Therefore the wrath of Jehovah has been upon Judah and Jerusalem, and he has delivered them to vexation, to desolation, and to hissing, as ye see with your eyes.

For see, our fathers have been put to death with the sword, and our sons and daughters and wives have been taken away prisoners because of this.

My sons, take care now: for you have been marked out by the Lord to come before him and to be his servants, burning offerings to him.

The descendants of Levi played instruments that had been crafted by David and the priests sounded trumpets.

When the sacrifices had been offered, the king and everyone else who was present with him bowed down and worshipped.

King Hezekiah and his officials ordered the descendants of Levi to sing praises to the LORD based on psalms that had been written by David and Asaph the seer. So they all joyfully sang praises, bowed low, and worshipped.

Only, the priests have become few, and have not been able to strip the whole of the burnt-offerings, and their brethren the Levites strengthen them till the completion of the work, and till the priests sanctify themselves, for the Levites are more upright of heart to sanctify themselves than the priests.

and rejoice doth Hezekiah and all the people, because of God's giving preparation to the people, for the thing hath been suddenly.

For they could not keep it at that time, because the priests had not hallowed themselves in sufficient number, neither had the people been gathered together to Jerusalem.

so they published a decree that was circulated throughout Israel from Beer-sheba to Dan that they are to come celebrate the Passover to the LORD God of Israel in Jerusalem. The Passover had not been celebrated in great numbers as was being prescribed by the decree.

So runners went with letters from the king and his chiefs through all Israel and Judah, by the order of the king, saying, O children of Israel, come back again to the Lord, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, so that he may come again to that small band of you which has been kept safe out of the hands of the kings of Assyria.

only, certain from Asher, and Manasseh, and from Zebulun, have been humbled, and come in to Jerusalem.

Also, in Judah hath the hand of God been to give to them one heart to do the command of the king and of the heads, in the matter of Jehovah;

and they slaughter the passover-offering on the fourteenth of the second month, and the priests and the Levites have been ashamed, and sanctify themselves, and bring in burnt-offerings to the house of Jehovah.

for a multitude of the people, many from Ephraim and Manasseh, Issachar, and Zebulun, have not been cleansed, but have eaten the passover otherwise than it is written; but Hezekiah prayed for them, saying, 'Jehovah, who is good, doth receive atonement for every one

Who, with all his heart, is turned to God the Lord, the God of his fathers, even if he has not been made clean after the rules of the holy place.

And there was great joy in Jerusalem; for since the time of Solomon the son of David, king of Israel, there had not been the like in Jerusalem.

And, as for the sons of Israel and Judah who were dwelling in the cities of Judah, even they, a tithe of oxen, and sheep, and a tithe of hallowed things, which had been hallowed unto Yahweh their God, did bring in and pile up - heaps, heaps.

And Azariah the chief priest of the house of Zadok spoke to him and said, Since they began to bring the heave-offerings into the house of Jehovah, we have eaten and been satisfied and have left plenty; for Jehovah has blessed his people; and what is left is this great store.

they brought in the contributions, tithes, and consecrated items that had been offered. Konaniah, a Levite, was in charge of all this, assisted by his brother Shimei.

And Jehiel, and Azaziah, and Nahath, and Asahel, and Jerimoth, and Jozabad, and Eliel, and Ismachiah, and Mahath, and Benaiah, were overseers under the hand of Cononiah and Shimei his brother, at the commandment of Hezekiah the king, and Azariah the ruler of the house of God.

And to sons of Aaron, the priests, in the fields of the suburb of their cities, in every city and city, are men who have been defined by name, to give portions to every male among the priests, and to every one who reckoned himself by genealogy among the Levites.

Hezekiah took courage and rebuilt all of the walls that had been broken down. Then he erected watch towers on them, and added another external wall. He fortified the terrace ramparts in the City of David and prepared a large number of weapons and shields.

“‘Don’t you know what I and my fathers have done to all the peoples of the lands? Have any of the national gods of the lands been able to deliver their land from my power?

Who among all the gods of these nations whom my fathers have devoted to destruction is he who hath been able to deliver his people out of my hand, that your God is able to deliver you out of my hand?

So now, do not let Hezekiah deceive you. Do not let him urge you according to this. Do not put trust in him, for no god of any nation and kingdom has been able to save his people from my hand and from the hand of my ancestors. Surely then your God will not save you from my hand!'"

And he sent letters, in addition, to put shame on the Lord, the God of Israel, and to say evil against him, saying, As the gods of the nations of other lands have not been able to keep their people safe from my hands, no more will the God of Hezekiah keep his people safe from my hands.

In those days hath Hezekiah been sick even unto death, and he prayeth unto Jehovah, and He speaketh to him, and a wonder hath appointed for him;

and Hezekiah hath not returned according to the deed done unto him, for his heart hath been lofty, and there is wrath upon him, and upon Judah and Jerusalem;

and so with the ambassadors of the heads of Babylon, those sending unto him to inquire of the wonder that hath been in the land, God hath left him to try him, to know all in his heart,

For he put up again the high places which had been pulled down by his father Hezekiah; and he made altars for the Baals, and pillars of wood, and was a worshipper and servant of all the stars of heaven;

He made his sons pass through the fire [as an offering to his gods] in the Valley of Ben-hinnom; and he practiced witchcraft, used divination, and practiced sorcery, and dealt with mediums and spiritists. He did much evil in the sight of the Lord, provoking Him to anger.

In his pain Manasseh asked the Lord his God for mercy and truly humbled himself before the God of his ancestors.

and hath not been humbled before Jehovah, like the humbling of Manasseh his father, for Amon himself hath multiplied guilt.

And they threw down before him, the altars of the Baalim, and, the sun-pillars which were on high above them, he hewed down, - and, the Sacred Stems and the carved images and the molten images, brake he in pieces and ground to dust, and tossed over the face of the graves, of them who had been sacrificing unto them.

Now in the eighteenth year of his rule, when the land and the house had been made clean, he sent Shaphan, the son of Azaliah, and Maaseiah, the ruler of the town, and Joah, the son of Joahaz, the recorder, to make good what was damaged in the house of the Lord his God.

And they came to Hilkijah the high priest, and they delivered to them the money that had been brought into the house of God, which the Levites that kept the doors had gathered of the hand of Manasseh and Ephraim, and of all the remnant of Israel, and of all Judah and Benjamin, and of the inhabitants of Jerusalem.

And when they brought out the money that had been brought into the house of Jehovah, Hilkijah the priest found the book of the law of Jehovah by Moses.

and Shaphan bringeth in the book unto the king, and bringeth the king back word again, saying, 'All that hath been given into the hand of thy servants they are doing,

Go and get directions from the Lord for me and for those who are still in Israel and for Judah, about the words of this book which has come to light; for great is the wrath of the Lord which has been let loose on us, because our fathers have not kept the word of the Lord or done what is recorded in this book.

These are the words of the Lord: See, I will send evil on this place and on its people, even all the curses in the book which they have been reading before the king of Judah;

Because they have forsaken me, and burned incense unto other gods, so as to provoke me to anger, with all the works of their hands, therefore hath my wrath been poured out upon this place, and shall not be quenched.

Lo, I am gathering thee unto thy fathers, and thou hast been gathered unto thy graves in peace, and thine eyes do not look on all the evil that I am bringing upon this place, and upon its inhabitants;' and they bring the king back word.

And the king went up into the house of Jehovah, and all the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and the priests and the Levites, and all the people, great and small; and he read in their ears all the words of the book of the covenant which had been found in the house of Jehovah.

and prepare yourselves by your ancestral houses, according to your courses, - by the writing of David king of Israel, and by what hath been written by Solomon his son;

And when the work had been completed, the priests stood at their positions and the Levites in their working groups according to the command of the king.

Then they slaughtered the Passover lambs, and while the Levites were skinning the animals, the priests sprinkled the blood they had been given.

And, afterwards, prepared they for themselves and for the priests, because, the priests, the sons of Aaron, had been engaged in offering up the ascending-sacrifice and the fat pieces, until night, - the Levites, therefore prepared for themselves, and for the priests, the sons of Aaron.

And there hath not been made a passover like it in Israel from the days of Samuel the prophet, and none of the kings of Israel made such a passover as Josiah hath made, and the priests, and the Levites, and all Judah and Israel who are found, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem.

In the eighteenth year of the reign of Josiah hath this passover been made.

and he doth the evil thing in the eyes of Jehovah his God, he hath not been humbled before Jeremiah the prophet speaking from the mouth of Jehovah;

All of this fulfilled what the LORD had predicted through Jeremiah. And so the land enjoyed its Sabbaths, and the length of the land's desolation lasted until a 70-year long Sabbath had been completed.

Cyrus, king of Persia, has said, All the kingdoms of the earth have been given to me by the Lord, the God of heaven; and he has made me responsible for building a house for him in Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Whoever there is among you of all his people, may the Lord his God be with him and let him go up.

All of the kingdoms of the earth have been given to me by the LORD God of Heaven, and he specifically charged me to build a temple for him in Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Therefore, who among the LORD's people trusts in his God? Whoever among this group wishes to do so may travel to Jerusalem of Judah to rebuild the Temple of the LORD God of Israel, the God of Jerusalem.

In response, the heads of the families of Judah and Benjamin, the priests and descendants of Levi, and all those who had been prompted by God, prepared to travel to rebuild the Temple of the LORD, which was in Jerusalem.

and all those round about them have strengthened them with their hands, with vessels of silver, with gold, with goods, and with beasts, and with precious things, apart from all that hath been offered willingly.

There were five thousand, four hundred gold and silver vessels. All these were taken back by Sheshbazzar, when those who had been taken prisoner went up from Babylon to Jerusalem.

Now these are the children of the province that went up out of the captivity, of those which had been carried away, whom Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon had carried away unto Babylon, and came again unto Jerusalem and Judah, every one unto his city;

Which came with Zerubbabel: Jeshua, Nehemiah, Seraiah, Reelaiah, Mordecai, Bilshan, Mispar, Bigvai, Rehum, Baanah. The number of the men of the people of Israel:

The children of Bani, six hundred forty and two.

And these are those going up from Tel-Melah, Tel-Harsa, Cherub, Addan, Immer, and they have not been able to declare the house of their fathers, and their seed, whether they are of Israel:

these have sought their register among those reckoning themselves by genealogy, and they have not been found, and they are redeemed from the priesthood,

They also observed the Festival of Tents as has been prescribed, offering a specific number of daily burnt offerings in accordance with the ordinance of each day.

And after that, the regular burned offering and the offerings for the new moons and all the fixed feasts of the Lord which had been made holy, and the offering of everyone who freely gave his offering to the Lord.

From the first day of the seventh month they have begun to cause burnt-offerings to ascend to Jehovah, and the temple of Jehovah hath not been founded,

And they respond in praising and in giving thanks to Jehovah, for good, for to the age His kindness is over Israel, and all the people have shouted -- a great shout -- in giving praise to Jehovah, because the house of Jehovah hath been founded.

and the people are not discerning the noise of the shout of joy from the noise of the weeping of the people, for the people are shouting -- a great shout -- and the noise hath been heard unto a distance.

And they approached Zerubbabel and the heads of the {families}, and they said to them, "Let us build with you. Like you, we seek your God and have been sacrificing [to him] from the days of Esarhaddon the king of Assyria who brought us up here.

so that he doth seek in the book of the records of thy fathers, and thou dost find in the book of the records, and dost know, that this city is a rebellious city, and causing loss to kings and provinces, and makers of sedition are in its midst from the days of old, therefore hath this city been wasted.

The letter which ye sent unto us hath been plainly read before me.

And I commanded, and search hath been made, and it is found that this city of old time hath made insurrection against kings, and that rebellion and sedition have been made therein.

There have been mighty kings also over Jerusalem, which have ruled over all countries beyond the river; and toll, tribute, and custom, was paid unto them.

Therefore, issue an order for these men to stop, so that this city will not be rebuilt until a further decree has been pronounced by me.

Then, when, the copy of the letter of Artaxerxes the king, had been read before Rehum, and Shimshai the scribe, and their associates, they journeyed in haste to Jerusalem, unto the Jews, and forbade them, with arm and force.

And the eye of their God hath been upon the elders of the Jews, and they have not caused them to cease till the matter goeth to Darius, and then they send back a letter concerning this thing.

and also, the vessels of the house of God, of gold and silver, that Nebuchadnezzar had taken forth out of the temple that is in Jerusalem, and brought them to the temple of Babylon, them hath Cyrus the king brought forth out of the temple of Babylon, and they have been given to one, Sheshbazzar is his name, whom he made governor,

"And Cyrus told him, "Take these utensils, go to Jerusalem, and carry them to the Temple, after the Temple of God has been built in its appropriate place.'

Then came the same Sheshbazzar, and laid the foundation of the house of God which is in Jerusalem: and since that time even until now hath it been in building, and yet it is not finished.

If it please the king now, let there be search made in the king's treasure house, which is at Babylon, whether it have been king Cyrus' commandment, that the house of God at Jerusalem should be builded: and send us the king's mind concerning the same."

and there hath been found at Achmetha, in a palace that is in the province of Media, a roll, and a record thus written within it is:

for the priests and the Levites have been purified together -- all of them are pure -- and they slaughter the passover for all the sons of the captivity, and for their brethren the priests, and for themselves.

By me hath been made a decree that every one who is willing, in my kingdom, of the people of Israel and of its priests and Levites, to go to Jerusalem with thee, doth go;

since you have been sent by the king, and by his seven counselors to ask about Judah and Jerusalem, according to the Law of your God in your hand;

And the vessels that have been given thee for the service of the house of thy God, deliver before the God of Jerusalem.

From Shecaniah's descendants and from Parosh's descendants: Zechariah, along with 150 men whose genealogies had been certified.

of the sons of Bani, Shelomith son of Josiphiah, with 160 men;

There were also 220 of the temple servants, who had been appointed by David and the leaders for the work of the Levites. All were identified by name.

So the priests and Levites took charge of the silver, the gold, and the articles that had been weighed out, to bring them to the house of our God in Jerusalem.

And we journey from the river Ahava, on the twelfth of the first month, to go to Jerusalem, and the hand of our God hath been upon us, and He delivereth us from the hand of the enemy and the lier in wait by the way;

So we came to Jerusalem and remained there for three days.

Now on the fourth day was the silver and the gold and the vessels weighed in the house of our God by the hand of Meremoth the son of Uriah the priest; and with him was Eleazar the son of Phinehas; and with them was Jozabad the son of Jeshua, and Noadiah the son of Binnui, Levites;

Also the children of those that had been carried away, which were come out of the captivity, offered burnt offerings unto the God of Israel, twelve bullocks for all Israel, ninety and six rams, seventy and seven lambs, twelve he goats for a sin offering: all this was a burnt offering unto the LORD.

And at the completion of these things, drawn nigh unto me have the heads, saying, 'The people of Israel, and the priests, and the Levites, have not been separated from the peoples of the lands, as to their abominations, even the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Perizzite, the Jebusite, the Ammonite, the Moabite, the Egyptian, and the Amorite,

For they have taken of their daughters for themselves, and for their sons: so that the holy seed have mingled themselves with the people of those lands: yea, the hand of the princes and rulers hath been chief in this trespass.

Then were assembled unto me every one that trembled at the words of the God of Israel, because of the transgression of those that had been carried away; and I sat astonied until the evening sacrifice.

And, at the evening gift, I arose from mine affliction, which had been accompanied by the rending of my garment and my robe, - and I bowed upon my knees, and spread forth my hands unto Yahweh my God;

and say, 'O my God, I have been ashamed, and have blushed to lift up, O my God, my face unto Thee, for our iniquities have increased over the head, and our guilt hath become great unto the heavens.

Since the days of our fathers have we been in a great trespass unto this day; and for our iniquities have we, our kings, and our priests, been delivered into the hand of the kings of the lands, to the sword, to captivity, and to a spoil, and to confusion of face, as it is this day.

And now for a little space grace hath been shewed from the LORD our God, to leave us a remnant to escape, and to give us a nail in his holy place, that our God may lighten our eyes, and give us a little reviving in our bondage.

For we are servants; but our God has not been turned away from us in our prison, but has had mercy on us before the eyes of the kings of Persia, to give us new strength to put up again the house of our God and to make fair its waste places, and to give us a wall in Judah and Jerusalem.