For Hezekiah king of Judah gave for heave offerings to the congregation a thousand oxen and seven thousand sheep. And the lords gave to the congregation for heave offerings a thousand oxen and ten thousand sheep. And the priests sanctified themselves, that they were enough.

All the assembly of Judah rejoiced, with the priests and the Levites and all the assembly that came from Israel, both the sojourners who came from the land of Israel and those living in Judah.

There was a great celebration in Jerusalem, unlike anything that had occurred in Jerusalem since the time of King Solomon son of David of Israel.

And when all this was finished, all Israel that were present went out to the cities of Judah, and broke the columns, and hewed down the Asherahs, and demolished the high places and the altars in all Judah and Benjamin, in Ephraim also and Manasseh, until they had destroyed them all. And all the children of Israel returned every man to his possession, into their cities.

And he ordered that the king's portion should be taken from his substance for the burnt-offerings: for the morning and evening burnt-offerings, for the burnt-offerings of the sabbaths, and of the new moons, and of the set feasts, as it is written in the law of Jehovah.

Also he commanded the people who lived in Jerusalem to give the portion due to the priests and the Levites, that they might devote themselves to the law of the Lord.

And the children of Israel and of Judah, that dwelt in the cities of Judah, they also brought the tithe of oxen and sheep, and the tithe of holy things which were consecrated to Jehovah their God, and laid them by heaps.

And Azariah, the chief priest of the house of Zadok, spake unto him, - and said - From the time of beginning to bring in, the heave-offering, into the house of Yahweh - to eat and to be full, there hath still been left, even to this abundance. For, Yahweh, hath blessed his people, and, that which is left, is this great plenty.

Hezekiah ordered that storerooms be prepared in the Lord's temple. When this was done,

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.

besides registering them by males, from three years old and upward, unto every one that entered into the house of Yahweh, in the need of a day upon its day, - by their service, in their watches, according to their courses:

as well as the priests who were registered genealogically according to their fathers’ households, and the Levites from twenty years old and upward, by their duties and by their divisions.

and them that were reckoned by genealogy of all their little ones, their wives, and their sons, and their daughters, through all the congregation: for in their office of trust they sanctified themselves in holiness.

And for the sons of Aaron the priests who were in the country, in the suburbs of their cities, there were, in every several city, men expressed by name, to give portions to all the males among the priests, and to all the Levites that were entered in the register.

And Hezekiah did thus, throughout all Judah, - and he did that which was good and right and faithful, before Yahweh his God.

And in every work that he undertook in the service of the house of God, and in the law, and in the commandments, to seek his God, he did it with all his heart and prospered.

Now when Hezekiah saw that Sennacherib had come and that he intended to make war on Jerusalem,

he took counsel with his princes and his mighty men to stop the fountains of waters that were outside the city; and they helped him.

And there were gathered together much people, so they stopped all the fountains, and the torrent that flowed through the midst of the land, saying, - Wherefore should the kings of Assyria come, and find many waters?

And he took courage and rebuilt all the wall that had been broken down and erected towers on it, and built another outside wall and strengthened the Millo in the city of David, and made weapons and shields in great number.

“Be strong and courageous, do not fear or be dismayed because of the king of Assyria nor because of all the horde that is with him; for the one with us is greater than the one with him.

After this, Sennacherib king of Assyria sent his servants towards Jerusalem, himself, being near Lachish, and all his imperial might with him, - unto Hezekiah king of Judah, and unto all Judah that was in Jerusalem, saying:

“Thus says Sennacherib king of Assyria, ‘On what are you trusting that you are remaining in Jerusalem under siege?

Is it not that Hezekiah that put down his hill altars and his other altars, and commanded Judah and Jerusalem, saying, 'Before one altar ye shall bow yourselves and upon that offer also?'

Who was there among all the gods of those nations which my fathers utterly destroyed who could deliver his people out of my hand, that your God should be able to deliver you from my hand?

He also wrote letters to mock Yahweh, the God of Israel, saying against Him:

Just like the national gods of the lands that did not deliver their people from my power, so Hezekiah’s God will not deliver His people from my power.

They called this out with a loud voice in the language of Judah to the people of Jerusalem who were on the wall, to frighten and terrify them, so that they might take the city.

In doing so, they spoke about the God of Jerusalem as if he were like the gods of the nations of the earth that are made by the hands of human beings.

And Jehovah sent an angel, who cut off all the mighty men of valour, and the princes and the captains in the camp of the king of Assyria. And he returned with shame of face to his own land. And when he was come into the house of his god, they that came forth of his own bowels made him fall there with the sword.

That's how the LORD delivered Hezekiah, as well as those who lived in Jerusalem, from Assyria's King Sennacherib and all his forces, and provided for all of their needs.

And many were bringing gifts to the Lord at Jerusalem and choice presents to Hezekiah king of Judah, so that he was exalted in the sight of all nations thereafter.

In those days Hezekiah was stricken with a terminal illness. He prayed to the Lord, who answered him and gave him a sign confirming that he would be healed.

However, because his heart was proud, Hezekiah didn’t respond according to the benefit that had come to him. So there was wrath on him, Judah, and Jerusalem.

However, Hezekiah humbled the pride of his heart, both he and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so that the wrath of the Lord did not come on them in the days of Hezekiah.

And it came to pass that, Hezekiah, had riches and honour in great abundance, - and, treasuries, made he for himself - for silver and for gold and for costly stones, and for spices and for precious things, and for all utensils to be coveted;

It was Hezekiah who stopped the upper outlet of the waters of Gihon and directed them to the west side of the city of David. And Hezekiah prospered in all that he did.

Even in the matter of the envoys of the rulers of Babylon, who sent to him to inquire of the wonder that had happened in the land, God left him alone only to test him, that He might know all that was in his heart.

As for the rest of the events of Hezekiah’s reign and his deeds of faithful love, note that they are written in the Visions of the Prophet Isaiah son of Amoz, and in the Book of the Kings of Judah and Israel.

And he did the thing that was wicked in the eyes of Yahweh,-according to the abominable ways of the nations, whom Yahweh dispossessed from before the sons of Israel.

And he built again the high places that Hezekiah his father had broken down; and he reared up altars to the Baals, and made Asherahs, and worshipped all the host of heaven and served them.

And, he, caused his sons to pass through the fire, in the valley of the son of Hinnom, and practised hidden arts and used divination, and practised sorcery, and appointed a necromancer, and a wizard, - he exceeded in doing the thing that was wicked in the eyes of Yahweh, to provoke him to anger;

And he set the graven image of the idol that he had made, in the house of God, of which God had said to David and to Solomon his son, In this house, and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, will I put my name for ever;

and I will not again remove the foot of Israel from the land which I have appointed for your fathers, if only they will observe to do all that I have commanded them according to all the law, the statutes and the ordinances given through Moses.”

And Manasseh led Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem astray, to do more evil than the nations that Jehovah had destroyed from before the children of Israel.

So Yahweh brought in upon them, the captains of the army that belonged to the king of Assyria, and they captured Manasseh with hooks, - and bound him captive with a pair of bronze fetters, and took him away to Babylon.

When he prayed to Him, He was moved by his entreaty and heard his supplication, and brought him again to Jerusalem to his kingdom. Then Manasseh knew that the Lord was God.

After that, he built a wall without the city of David on the west side of Gihon in the brook and so forth to the fish gate and round about Ophel, and brought it up of a very great height, and put captains of war in all the strong cities of Judah.

And he removed the gods of the foreigner and the image, out of the house of Yahweh, and all the altars that he had built in the mountain of the house of Yahweh, and in Jerusalem, - and he cast them forth outside the city.

And he put the altar of the Lord in order, offering peace-offerings and praise-offerings on it, and said that all Judah were to be servants of the Lord, the God of Israel.

And the rest of the acts of Manasseh, and his prayer to his God, and the words of the seers that spoke to him in the name of Jehovah the God of Israel, behold, they are written in the acts of the kings of Israel.

And he did the thing that was wicked in the eyes of Yahweh, as Manasseh his father had done, - and, unto all the images which Manasseh his father had made, Amon offered sacrifice, and did serve them.

except that he never humbled himself to the LORD like his father Manasseh had done. In fact, Amon multiplied his own guilt

But the people of the land smote all them that had conspired against king Amon; and the people of the land made Josiah his son king in his stead.

And he did that which was right, in the eyes of Yahweh, - and walked in the ways of David his father, and turned not aside, to the right hand or to the left.

Insomuch that the eighth year of his reign, when he was yet a lad, he began to seek after the God of David his father. And in the twelfth year he began to purge Judah and Jerusalem of hill altars, groves, carved Images, and Images of metal:

They tore down the altars of the Baals in his presence, and the incense altars that were high above them he chopped down; also the Asherim, the carved images and the molten images he broke in pieces and ground to powder and scattered it on the graves of those who had sacrificed to them.

They came to Hilkiah the high priest and delivered the money that was brought into the house of God, which the Levites, the doorkeepers, had collected from Manasseh and Ephraim, and from all the remnant of Israel, and from all Judah and Benjamin and the inhabitants of Jerusalem.

And they gave it into the hand of them that did the work, that had the oversight of the house of Jehovah; and they gave it to the workmen who wrought in the house of Jehovah to reinstate and repair the house:

they gave it to the carpenters and the builders, to buy hewn stone, and timber for the joists, and to floor the houses that the kings of Judah had destroyed.

And the men did the work well; and those who had authority over them were Jahath and Obadiah, Levites of the sons of Merari, and Zechariah and Meshullam, of the sons of the Kohathites, who were to be responsible for seeing that the work was done; and others of the Levites, who were expert with instruments of music,

They were also over the bearers of burdens, and were overseers of all that worked in any manner of service. And of the Levites were the scribes, and officers, and doorkeepers.

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.

Then Shaphan brought the book to the king and reported further word to the king, saying, “Everything that was entrusted to your servants they are doing.

and they have poured out the silver, that was found in the house of Yahweh, and have delivered it into the hand of the overseers, and into the hand of the doers of the work.

And it came to pass, when the king heard the words of the law, that he rent his clothes.

“Go, inquire of the Lord for me and for those who are left in Israel and in Judah, concerning the words of the book which has been found; for great is the wrath of the Lord which is poured out on us because our fathers have not observed the word of the Lord, to do according to all that is written in this book.”

And Hilkijah and they that the king had appointed went to Huldah the prophetess, the wife of Shallum the son of Tokehath, son of Hasrah, keeper of the wardrobe: now she dwelt in Jerusalem in the second quarter of the town; and they spoke with her to that effect.

And she said to them, Thus saith Jehovah the God of Israel: Tell the man that sent you to me,

Thus, saith Yahweh, Behold me bringing in calamity upon this place, and upon the inhabitants thereof,-even all the curses that are written in the book which they have read before the king of Judah:

Because they have forsaken Me and have burned incense to other gods, that they might provoke Me to anger with all the works of their hands; therefore My wrath will be poured out on this place and it shall not be quenched.”’

Say this to the king of Judah who sent you to ask Yahweh, ‘This is what Yahweh, the God of Israel says: As for the words that you heard,

Because thine heart did melt and thou didst meek thyself before God, when thou heardest his words against this place and against the inhabiters thereof, and humblest thyself before me, and tarest thy clothes and weepest before me, that have I heard also, sayeth the LORD.

Behold, I will gather thee unto thy fathers, and thou shalt be gathered to thy grave in peace; and thine eyes shall not see all the evil that I will bring upon this place, and upon the inhabitants thereof. And they brought the king word again.

The king went up to the Lord's temple, accompanied by all the people of Judah, the residents of Jerusalem, the priests, and the Levites. All the people were there, from the oldest to the youngest. He read aloud all the words of the scroll of the covenant that had been discovered in the Lord's temple.

And the king stood in his place, and solemnised the covenant before Yahweh, to walk after Yahweh, and to keep his commandments and his testimonies and his statutes, with all his heart and with all his soul, - to perform the words of the covenant that are written in this book.

And he caused to take a stand, all that were present in Jerusalem, and Benjamin, - and the inhabitants of Jerusalem did according to the covenant of God, the God of their fathers.

And Josiah removed all the abominations, out of all the lands which belonged to the sons of Israel, and caused all that were present in Jerusalem to serve, yea to serve, Yahweh their God, - all his days, turned they not aside from following Yahweh, God of their fathers.

And he said to the Levites, that taught all Israel, and who were holy to Jehovah, Put the holy ark in the house that Solomon the son of David, king of Israel, built; ye have not to carry it upon your shoulders. Serve now Jehovah your God, and his people Israel;

“Organize your ancestral houses by your divisions according to the written instruction of David king of Israel and that of his son Solomon.

So slaughter ye the passover, - and hallow yourselves, and prepare for your brethren, that they may do according to the word of Yahweh, by the hand of Moses.

And Josiah gave for the children of the people a heave-offering of the flocks, lambs and goats, all for the passover-offerings, for all that were present to the number of thirty thousand, and three thousand bullocks: these were of the king's substance.

They slaughtered the Passover lamb, and the priests poured out the blood that they had received from the lambs while the descendants of Levi flayed the sacrifices.

Then they removed the burnt offerings that they might give them to the sections of the fathers’ households of the lay people to present to the Lord, as it is written in the book of Moses. They did this also with the bulls.

And after that, they made ready for themselves and for the priests; for the priests, the sons of Aaron, were offering the burned offerings and the fat till night; so the Levites made ready what was needed for themselves and for the priests, the sons of Aaron.

So all the service of the Lord was prepared on that day to celebrate the Passover, and to offer burnt offerings on the altar of the Lord according to the command of King Josiah.

Thus the sons of Israel who were present celebrated the Passover at that time, and the Feast of Unleavened Bread seven days.

And there had not been kept, a passover like it, in Israel, since the days of Samuel the prophet, - yea, none of the kings of Israel, had kept such a passover as was kept by Josiah and the priests and the Levites and all Judah and Israel that were present, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem.

After all this that Josiah had prepared for the temple, Neco king of Egypt marched up to fight at Carchemish by the Euphrates, and Josiah went out to confront him.

But Neco sent messengers to him, saying, “What have we to do with each other, O King of Judah? I am not coming against you today but against the house with which I am at war, and God has ordered me to hurry. Stop for your own sake from interfering with God who is with me, so that He will not destroy you.”

But Josiah would not turn his face from him, but disguised himself, that he might fight against him; and he hearkened not to the words of Necho from the mouth of God; and he came to fight in the valley of Megiddo.

And his servants took him out from the chariot, and put him in the second chariot that he had, and brought him to Jerusalem. And he died, and was buried in the sepulchres of his fathers. And all Judah and Jerusalem mourned for Josiah.

Jeremiah sang a lament for Josiah, and all the male and female singers recite that lamentation about Josiah to this day. In fact, they made singing it an ordinance in Israel, and they are recorded in the Lamentations.

But, the rest of the story of Josiah, and his lovingkindness, - according to that which is written in the law of Yahweh:

Twenty-five years old, was Jehoiakim when he began to reign, and, eleven years, reigned he in Jerusalem, - and he did the thing that was wicked in the eyes of Yahweh his God.

And the rest of the acts of Jehoiakim, and his abominations which he did, and that which was found in him, behold, they are written in the book of the kings of Israel and Judah. And Jehoiachin his son reigned in his stead.

Eight years old, was Jehoiachin when he began to reign, and, three months and ten days, reigned he in Jerusalem, and he did the thing that was wicked in the eyes of Yahweh;

And he did the thing that was wicked in the eyes of Yahweh his God,-he humbled not himself before Jeremiah the prophet, from the mouth of Yahweh.

All the leaders of the priests and the people multiplied their unfaithful deeds, imitating all the detestable practices of the nations, and they defiled the Lord’s temple that He had consecrated in Jerusalem.

But they kept ridiculing God’s messengers, despising His words, and scoffing at His prophets, until the Lord’s wrath was so stirred up against His people that there was no remedy.

Therefore he brought upon them the king of the Chaldees, who slew their young men with the sword in the house of their sanctuary, and had no compassion upon young man or maiden, old man, or him that stooped for age: he gave them all into his hand.