah did not thank God for his kindness, because he was so proud. So the Lord was angry with him and the people of Judah and Jerusalem. ²⁶ But later Hezekiah and the people of Jerusalem were sorry and stopped being proud, so the Lord did not punish them while Hezekiah was alive.

²⁷ Hezekiah had many riches and much honor. He made treasuries for his silver, gold, gems, spices, shields, and other valuable things. ²⁸ He built storage buildings for grain, new wine, and oil and stalls for all the cattle and pens for the sheep. ²⁹ He also built many towns. He had many flocks and herds, because God had given Hezekiah much wealth.

³⁰ It was Hezekiah who cut off the upper pool of the Gihon spring and made those waters flow straight down to the west side of the older part of Jerusalem. And Hezekiah was successful in everything he did. ³¹ But one time the leaders of Babylon sent messengers to Hezekiah, asking him about a strange sign that had happened in the land. When they came, God left Hezekiah alone to test him so he could know everything that was in Hezekiah’s heart.^[e]

³² Hezekiah’s love for God and the other things he did as king are written in the vision of the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz. This is in the book of the kings of Judah and Israel. ³³ Hezekiah died and was buried on a hill, where the graves of David’s ancestors are. All the people of Judah and Jerusalem honored Hezekiah when he died, and his son Manasseh became king in his place.

Manasseh King of Judah

33 Manasseh was twelve years old when he became king, and he was king for fifty-five years in Jerusalem. ² He did what the Lord said was wrong. He did the hateful things the nations had done—the nations that the Lord had forced out of the land ahead of the Israelites. ³ Manasseh’s father, Hezekiah, had torn down the places where gods were worshiped, but Manasseh rebuilt them. He also built altars for the Baal gods, and he made Asherah idols and worshiped all the stars of the sky and served them. ⁴ The Lord had said about the Temple, “I will be worshiped in Jerusalem forever,” but Manasseh built altars in the Temple of the Lord. ⁵ He built altars to worship the stars in the two courtyards of the Temple of the Lord. ⁶ He made his children pass through fire in the Valley of Ben Hinnom. He practiced magic and witchcraft and told the future by explaining signs and dreams. He got advice from mediums and fortune-tellers. He did many things the Lord said were wrong, which made the Lord angry.

⁷ Manasseh carved an idol and put it in the Temple of God. God had said to David and his son Solomon about the Temple, “I will be worshiped forever in this Temple and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen from all the tribes of Israel. ⁸ I will never again make the Israelites leave the land I gave to their ancestors. But they must obey everything I have commanded them in all the teachings, rules, and commands I gave them through Moses.” ⁹ But Manasseh led the people of Judah and Jerusalem to do wrong. They did more evil than the nations the Lord had destroyed ahead of the Israelites.

¹⁰ The Lord spoke to Manasseh and his people, but they did not listen. ¹¹ So the Lord brought the king of Assyria’s army commanders to attack Judah. They captured Manasseh, put hooks in him, placed bronze chains on his hands, and took him to Babylon. ¹² As Manasseh suffered, he begged the Lord his God for help and humbled himself before the God of his ancestors. ¹³ When Manasseh prayed, the Lord heard him and had pity on him. So the Lord let him return to Jerusalem and to his kingdom. Then Manasseh knew that the Lord is the true God.

¹⁴ After that happened, Manasseh rebuilt the outer wall of Jerusalem and made it higher. It was in the valley on the west side of the Gihon spring and went to the entrance of the Fish Gate and around the hill of Ophel. Then he put commanders in all the strong, walled cities in Judah.

¹⁵ Manasseh removed the idols of other nations, including the idol in the Temple of the Lord. He removed all the altars he had built on the Temple hill and in Jerusalem and threw them out of the city. ¹⁶ Then he set up the Lord’s altar and sacrificed on it fellowship offerings and offerings to show thanks to God. Manasseh commanded all the people of Judah to serve the Lord, the God of Israel. ¹⁷ The people continued to offer sacrifices at the places of worship, but their sacrifices were only to the Lord their God. ¹⁸ The other things Manasseh did as king, his prayer to his God, and what the seers said to him in the name of the Lord, the God of Israel—all are recorded in the book of the history of the kings of Israel. ¹⁹ Manasseh’s prayer and God’s pity for him, his sins, his unfaithfulness, the places he built for worshiping gods and the Asherah idols before he humbled himself—all are written in the book of the seers. ²⁰ Manasseh died and was buried in his palace. Then Manasseh’s son Amon became king in his place.

Amon King of Judah

²¹ Amon was twenty-two years old when he became king, and he was king for two years in Jerusalem. ²² He did what the Lord said was wrong, as his father Manasseh had done. Amon worshiped and offered sacrifices to all the carved idols Manasseh had made. ²³ Amon did not humble himself before the Lord as his father Manasseh had done. Instead, Amon sinned even more.

²⁴ King Amon’s officers made plans against him and killed him in his palace. ²⁵ Then the people of the land killed all those who had made plans to kill King Amon, and they made his son Josiah king in his place.

Josiah King of Judah

34 Josiah was eight years old when he became king, and he ruled thirty-one years in Jerusalem. ² He did what the Lord said was right. He lived as his ancestor David had lived, and he did not stop doing what was right.

³ In his eighth year as king while he was still young, Josiah began to obey the God of his ancestor David. In his twelfth year as king, Josiah began to remove from Judah and Jerusalem the gods, the places for worshiping gods, the Asherah idols, and the wooden and metal idols. ⁴ The people tore down the altars for the Baal gods as Josiah directed. Then Josiah cut down the incense altars that were above them. He broke up the Asherah idols and the wooden and metal idols and beat them into powder. Then he sprinkled the powder on the graves of the people who had offered sacrifices to these gods. ⁵ He burned the bones of their priests on their own altars. So Josiah removed idol worship from Judah and Jerusalem, ⁶ and from the towns in the areas of Manasseh, Ephraim, and Simeon all the way to Naphtali, and in the ruins near these towns. ⁷ Josiah broke down the altars and Asherah idols and beat the idols into powder. He cut down all the incense altars in all of Israel. Then he went back to Jerusalem.

⁸ In Josiah’s eighteenth year as king, he made Judah and the Temple pure again. He sent Shaphan son of Azaliah, Maaseiah the city leader, and Joah son of Joahaz the recorder to repair the Temple of the Lord, the God of Josiah. ⁹ These men went to Hilkiah the high priest and gave him the money the Levite gatekeepers had gathered from the people of Manasseh, Ephraim, and all the Israelites who were left alive, and also from all the people of Judah, Benjamin, and Jerusalem. This is the money they had brought into the Temple of God. ¹⁰ Then the Levites gave it to the supervisors of the work on the Temple of the Lord, and they paid the workers who rebuilt and repaired the Temple. ¹¹ They gave money to carpenters and builders to buy cut stone and wood. The wood was used to rebuild the buildings and to make beams for them, because the kings of Judah had let the buildings fall into ruin. ¹² The men did their work well. Their supervisors were Jahath and Obadiah, who were Levites from the family of Merari, and Zechariah and Meshullam, who were from the family of Kohath. These Levites were all skilled musicians. ¹³ They were also in charge of the workers who carried loads and all the other workers. Some Levites worked as secretaries, officers, and gatekeepers.

The Book of the Teachings Is Found

¹⁴ The Levites brought out the money that was in the Temple of the Lord. As they were doing this, Hilkiah the priest found the Book of the Lord’s Teachings that had been given through Moses. ¹⁵ Hilkiah said to Shaphan the royal secretary, “I’ve found the Book of the Teachings in the Temple of the Lord!” Then he gave it to Shaphan.

¹⁶ Shaphan took the book to the king and reported to Josiah, “Your officers are doing everything you told them to do. ¹⁷ They have paid out the money that was in the Temple of the Lord and have given it to the supervisors and the workers.” ¹⁸ Then Shaphan the royal secretary told the king, “Hilkiah the priest has given me a book.” And Shaphan read from the book to the king.

¹⁹ When the king heard the words of the Teachings, he tore his clothes to show how upset he was. ²⁰ He gave orders to Hilkiah, Ahikam son of Shaphan, Acbor son of Micaiah, Shaphan the royal secretary, and Asaiah, the king’s servant. These were the orders: ²¹ “Go and ask the Lord about the words in the book that was found. Ask for me and for the people who are left alive in Israel and Judah. The Lord is very angry with us, because our ancestors did not obey the Lord’s word; they did not do everything this book says to do.”

²² So Hilkiah and those the king sent with him went to talk to Huldah the prophetess. She was the wife of Shallum son of Tikvah, the son of Harhas, who took care of the king’s clothes. Huldah lived in Jerusalem, in the new area of the city.

²³ She said to them, “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: Tell the man who sent you to me, ²⁴ ‘This is what the Lord says: I will bring trouble to this place and to the people living here. I will bring all the curses that are written in the book that was read to the king of Judah. ²⁵ The people of Judah have left me and have burned incense to other gods. They have made me angry by all the evil things they have made. So I will punish them in my anger, which will not be put out.’ ²⁶ Tell the king of Judah, who sent you to ask the Lord, ‘This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says about the words you heard: ²⁷ When you heard my words against this place and its people, you became sorry for what you had done and you humbled yourself before me. You tore your clothes to show how upset you were, and you cried in my presence. This is why I have heard you, says the Lord. ²⁸ So I will let you die and be buried in peace. You won’t see all the trouble I will bring to this place and the people living here.’”

So they took her message back to the king.

²⁹ Then the king gathered all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem together. ³⁰ He went up to the Temple of the Lord, and all the people from Judah and from Jerusalem went with him. The priests, the Levites, and all the people—from the most important to the least important—went with him. He read to them all the words in the Book of the Agreement that was found in the Temple of the Lord. ³¹ The king stood by his pillar and made an agreement in the presence of the Lord to follow the Lord and obey his commands, rules, and laws with his whole being and to obey the words of the agreement written in this book. ³² Then Josiah made all the people in Jerusalem and Benjamin promise to accept the agreement. So the people of Jerusalem obeyed the agreement of God, the God of their ancestors.

³³ And Josiah threw out the hateful idols from all the land that belonged to the Israelites. He led everyone in Israel to serve the Lord their God. While Josiah lived, the people obeyed the Lord, the God of their ancestors.

Josiah Celebrates the Passover

35 King Josiah celebrated the Passover to the Lord in Jerusalem. The Passover lamb was killed on the fourteenth day of the first month. ² Josiah chose the priests to do their duties, and he encouraged them as they served in the Temple of the Lord. ³ The Levites taught the Israelites and were made holy for service to the Lord. Josiah said to them, “Put the Holy Ark in the Temple that David’s son Solomon, the king of Israel, built. Do not carry it from place to place on your shoulders anymore. Now serve the Lord your God and his people Israel. ⁴ Prepare yourselves by your family groups for service, and do the jobs that King David and his son Solomon gave you to do.

⁵ “Stand in the holy place with a group of the Levites for each family group of the people. ⁶ Kill the Passover lambs, and make yourselves holy to the Lord. Prepare the lambs for your relatives, the people of Israel, as the Lord through Moses commanded us to do.”

⁷ Josiah gave the Israelites thirty thousand sheep and goats to kill for the Passover sacrifices, and he gave them three thousand cattle. They were all his own animals.

⁸ Josiah’s officers also gave willingly to the people, the priests, and the Levites. Hilkiah, Zechariah, and Jehiel, the officers in charge of the Temple, gave the priests twenty-six hundred lambs and goats and three hundred cattle for Passover sacrifices. ⁹ Conaniah, his brothers Shemaiah and Nethanel, and Hashabiah, Jeiel, and Jozabad gave the Levites five thousand sheep and goats and five hundred cattle for Passover sacrifices. These men were leaders of the Levites.

¹⁰ When everything was ready for the Passover service, the priests and Levites went to their places, as the king had commanded. ¹¹ The Passover lambs were killed. Then the Levites skinned the animals and gave the blood to the priests, who sprinkled it on the altar. ¹² Then they gave the animals for the burnt offerings to the different family groups so the burnt offerings could be offered to the Lord as was written in the book of Moses. They also did this with the cattle. ¹³ The Levites roasted the Passover sacrifices over the fire as they were commanded, and they boiled the holy offerings in pots, kettles, and pans. Then they quickly gave the meat to the people. ¹⁴ After this was finished, the Levites prepared meat for themselves and for the priests, the descendants of Aaron. The priests worked until night, offering the burnt offerings and burning the fat of the sacrifices.

¹⁵ The Levite singers from Asaph’s family stood in the places chosen for them by King David, Asaph, Heman, and Jeduthun, the king’s seer. The gatekeepers at each gate did not have to leave their places, because their fellow Levites had prepared everything for them for the Passover.