¹¹ Dear friend, do not imitate what is evil but what is good.^(A) Anyone who does what is good is from God.^(B) Anyone who does what is evil has not seen God.^(C)

31 When all this had ended, the Israelites who were there went out to the towns of Judah, smashed the sacred stones and cut down^(A) the Asherah poles. They destroyed the high places and the altars throughout Judah and Benjamin and in Ephraim and Manasseh. After they had destroyed all of them, the Israelites returned to their own towns and to their own property.

Contributions for Worship^(B)

² Hezekiah^(C) assigned the priests and Levites to divisions^(D)—each of them according to their duties as priests or Levites—to offer burnt offerings and fellowship offerings, to minister,^(E) to give thanks and to sing praises^(F) at the gates of the Lord’s dwelling.^{(G) 3} The king contributed^(H) from his own possessions for the morning and evening burnt offerings and for the burnt offerings on the Sabbaths, at the New Moons and at the appointed festivals as written in the Law of the Lord.^{(I) 4} He ordered the people living in Jerusalem to give the portion^(J) due the priests and Levites so they could devote themselves to the Law of the Lord. ⁵ As soon as the order went out, the Israelites generously gave the firstfruits^(K) of their grain, new wine,^(L) olive oil and honey and all that the fields produced. They brought a great amount, a tithe of everything. ⁶ The people of Israel and Judah who lived in the towns of Judah also brought a tithe^(M) of their herds and flocks and a tithe of the holy things dedicated to the Lord their God, and they piled them in heaps.^{(N) 7} They began doing this in the third month and finished in the seventh month.^{(O) 8} When Hezekiah and his officials came and saw the heaps, they praised the Lord and blessed^(P) his people Israel.

⁹ Hezekiah asked the priests and Levites about the heaps; ¹⁰ and Azariah the chief priest, from the family of Zadok,^(Q) answered, “Since the people began to bring their contributions to the temple of the Lord, we have had enough to eat and plenty to spare, because the Lord has blessed his people, and this great amount is left over.”^(R)

¹¹ Hezekiah gave orders to prepare storerooms in the temple of the Lord, and this was done. ¹² Then they faithfully brought in the contributions, tithes and dedicated gifts. Konaniah,^(S) a Levite, was the overseer in charge of these things, and his brother Shimei was next in rank. ¹³ Jehiel, Azaziah, Nahath, Asahel, Jerimoth, Jozabad,^(T) Eliel, Ismakiah, Mahath and Benaiah were assistants of Konaniah and Shimei his brother. All these served by appointment of King Hezekiah and Azariah the official in charge of the temple of God.

¹⁴ Kore son of Imnah the Levite, keeper of the East Gate, was in charge of the freewill offerings given to God, distributing the contributions made to the Lord and also the consecrated gifts. ¹⁵ Eden,^(U) Miniamin, Jeshua, Shemaiah, Amariah and Shekaniah assisted him faithfully in the towns^(V) of the priests, distributing to their fellow priests according to their divisions, old and young alike.

¹⁶ In addition, they distributed to the males three years old or more whose names were in the genealogical records^(W)—all who would enter the temple of the Lord to perform the daily duties of their various tasks, according to their responsibilities and their divisions. ¹⁷ And they distributed to the priests enrolled by their families in the genealogical records and likewise to the Levites twenty years old or more, according to their responsibilities and their divisions. ¹⁸ They included all the little ones, the wives, and the sons and daughters of the whole community listed in these genealogical records. For they were faithful in consecrating themselves.

¹⁹ As for the priests, the descendants of Aaron, who lived on the farmlands around their towns or in any other towns,^(X) men were designated by name to distribute portions to every male among them and to all who were recorded in the genealogies of the Levites.

²⁰ This is what Hezekiah did throughout Judah, doing what was good and right and faithful^(Y) before the Lord his God. ²¹ In everything that he undertook in the service of God’s temple and in obedience to the law and the commands, he sought his God and worked wholeheartedly. And so he prospered.^(Z)

Everything Is Meaningless

1 The words of the Teacher,^[a](A) son of David, king in Jerusalem:^(B)

Wisdom Is Meaningless

¹² I, the Teacher,^(L) was king over Israel in Jerusalem.^{(M) 13} I applied my mind to study and to explore by wisdom all that is done under the heavens.^(N) What a heavy burden God has laid on mankind!^{(O) 14} I have seen all the things that are done under the sun; all of them are meaningless, a chasing after the wind.^(P)

¹⁶ I said to myself, “Look, I have increased in wisdom more than anyone who has ruled over Jerusalem before me;^(R) I have experienced much of wisdom and knowledge.” ¹⁷ Then I applied myself to the understanding of wisdom,^(S) and also of madness and folly,^(T) but I learned that this, too, is a chasing after the wind.

Habakkuk’s Prayer

3 A prayer of Habakkuk the prophet. On shigionoth.^[a](A)

¹ The elder,^(A)

To my dear friend Gaius, whom I love in the truth.

² Dear friend, I pray that you may enjoy good health and that all may go well with you, even as your soul is getting along well. ³ It gave me great joy when some believers^(B) came and testified about your faithfulness to the truth, telling how you continue to walk in it.^{(C) 4} I have no greater joy than to hear that my children^(D) are walking in the truth.^(E)

⁵ Dear friend, you are faithful in what you are doing for the brothers and sisters,^[a](F) even though they are strangers to you.^{(G) 6} They have told the church about your love. Please send them on their way^(H) in a manner that honors^(I) God. ⁷ It was for the sake of the Name^(J) that they went out, receiving no help from the pagans.^{(K) 8} We ought therefore to show hospitality to such people so that we may work together for the truth.

⁹ I wrote to the church, but Diotrephes, who loves to be first, will not welcome us. ¹⁰ So when I come,^(L) I will call attention to what he is doing, spreading malicious nonsense about us. Not satisfied with that, he even refuses to welcome other believers.^(M) He also stops those who want to do so and puts them out of the church.^(N)

¹¹ Dear friend, do not imitate what is evil but what is good.^(O) Anyone who does what is good is from God.^(P) Anyone who does what is evil has not seen God.^{(Q) 12} Demetrius is well spoken of by everyone^(R)—and even by the truth itself. We also speak well of him, and you know that our testimony is true.^(S)

¹³ I have much to write you, but I do not want to do so with pen and ink. ¹⁴ I hope to see you soon, and we will talk face to face.^(T)

¹⁵ Peace to you.^(U) The friends here send their greetings. Greet the friends there by name.^(V)