¹² And he put shields and spears in all the cities and made them very strong. So he held Judah and Benjamin.

Priests and Levites Come to Jerusalem

¹³ And the priests and the Levites who were in all Israel presented themselves to him from all places where they lived.

^16 (A)And those who had set their hearts to seek the Lord God of Israel came after them from all the tribes of Israel to Jerusalem to sacrifice to the Lord, the God of their fathers.

⁹ And he gathered all Judah and Benjamin, ^(A)and those from Ephraim, Manasseh, and Simeon who were residing with them, for great numbers had deserted to him from Israel when they saw that the Lord his God was with him.

¹¹ However, ^(A)some men of Asher, of Manasseh, and of Zebulun humbled themselves and came to Jerusalem.

¹⁸ For a majority of the people, ^(A)many of them from Ephraim, Manasseh, Issachar, and Zebulun, had not cleansed themselves, yet they ate the Passover otherwise ^(B)than as prescribed. For Hezekiah had prayed for them, saying, “May the good Lord pardon everyone