Hezekiah gave an order to prepare storerooms in the LORD's Temple, and so they did.

For to the fidelity of them did men commit their sanctified gifts. And thereto among the children of Aaron the priests were men named by name in the fields of the suburbs of all their cities, city by city, for to give portions to all the males of the priests and to all that were reckoned among the Levites.

And thus did Hezekiah throughout all Judah, and wrought that which was good and right and truth before the LORD his God.

And in every work that he began 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.

He took counsel with his princes and his mighty men to stop the waters of the fountains which were without the city: and they did help him.

After this did Sennacherib king of Assyria send his servants to Jerusalem, (but he himself laid siege against Lachish, and all his power with him,) unto Hezekiah king of Judah, and unto all Judah that were at Jerusalem, saying,

Did not this Hezekiah remove his heights, and his altars? and he will say to Judah and to Jerusalem, saying, Before one altar shall ye worship and upon it shall ye burn incense?

Will ye not know what I did, I and my fathers, to all the peoples of the lands? Being able, were the gods of the nations of the lands able to deliver their land from my hand?

And yet more did his servants speak against the LORD God and against his servant Hezekiah.

And he wrote letters to treat Yahweh the God of Israel with contempt and spoke against him, saying, "As the gods of the nations of the earth who did not save their people from my hand, so likewise the God of Hezekiah will not save his people from my hand."

Thus did Yahweh save Hezekiah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem out of the hand of Sennacherib king of Assyria, and out of the hand of every one, - and gave them rest on every side.

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;

But Hezekiah humbled himself with respect to the arrogance of his heart, he and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so that the wrath of Yahweh did not come upon them in the days of Hezekiah.

This same Hezekiah blocked the outlet of the water of the Upper Gihon and channeled it smoothly downward and westward to the city of David. Hezekiah succeeded in everything he did.

Now the rest of the acts of Hezekiah, and the good he did, are recorded in the vision of Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz, and in the book of the kings of Judah and Israel.

And Hezekiah slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the chiefest of the sepulchres of the sons of David: and all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem did him honour at his death. And Manasseh his son reigned in his stead.

But did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD, like unto the abominations of the heathen, whom the LORD had cast out before the children of Israel.

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.

And Manasseh seduced Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so that they did evil more than did the nations whom Jehovah destroyed before the children of Israel.

And Jehovah spoke to Manasseh and to his people; but they did not hearken.

Nevertheless the people did sacrifice still in the high places, yet unto the LORD their God only.

But he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD, as did Manasseh his father: for Amon sacrificed unto all the carved images which Manasseh his father had made, and served them;

And he did not humble himself before Jehovah, as Manasseh his father had humbled himself; for he, Amon, multiplied trespass.

And he did that which was right in the sight of the LORD, and walked in the ways of David his father, and declined neither to the right hand, nor to the left.

He had the altars of the Baals broken down, while he himself was present; and the sun-images which were placed on high over them he had cut down; and the pillars of wood and the metal images he had broken up and crushed to dust, dropping the dust over the resting-places of the dead who had made offerings to them.

And so did he in the cities of Manasseh, and Ephraim, and Simeon, even unto Naphtali, with their mattocks round about.

And in the wildernesses of them round about he plucked asunder the altars and the groves and did beat them and stamp them to powder, and beat down the idols throughout all the land of Israel: and then returned to Jerusalem again.

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:

And the men did the work faithfully: and the overseers of them were Jahath and Obadiah, the Levites, of the sons of Merari; and Zechariah and Meshullam, of the sons of the Kohathites, to set it forward; and other of the Levites, all that could skill of instruments of musick.

Also they were over the bearers of burdens, and set forward all that did the work in every manner of service: and of the Levites there were scribes, and officers, and porters.

Then did the king command Hilkiah - and Ahikam son of Shaphan - and Abdon son of Micah - and Shaphan the scribe - and Asaiah servant of the king, saying:

Because your heart was tender, and you did humble yourself before God, when you heard his words against this place, and against the inhabitants thereof, and humbled yourself before me, and did tear your clothes, and weep before me; I have even heard you also, says the LORD.

And the king went up to the house of the Lord with all the men of Judah, the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the priests, the Levites, and all the people, from the greatest to the least; and he read aloud so they could hear all the words of the Book of the Covenant which was found in the house of the Lord.

And he caused all that were present in Jerusalem and Benjamin to stand to it. 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 countries that belonged to the children of Israel, and made to serve all that were found in Israel, to serve Jehovah their God: all his days they did not depart from following Jehovah, the God of their fathers.

And said unto the Levites that taught all Israel, which were holy unto the LORD, Put the holy ark in the house which Solomon the son of David king of Israel did build; it shall not be a burden upon your shoulders: serve now the LORD your God, and his people Israel,

And, his rulers, willingly, to the people and to the priests and to the Levites, presented, - Hilkiah and Zechariah and Jehiel, chief rulers of the house of God, unto the priests, did give, for passover offerings, two thousand and six hundred, and, of bullocks, three hundred;

And they put the Passover lambs to death, the blood being drained out by the priests when it was given to them, and the Levites did the skinning.

And they removed the burnt offerings, that they might give according to the divisions of the families of the people, to offer unto the LORD, as it is written in the book of Moses. And so did they with the oxen.

The singers, the sons of Asaph, were also in their places in accordance with the command of David, Asaph, Heman, and Jeduthun the king’s seer; and the gatekeepers at each gate did not need to leave their service, because their kinsmen the Levites prepared for them.

And there was no passover like to that kept in Israel from the days of Samuel the prophet; neither did all the kings of Israel keep such a passover as Josiah kept, and the priests, and the Levites, and all Judah and Israel that were present, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem.

But Neco sent messengers to him, saying, “What is the issue between you and me, king of Judah? I have not come against you today but I am fighting another dynasty. God told me to hurry. Stop opposing God who is with me; don’t make Him destroy you!”

Yet Josiah would not turn away from him, but disguised himself in order to fight against him. He did not listen to the words of Neco from the mouth of God, but came to fight against him on the plain of Megiddo.

Now the rest of the acts of Josiah, and the good he did, in keeping with what is recorded in the law of the Lord,

Jehoiakim was twenty and five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem: and he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD his God.

And, some of the utensils of the house of Yahweh, did Nebuchadnezzar carry to Babylon, - and put them in his own temple in Babylon.

Now 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.

Jehoiachin was eight years old when he began to reign, and he reigned three months and ten days in Jerusalem: and he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD.

And he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD his God, and humbled not himself before Jeremiah the prophet speaking from the mouth of the LORD.

He brought against them the king of the Babylonians, who slaughtered their young men in their temple. He did not spare young men or women, or even the old and aging. God handed everyone over to him.

Even those did Cyrus king of Persia bring forth by the hand of Mithredath the treasurer, and numbered them unto Sheshbazzar, the prince of Judah.

All the vessels of gold and of silver were five thousand and four hundred. All these did Sheshbazzar bring up with them of the captivity that were brought up from Babylon unto Jerusalem.

They searched for their records in the genealogical materials, but did not find them. They were therefore excluded from the priesthood.

But, when the seventh month was come, and the sons of Israel were in cities, then did the people gather themselves together as one man, unto Jerusalem.

Afterward, the daily burnt offering also, and of the new moons and of all the feast days of the LORD that were hallowed, and all manner of freewill offerings, which they did of their own freewill unto the LORD.

so that the people could not distinguish the noise of the shout of joy, from the noise of the weeping of the people, - for, the people, did shout with a great shout, and, the noise, was heard afar off.

Then ceased the work of the house of God, which was in Jerusalem, - yea it did cease, until the second year of the reign of Darius king of Persia.

Now the prophets, Haggai the prophet and Zechariah the son of Iddo, prophesied to the Jews that were in Judah and Jerusalem; in the name of the God of Israel did they prophesy to them.

But the eye of their God was upon the elders of the Jews, and they did not make them cease, till the matter should come to Darius, and then answer should be returned by letter concerning it.

And the vessels also of gold and silver of the house of God, which Nebuchadnezzar took out of the temple that was in Jerusalem, and brought them into the temple of Babylon, those did Cyrus the king take out of the temple of Babylon, and they were delivered unto one, whose name was Sheshbazzar, whom he had made governor;

"Now if the king is so inclined, let a search be conducted in the royal archives there in Babylon in order to determine whether King Cyrus did in fact issue orders for this temple of God to be rebuilt in Jerusalem. Then let the king send us a decision concerning this matter."

DATE: First year of Cyrus the King FROM: King Cyrus SUBJECT: The Temple of God in Jerusalem

This commandment have I given. And what man soever he be that altereth these words, there shall a beam be taken from his house, and set up, and he shall be hanged thereon, and his house shall be made a dunghill for the deed.

Then Tatnai, governor on this side the river, Shetharboznai, and their companions, according to that which Darius the king had sent, so they did speedily.

And the responsible men of the Jews went on with their building, and did well, helped by the teaching of Haggai the prophet and Zechariah, the son of Iddo. They went on building till it was complete, in keeping with the word of the God of Israel, and the orders given by Cyrus, and Darius, and Artaxerxes, king of Persia.

Then did the sons of Israel, the priests and the Levites, and the rest of the Sons of the Exile, keep the dedication of this house of God, with joy;

And the children of Israel, which were come again out of captivity, and all such as had separated themselves unto them from the filthiness of the heathen of the land, to seek the LORD God of Israel, did eat,

This Ezra was a perfect scribe in the law of Moses, which the LORD God of Israel did give. And the king gave him all that he required, according to the hand of the LORD his God upon him.

And whosoever will not diligently fulfill the law of thy God, and the king's law, shall have his judgment for the deed, whether it be unto death, or to be banished, or to be condemned in goods, or to be put in prison."

Now I assembled them at the river that runs to Ahava, where we camped for three days; and when I observed the people and the priests, I did not find any Levites there.

I did this because I was ashamed to ask the king for infantry and cavalry to protect us from enemies during the journey, since we had told him, “The hand of our God is gracious to all who seek Him, but His great anger is against all who abandon Him.”

Since the days of our fathers to this day we have been exceedingly guilty; and on account of our wrongdoings we, our kings, and our priests have been handed over to the kings of the lands, to the sword, to captivity, to plundering, and to complete shame, as it is today.

For we are slaves and in our bondage our God did not forsake us, and he has extended to us loyal love in the presence of the kings of Persia, to give to us deliverance [and] to set up the house of our God, to repair its ruins, and to give us a wall in Judea and Jerusalem.

Lord God of Israel, You are righteous, for we survive as a remnant today. Here we are before You with our guilt, though no one can stand in Your presence because of this.

Then Ezra rose up from before the house of God, and went into the chamber of Johanan the son of Eliashib: and when he came thither, he did eat no bread, nor drink water: for he mourned because of the transgression of them that had been carried away.

and that whoever would not come within three days, by order of the counsel of the leaders and the elders, all his possessions and property would be forfeited and he himself would be excluded from the assembly of the exiles.

And the children of the captivity did so. And Ezra the priest, with certain chief of the fathers, after the house of their fathers, and all of them by their names, were separated, and sat down in the first day of the tenth month to examine the matter.

and Hanani, one of my brethren, came with certain men of Judah, and I asked them how the Jews did that were delivered and escaped from the captivity, and how it went at Jerusalem.

please turn your attention to observe carefully and listen to the prayer of your servant today that I am presenting to you day and night on behalf of your servants, the Israelis.

And did ye turn back to me and watch my commands and do them; if there shall be a thrusting forth of you into the extremity of the heavens, from thence will I gather them and bring them to the place which I chose for my name to dwell there.

Please, Lord, let Your ear be attentive to the prayer of Your servant and to that of Your servants who delight to revere Your name. Give Your servant success today, and have compassion on him in the presence of this man.

At the time, I was the king’s cupbearer.

I got up during the night, I and a few men with me. I did not tell anybody what my God put in my heart to do for Jerusalem. No animal [was] with me except the animal that I was riding on.

And the rulers knew not whither I went, or what I did; neither had I as yet told it to the Jews, nor to the priests, nor to the nobles, nor to the rulers, nor to the rest that did the work.

Men from Jericho did repairs next to him, and Imri's son Zaccur did repairs next to them.

But the fish gate did the sons of Hassenaah build, who also laid the beams thereof, and set up the doors thereof, the locks thereof, and the bars thereof.

Next to him the men of Tekoa made repairs, but their nobles did not support the work of their overseers.

And, the old gate, did Joiada son of Paseah, and Meshullam, son of Besodeiah, repair, - they, laid the beams thereof, and set up the doors thereof, and the locks thereof, and the bars thereof;

Next to him, Hur's son Rephaiah, ruling official for half of the Jerusalem district, did repairs.

Then next to them, Harumaph's son Jedaiah did repairs opposite his house, and next to him Hashabneiah's son Hattush carried on repairs.

a second length, did Malchijah son of Harim and Hasshub son of Pahath-moab, repair, - also the tower of the ovens;

and next to him Hallohesh's son Shallum, ruling official for the other half of the Jerusalem district, did repairs, as did his daughters.

The valley-gate, did Hanun and the inhabitants of Zanoah, repair, - they, built it, and set up the doors thereof, the locks thereof, and the bars thereof, - also a thousand cubits in the wall, as far as the dung-gate.

And, the dung-gate, did Malchijah son of Rechab, ruler of the circuit of Beth-haccherem, repair, - he, built it, and set up the doors thereof, he locks thereof, and the bars thereof.

And, the fountain-gate, did Shallun son of Col-hozeh ruler of the circuit of Mizpah, repair, he, built it, and covered it, and set up the doors thereof, the locks thereof, and the bars thereof, - also the wall of the pool of Shelah, by the garden of the king, even as far as the stairs that go down from the city of David;

Next to him the descendants of Levi, led by Bani's son Rehum, carried on repairs. Next to him Hashabiah, ruling official for half of the Keilah district, did repairs for his district.

Then next to them, Immer's son Zadok did repairs as far as his own house. Next to him, Shecaniah's son Shemaiah, custodian of the East Gate, carried on repairs.

From that day on, half of my men did the work while the other half held spears, shields, bows, and armor. The officers supported all the people of Judah,

Those who were building the wall and those who were moving material did their part, everyone working with one hand, with his spear in the other;

We did not change clothes -- not I, nor my relatives, nor my workers, nor the watchmen who were with me. Each had his weapon, even when getting a drink of water.

And I said to them, According to our ability we have redeemed our brothers, the Jews who were sold to the nations. And will you even sell your brothers? Or shall they be sold to us? And they were silent and did not find an answer.