2 Chronicles 28-29

New King James Version

Ahaz Reigns in Judah^(A)

28 Ahaz ^(B)was twenty years old when he became king, and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem; and he did not do what was right in the sight of the Lord, as his father David had done. ² For he walked in the ways of the kings of Israel, and made ^(C)molded images for ^(D)the Baals. ³ He burned incense in ^(E)the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, and burned ^(F)his children in the ^(G)fire, according to the abominations of the nations whom the Lord had ^(H)cast out before the children of Israel. ⁴ And he sacrificed and burned incense on the ^[a]high places, on the hills, and under every green tree.

Syria and Israel Defeat Judah^(I)

⁵ Therefore ^(J)the Lord his God delivered him into the hand of the king of Syria. They ^(K)defeated him, and carried away a great multitude of them as captives, and brought them to Damascus. Then he was also delivered into the hand of the king of Israel, who defeated him with a great slaughter. ⁶ For ^(L)Pekah the son of Remaliah killed one hundred and twenty thousand in Judah in one day, all valiant men, ^(M)because they had forsaken the Lord God of their fathers. ⁷ Zichri, a mighty man of Ephraim, killed Maaseiah the king’s son, Azrikam the officer over the house, and Elkanah who was second to the king. ⁸ And the children of Israel carried away captive of their ^(N)brethren two hundred thousand women, sons, and daughters; and they also took away much ^[b]spoil from them, and brought the spoil to Samaria.

Israel Returns the Captives

⁹ But a ^(O)prophet of the Lord was there, whose name was Oded; and he went out before the army that came to Samaria, and said to them: “Look, ^(P)because the Lord God of your fathers was angry with Judah, He has delivered them into your hand; but you have killed them in a rage that ^(Q)reaches up to heaven. ¹⁰ And now you propose to force the children of Judah and Jerusalem to be your ^(R)male and female slaves; but are you not also guilty before the Lord your God? ¹¹ Now hear me, therefore, and return the captives, whom you have taken captive from your brethren, ^(S)for the fierce wrath of the Lord is upon you.”

¹² Then some of the heads of the children of Ephraim, Azariah the son of Johanan, Berechiah the son of Meshillemoth, Jehizkiah the son of Shallum, and Amasa the son of Hadlai, stood up against those who came from the war, ¹³ and said to them, “You shall not bring the captives here, for we already have offended the Lord. You intend to add to our sins and to our guilt; for our guilt is great, and there is fierce wrath against Israel.” ¹⁴ So the armed men left the captives and the ^[c]spoil before the leaders and all the assembly. ¹⁵ Then the men ^(T)who were designated by name rose up and took the captives, and from the ^[d]spoil they clothed all who were naked among them, dressed them and gave them sandals, ^(U)gave them food and drink, and anointed them; and they let all the feeble ones ride on donkeys. So they brought them to their brethren at Jericho, ^(V)the city of palm trees. Then they returned to Samaria.

Assyria Refuses to Help Judah^(W)

^16 (X)At the same time King Ahaz sent to the ^[e]kings of Assyria to help him. ¹⁷ For again the ^(Y)Edomites had come, attacked Judah, and carried away captives. ^18 (Z)The Philistines also had invaded the cities of the lowland and of the South of Judah, and had taken Beth Shemesh, Aijalon, Gederoth, Sochoh with its villages, Timnah with its villages, and Gimzo with its villages; and they dwelt there. ¹⁹ For the Lord ^[f]brought Judah low because of Ahaz king of ^(AA)Israel, for he had ^(AB)encouraged moral decline in Judah and had been continually unfaithful to the Lord. ²⁰ Also ^(AC)Tiglath-Pileser^[g] king of Assyria came to him and distressed him, and did not assist him. ²¹ For Ahaz took part of the treasures from the house of the Lord, from the house of the king, and from the leaders, and he gave it to the king of Assyria; but he did not help him.

Apostasy and Death of Ahaz^(AD)

²² Now in the time of his distress King Ahaz became increasingly unfaithful to the Lord. This is that King Ahaz. ²³ For ^(AE)he sacrificed to the gods of Damascus which had defeated him, saying, “Because the gods of the kings of Syria help them, I will sacrifice to them ^(AF)that they may help me.” But they were the ruin of him and of all Israel. ²⁴ So Ahaz gathered the articles of the house of God, cut in pieces the articles of the house of God, ^(AG)shut up the doors of the house of the Lord, and made for himself altars in every corner of Jerusalem. ²⁵ And in every single city of Judah he made ^[h]high places to burn incense to other gods, and provoked to anger the Lord God of his fathers.

^26 (AH)Now the rest of his acts and all his ways, from first to last, indeed they are written in the book of the kings of Judah and Israel. ²⁷ So Ahaz ^[i]rested with his fathers, and they buried him in the city, in Jerusalem; but they ^(AI)did not bring him into the tombs of the kings of Israel. Then Hezekiah his son reigned in his place.

Hezekiah Reigns in Judah^(AJ)

29 Hezekiah ^(AK)became king when he was twenty-five years old, and he reigned twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was ^[j]Abijah the daughter of Zechariah. ² And he did what was right in the sight of the Lord, according to all that his father David had done.

Hezekiah Cleanses the Temple

³ In the first year of his reign, in the first month, he ^(AL)opened the doors of the house of the Lord and repaired them. ⁴ Then he brought in the priests and the Levites, and gathered them in the East Square, ⁵ and said to them: “Hear me, Levites! Now ^[k]sanctify yourselves, ^(AM)sanctify the house of the Lord God of your fathers, and carry out the rubbish from the holy place. ⁶ For our fathers have trespassed and done evil in the eyes of the Lord our God; they have forsaken Him, have ^(AN)turned their faces away from the ^[l]dwelling place of the Lord, and turned their backs on Him. ^7 (AO)They have also shut up the doors of the vestibule, put out the lamps, and have not burned incense or offered burnt offerings in the holy place to the God of Israel. ⁸ Therefore the ^(AP)wrath of the Lord fell upon Judah and Jerusalem, and He has ^(AQ)given them up to trouble, to desolation, and to ^(AR)jeering, as you see with your ^(AS)eyes. ⁹ For indeed, because of this ^(AT)our fathers have fallen by the sword; and our sons, our daughters, and our wives are in captivity.

¹⁰ “Now it is in my heart to make ^(AU)a covenant with the Lord God of Israel, that His fierce wrath may turn away from us. ¹¹ My sons, do not be negligent now, for the Lord has ^(AV)chosen you to stand before Him, to serve Him, and that you should minister to Him and burn incense.”

¹² Then these Levites arose: ^(AW)Mahath the son of Amasai and Joel the son of Azariah, of the sons of the ^(AX)Kohathites; of the sons of Merari, Kish the son of Abdi and Azariah the son of Jehallelel; of the Gershonites, Joah the son of Zimmah and Eden the son of Joah; ¹³ of the sons of Elizaphan, Shimri and Jeiel; of the sons of Asaph, Zechariah and Mattaniah; ¹⁴ of the sons of Heman, Jehiel and Shimei; and of the sons of Jeduthun, Shemaiah and Uzziel.

¹⁵ And they gathered their brethren, ^(AY)sanctified^[m] themselves, and went according to the commandment of the king, at the words of the Lord, ^(AZ)to cleanse the house of the Lord. ¹⁶ Then the priests went into the inner part of the house of the Lord to cleanse it, and brought out all the debris that they found in the temple of the Lord to the court of the house of the Lord. And the Levites took it out and carried it to the Brook ^(BA)Kidron.

¹⁷ Now they began to ^[n]sanctify on the first day of the first month, and on the eighth day of the month they came to the vestibule of the Lord. So they sanctified the house of the Lord in eight days, and on the sixteenth day of the first month they finished.

¹⁸ Then they went in to King Hezekiah and said, “We have cleansed all the house of the Lord, the altar of burnt offerings with all its articles, and the table of the showbread with all its articles. ¹⁹ Moreover all the articles which King Ahaz in his reign had ^(BB)cast aside in his transgression we have prepared and ^[o]sanctified; and there they are, before the altar of the Lord.”

Hezekiah Restores Temple Worship

²⁰ Then King Hezekiah rose early, gathered the rulers of the city, and went up to the house of the Lord. ²¹ And they brought seven bulls, seven rams, seven lambs, and seven male goats for a ^(BC)sin offering for the kingdom, for the sanctuary, and for Judah. Then he commanded the priests, the sons of Aaron, to offer them on the altar of the Lord. ²² So they killed the bulls, and the priests received the blood and ^(BD)sprinkled it on the altar. Likewise they killed the rams and sprinkled the blood on the altar. They also killed the lambs and sprinkled the blood on the altar. ²³ Then they brought out the male goats for the sin offering before the king and the assembly, and they laid their ^(BE)hands on them. ²⁴ And the priests killed them; and they presented their blood on the altar as a sin offering ^(BF)to make an atonement for all Israel, for the king commanded that the burnt offering and the sin offering be made for all Israel.

^25 (BG)And he stationed the Levites in the house of the Lord with cymbals, with stringed instruments, and with harps, ^(BH)according to the commandment of David, of ^(BI)Gad the king’s seer, and of Nathan the prophet; ^(BJ)for thus was the commandment of the Lord by His prophets. ²⁶ The Levites stood with the instruments ^(BK)of David, and the priests with ^(BL)the trumpets. ²⁷ Then Hezekiah commanded them to offer the burnt offering on the altar. And when the burnt offering began, ^(BM)the song of the Lord also began, with the trumpets and with the instruments of David king of Israel. ²⁸ So all the assembly worshiped, the singers sang, and the trumpeters sounded; all this continued until the burnt offering was finished. ²⁹ And when they had finished offering, ^(BN)the king and all who were present with him bowed and worshiped. ³⁰ Moreover King Hezekiah and the leaders commanded the Levites to sing praise to the Lord with the words of David and of Asaph the seer. So they sang praises with gladness, and they bowed their heads and worshiped.

³¹ Then Hezekiah answered and said, “Now that you have consecrated yourselves to the Lord, come near, and bring sacrifices and ^(BO)thank offerings into the house of the Lord.” So the assembly brought in sacrifices and thank offerings, and as many as were of a ^(BP)willing heart brought burnt offerings. ³² And the number of the burnt offerings which the assembly brought was seventy bulls, one hundred rams, and two hundred lambs; all these were for a burnt offering to the Lord. ³³ The consecrated things were six hundred bulls and three thousand sheep. ³⁴ But the priests were too few, so that they could not skin all the burnt offerings; therefore ^(BQ)their brethren the Levites helped them until the work was ended and until the other priests had ^[p]sanctified themselves, ^(BR)for the Levites were ^(BS)more diligent in ^(BT)sanctifying themselves than the priests. ³⁵ Also the burnt offerings were in abundance, with ^(BU)the fat of the peace offerings and with ^(BV)the drink offerings for every burnt offering.

So the service of the house of the Lord was set in order. ³⁶ Then Hezekiah and all the people rejoiced that God had prepared the people, since the events took place so suddenly.