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31 When all of these things were finished, all of the Israelites who were present went out to the cities of Judah, smashed the sacred pillars, cut down the sacred poles,[a] and completely destroyed the shrines and altars throughout Judah as well as Benjamin, Ephraim, and Manasseh. Then all the Israelites returned to their individual homes in their own cities.

Hezekiah’s reform

Hezekiah reappointed the priests and the Levites, each to their divisions and their tasks, to make entirely burned offerings and well-being sacrifices, to serve, to give thanks, and to offer praise in the gates of the Lord’s camp. As his portion, the king personally contributed the entirely burned offerings for the morning and evening sacrifices, as well as the entirely burned offerings for the Sabbaths, new moons, and festivals, as written in the Lord’s Instruction. He ordered the people living in Jerusalem to provide the required portion for the priests and the Levites so they could devote themselves to the Lord’s Instruction. As soon as the order was issued, the Israelites generously gave the best of their grain, new wine, oil, honey, and all their crops—a tenth of everything, a huge amount. The people of Israel and Judah, living in the cities of Judah, also brought in a tenth of their herds and flocks and a tenth of the items that had been dedicated to the Lord their God, stacking it up in piles. They began stacking up the piles in the third month[b] and finished them in the seventh.[c] When Hezekiah and the officials saw the piles, they blessed the Lord and his people Israel.

When Hezekiah asked the priests and Levites about the piles, 10 the chief priest Azariah, who was from Zadok’s family, answered, “Ever since the people started bringing contributions to the Lord’s temple we’ve had enough to eat with plenty to spare. The Lord has definitely blessed his people! There’s a lot left over.”

11 So Hezekiah ordered them to prepare storerooms in the Lord’s temple. When they finished preparing them, 12 the priests conscientiously brought in the contributions, the tenth-part gifts, and the dedicated things. Conaniah, a Levite, was put in charge, assisted by his brother Shimei, 13 while Jehiel, Azaziah, Nahath, Asahel, Jerimoth, Jozabad, Eliel, Ismachiah, Mahath, and Benaiah served as supervisors under them, as appointed by King Hezekiah and Azariah the official in charge of God’s temple. 14 The Levite Kore, Imnah’s son, who was keeper of the east gate, was in charge of the spontaneous gifts to God. He was responsible for distributing the contribution reserved for the Lord and the dedicated gifts. 15 Eden, Miniamin, Jeshua, Shemaiah, Amariah, and Shecaniah faithfully assisted him regarding[d] the priests by distributing the portions to their relatives, old and young alike, by divisions. 16 Additionally, they also distributed daily rations to those males, registered by genealogy, three years old and older, all who entered the Lord’s temple to carry out their daily duties as their divisions required. 17 They also distributed to those priests registered by their families, and to Levites 20 years of age and older according to their divisional responsibilities. 18 The official genealogy included all their small children, their wives, their sons, and their daughters—the entire congregation—for they had faithfully made themselves holy. 19 As for Aaron’s descendants, the priests who lived in the outskirts of the cities, men were assigned to distribute portions to every male among the priests and to every Levite listed in the genealogical records. 20 This is what Hezekiah did throughout all Judah, doing what the Lord his God considered good, right, and true. 21 Everything that Hezekiah began to do for the service of God’s temple, whether by the Instruction or the commands, in order to seek his God, he did successfully and with all his heart.

Sennacherib’s invasion

32 After these things and these faithful acts, Assyria’s King Sennacherib invaded Judah and attacked its fortified cities, intending to capture them. When Hezekiah realized that Sennacherib also planned on fighting Jerusalem, he consulted with his officials and soldiers about stopping up the springs outside the city, and they supported him. A large force gathered to stop up all the springs and the streams that flowed through the land. “Why should the kings of Assyria come and find plenty of water?” they asked. Hezekiah vigorously rebuilt all the broken sections of the wall, erected towers, constructed another wall outside the first, reinforced the terrace of David’s City, and made a large supply of weapons and shields. He appointed military officers over the troops, assembled them in the square of the city gate, and spoke these words of encouragement: “Be brave and be strong! Don’t let the king of Assyria and all those warriors he brings with him scare you or cause you dismay, because our forces are greater than his.[e] All he has is human strength, but we have the Lord our God, who will help us fight our battles!”

The troops trusted Judah’s King Hezekiah.

After this Assyria’s King Sennacherib, who was attacking Lachish with all his forces, sent his servants to Jerusalem with the following message for Judah’s King Hezekiah and all the people of Judah who were in Jerusalem:

10 This is what Assyria’s King Sennacherib says: What makes you so confident that you stay put in Jerusalem while it is being attacked? 11 Obviously, Hezekiah has fooled you into surrendering yourselves to death by hunger and thirst when he says, “The Lord our God will rescue us from Assyria’s king.” 12 Isn’t this the same Hezekiah who got rid of his shrines and altars, and then demanded of Judah and Jerusalem, “You must worship and burn incense before only one altar”? 13 Don’t you know what I and my predecessors have done to the people of other nations? Were any of the gods of these other nations able to rescue their lands from my power? 14 Which one of any of the gods of these nations that my predecessors destroyed was able to rescue them from my power? So why should your god be able to rescue you from my power? 15 Don’t let Hezekiah seduce you like fools. Don’t believe him! No god of any other nation or kingdom has been able to rescue their people from me or from my predecessors. No, your gods won’t rescue you from my power.

16 The Assyrian king’s servants continued to make fun of the Lord God and his servant Hezekiah. 17 He wrote other letters insulting the Lord God of Israel, defying him by saying, “Just as the gods of the nations in other countries couldn’t rescue their people from my power, Hezekiah’s god won’t be able to rescue his people from my power.” 18 Then they shouted loudly in Hebrew[f] at the people of Jerusalem gathered on the wall, in an attempt to frighten and demoralize them, in order to capture the city. 19 They spoke about the God of Jerusalem as though he were the work of human hands, like the gods of the other peoples of the earth. 20 King Hezekiah and the prophet Isaiah, Amoz’s son, prayed about this, crying out to heaven. 21 Then the Lord sent a messenger who destroyed every warrior, leader, and officer in the camp of the Assyrian king. When Sennacherib went home in disgrace, he entered the temple of his god, and his own sons killed him with a sword. 22 This is how the Lord rescued Hezekiah and the citizens of Jerusalem from the power of Assyria’s King Sennacherib, and all others, giving them rest[g] on all sides. 23 Many people brought offerings to the Lord in Jerusalem and costly gifts to Judah’s King Hezekiah, who was highly regarded by all the nations from then on.

Hezekiah’s illness

24 Around that same time, Hezekiah became deathly ill and prayed to the Lord, who answered him with a miraculous sign. 25 But Hezekiah was too proud to respond appropriately to the kindness he had received, and he, along with Judah and Jerusalem, experienced anger. 26 However, Hezekiah and the citizens of Jerusalem humbled themselves in their pride, and so they didn’t experience the Lord’s anger for the rest of Hezekiah’s reign.

27 Hezekiah became very wealthy and greatly respected. He made storehouses for his silver, gold, precious stones, spices, shields, and other valuables. 28 He made barns to store the harvest of grain, wine, and olive oil; stalls for all kinds of cattle; and pens for flocks. 29 He acquired towns for himself and many flocks and herds because God had given him great wealth. 30 Hezekiah was the one who blocked the upper outlet of the waters of the Gihon Spring, channeling them down to the west side of David’s City. Hezekiah succeeded in all that he did, 31 even in the matter of the ambassadors sent from Babylonian officials to find out about the miraculous sign that occurred in the land, when God had abandoned him in order to test him and to discover what was in his heart.

32 The rest of Hezekiah’s deeds, including his faithfulness, are written in the vision of the prophet Isaiah, Amoz’s son, in the records of Israel’s and Judah’s kings. 33 Hezekiah lay down with his ancestors and was buried in the upper area of the tombs of David’s sons. All Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem honored him at his death. His son Manasseh succeeded him as king.

Footnotes

  1. 2 Chronicles 31:1 Heb asherim, perhaps objects devoted to the goddess Asherah
  2. 2 Chronicles 31:7 May–June, Sivan
  3. 2 Chronicles 31:7 September–October, Tishrei
  4. 2 Chronicles 31:15 Or with the assistance of, cf LXX; MT in the cities of
  5. 2 Chronicles 32:7 Or there is greater power with us than with him
  6. 2 Chronicles 32:18 Or the language of Judah
  7. 2 Chronicles 32:22 LXX; MT he led them

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