Uzziah died, as had his ancestors, and they buried him alongside his ancestors in a grave in a field that belonged to the kings, because they said, "He was a leper." Uzziah's son Jotham became king to replace him.

He launched a military excursion against the king of the Ammonites and defeated him. As a result, that year the Ammonites paid 100 talents of silver in tribute, as well as 10,000 kors of wheat and 10,000 kors of barley. The Ammonites continued to pay this same amount in tribute over the following two years.

But a prophet of the LORD was there named Oded. He went out to greet the army as it arrived in Samaria. He warned them, "Look! Because the LORD God of your ancestors was angry at Judah, he delivered them into your control, but you have killed them with a vehemence that has reached all the way to heaven!

He sacrificed to the gods of Damascus that had defeated him, reasoning, "The gods of the kings of Aram helped them, so I'll sacrifice to them so they will help me!" But those gods brought about his downfall, and the downfall of all of Israel, too.

That's why the LORD was angry with Judah and Jerusalem and made them an object of terror, horror, and derision, as you've seen with your own eyes.

The priests entered the inner courts of the LORD's Temple to cleanse it, and they brought out everything unclean that they found there to the outer court of the LORD's Temple. Then the descendants of Levi carried everything from there out to the Kidron Valley.

In addition, we have prepared and rededicated all of the utensils that King Ahaz threw away during his unfaithful reign, and now they're back in service at the LORD's altar."

where they brought seven rams, seven lambs, and seven male goats for a sin offering on behalf of the kingdom, the Holy Place, and Judah. He ordered that the priests, as descendants of Aaron, place the offerings on the LORD's altar.

and then the priests slaughtered them and purged the altar with their blood as a sin offering to atone for all Israel, because the king ordered that the burnt offering and the sin offering be made for all Israel.

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

Hezekiah gave a command to offer burnt offerings on the altar, and when the burnt offerings began, a song to the LORD also began with trumpets sounding and with the instruments that King David of Israel had crafted.

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.

After this, Hezekiah announced, "Now that you've consecrated yourselves to the LORD, come near and bring your sacrifices and thanksgiving offerings to the LORD's Temple." So the assembly brought sacrifices and thanksgiving offerings, and everyone who was willing to do so brought burnt offerings.

Because there weren't enough priests, they were unable to prepare all the burnt offerings until other priests came forward after having consecrated themselves, so their descendant of Levi relatives assisted them until the services were complete. (The descendants of Levi had been more conscientious in consecrating themselves than had been the priests.)

Furthermore, there were also many burnt offerings, fat from peace offerings, and drink offerings. And that's how the service of the Lord's Temple was restored.

Hezekiah also sent word to all of Israel and Judah, and wrote letters to Ephraim and Manasseh that they should come to the LORD's Temple in Jerusalem to observe the Passover to the LORD God of Israel.

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 don't be stiff-necked like your ancestors were. Instead, submit to the LORD, enter his sanctuary that he has sanctified forever, and serve the LORD your God so that he'll stop being angry with you.

They all got to work and removed the idolatrous altars that were throughout Jerusalem. They also removed all the incense altars and threw them into the Kidron Brook.

The priests and descendants of Levi felt ashamed of themselves, so they consecrated themselves and brought burnt offerings to the LORD's Temple. Then they took their customary places, as the Law of Moses the man of God prescribes, and the priests sprinkled the blood that they were given by the descendants of Levi.

Because there were so many in the assembly that had not consecrated themselves, therefore the descendants of Levi supervised the slaughter of the Passover sacrifices on behalf of everyone who remained unclean, so they could be consecrated to the LORD.

The descendants of Israel and Judah who lived throughout the cities of Judah also brought tithes of cattle and sheep, as well as tithes of gifts that had been dedicated to the LORD their God.

Azariah replied, "Since they began to bring their gifts into the LORD's Temple, we have eaten and have been satisfied. Now we still have plenty left, because the LORD has blessed his people so that we have all of this left over."

without regard to genealogical enrollment, to every male 30 years old and older that is, to everyone who entered the LORD's Temple as their duty obligations required for their work and duties according to their divisions

Furthermore, with respect to the descendants of Aaron, that is, the priests who lived out in the country away from the cities, or who lived in each and every city, men were designated by name to distribute portions to every male among the priests and to everyone who had been enrolled by genealogy among the descendants of Levi.

Everything that Hezekiah began in the service of God's Temple was done according to the Law and to the commandments as he sought his God, worked with all of his heart, and became successful.

As soon as Hezekiah learned that Sennacherib had arrived and had determined to attack Jerusalem,

he developed a plan with his commanders and his elite forces to cut off the water supply from the springs that were outside the city, and they helped him to carry it out.

Many people gathered together and plugged up all the springs, along with the stream that flowed through the region. They were thinking to themselves, "Why should the Assyrian kings invade and discover an abundant water supply?"

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.

"Be strong and courageous. Don't be afraid or disheartened because of the king of Assyria or because of the army that accompanies him, because the one who is with us is greater than the one with him.

"This is what King Sennacherib of Assyria says: "What are you leaning on that makes you stay behind while Jerusalem comes under siege?

What god, out of all the gods of those nations that my predecessors utterly destroyed, has been able to deliver his people from my control or from the control of my predecessors?

Sennacherib also wrote letters like this that insulted and slandered the LORD God of Israel: "Just as the gods of the nations in other lands haven't delivered their people from my control, so also the god of Hezekiah won't deliver his people from me!"

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.

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.

Later on, envoys came from the princes of Babylon to inquire about the miracle that had happened in the land. God left Hezekiah to himself, so that he might make known what was really in Hezekiah's heart.

He re-established the high places that his father Hezekiah had demolished, he built altars to the Baals, erected Asherim, and worshipped and served the armies of heaven.

He burned his sons as an offering in the Ben-hinnom Valley, practiced fortune-telling, witchcraft, sorcery, and communicated with mediums and separatists. He did a lot of things that the LORD considered to be evil, thus provoking him.

He also placed an image that he had carved in God's Temple, the place about which God had told to David and to his son Solomon, "I will place my name in this Temple and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel,"

and "I won't let Israel's foothold slip on the land that I've given to your ancestors, if only they will be careful to keep everything that I commanded them in the Law, in the statutes, and in the ordinance through Moses."

This is how Manasseh deceived Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to practice more evil than the nations whom the LORD had eliminated in front of the Israelis.

and prayed to him. Moved by Manasseh's entreaties, the LORD heard his supplications and brought him back to his kingdom in Jerusalem. That's how Manasseh learned that the LORD is God.

He also eliminated the foreign gods and idols from the LORD's Temple, along with all of the altars that he had built in Jerusalem and on the mountain where the LORD's Temple was located, and he discarded them outside the city.

He practiced what the LORD considered to be evil, just as his father Manasseh had done, sacrificing to and serving all the carved images that his father Manasseh had made,

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

They tore down the altars of Baals in his presence. He chopped down the incense altars that stood high above them. He broke into pieces the Asherim, the carved images, and the cast images, ground them to dust, and scattered the residue on the graves of those who had sacrificed to them.

They approached Hilkiah the high priest and delivered to him the money that had been brought into God's Temple that the descendants of Levi and gatekeepers had collected from Manasseh, Ephraim, the surviving Israelis, Judah, Benjamin, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem.

They, in turn, paid the carpenters and builders to purchase quarried stone and timber for binders and beams for the buildings that previous kings of Judah had let deteriorate.

While they were bringing out the money that had come in as gifts to the LORD's Temple, Hilkiah the priest discovered the Book of the Law of the LORD that had been handed down by Moses.

Shaphan took the book to the king and gave an additional report to the king, telling him "Everything that you've entrusted to your servants is being carried out.

They've removed the money that was found in the LORD's Temple and have passed it on to the supervisors and the workmen."

"Go ask the LORD for me and for those who survive in Israel and in Judah about the words that we've read in this book that we found, because the wrath of the LORD that we deserve to have poured out on us is very great, since our ancestors haven't obeyed the command from the LORD that required us to do everything that is written in this book."

"This is what the LORD God of Israel says: "Tell the man who sent you to me, "This is what the LORD says: "Pay attention! I'm bringing evil to visit this place and its inhabitants every single curse written in the book that they've been reading to the King of Judah.

"Look! I'm going to take you to your ancestors, and you will be buried in your grave in peace so that you won't have to see all the evil that I'm going to bring to this place and to its inhabitants."'" So they all brought back this message to the king.

Then the king went up to the LORD's Temple, accompanied by the men of Judah, the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the priests and descendants of Levi, and everyone else from the most important to the least important, and he read out loud all the words of the book of the covenant that had been found in the LORD's Temple.

Josiah also removed all the detestable things from the territories that belonged to the people of Israel, and made everyone who lived in Israel to serve the LORD their God. For the rest of his life, they didn't abandon their quest to follow the LORD God of their ancestors.

"Put the holy ark in the Temple that Solomon, the son of Israel's King David, built. It will no longer be a burden on their shoulders. Now go serve the LORD your God and his people Israel. Prepare yourselves by divisions according to your ancestral households, keeping to what King David of Israel and his son Solomon wrote about this.

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.

That's how the LORD's service was prepared that day to celebrate the Passover and to offer burnt offerings on the LORD's altar according to what King Josiah had commanded.

The Israelis who were present celebrated the Passover that day, as well as the Festival of Unleavened Bread for seven days.

There had not been a Passover celebration like it in Israel since Samuel the prophet was alive, nor had any of the kings of Israel celebrated a Passover like Josiah did at that time with the priests, the descendants of Levi, everyone from Judah and Israel who were present, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem.

But he sent messengers to him, who asked him, "What do we have in common, King of Judah? I am not here today opposing you. I am fighting the dynasty that is fighting me, and God has ordered me to hurry. For your own good, stop interfering with God, who is with me, and he won't destroy you!"

So his servants removed him from the chariot he was in and carried him away in a backup chariot that he had and took him back to Jerusalem, where he died and was buried in the tombs of his ancestors. All of Judah and Jerusalem went into mourning 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.

The rest of Jehoiakim's accomplishments along with the detestable things that he did that were recorded in his disfavor are written in the Book of the Kings of Israel and Judah. His son Jehoiachin became king to replace him.

Meanwhile, all the officials who supervised the priests and the people remained unfaithful, following the detestable example of the surrounding nations. They polluted the LORD's Temple that he had consecrated in Jerusalem.

but they mocked God's messengers, despised his words, and scoffed at his prophets, until there was no remedy for the wrath of the LORD that arose to punish his people.

Descendants of Pahath-moab; that is, through Jeshua and Joab: 2,812

Descendants of exiles from Kiriath-arim; that is, Chephirah and Beeroth: 743

The Descendants of Levi: Descendants of Jeshua and Kadmiel; that is, descendants of Hodaviah: 74

Descendants of the Priests: Descendants of Habaiah, Hakkoz, and Barzillai, who married one of the daughters of Barzillai from Gilead and took that name.

Governor Zerubbabel also ruled that they shouldn't eat anything holy until a priest arose with Urim and Thummim.

After that, they offered all of the continual burnt offerings and the New Moon sacrifices for all of the designated festivals of the LORD that were being consecrated, along with all the voluntary offerings that were dedicated to the LORD.

When the enemies of Judah and Benjamin learned that the descendants of the Babylonian captivity had built their Temple to the LORD, the God of Israel,

Judges, envoys, officials, Persians, the people of Erech, the Babylonians, the people of Susa (that is, the Elamites) and many other nations whom the great and honorable Osnappar deported and resettled in Samaria and in the rest of the province beyond the Euphrates River.

May the king be advised that the Jews who came from you to us have reached Jerusalem and are rebuilding a rebellious and wicked city, having completed its walls and repaired its foundations.

May the king be further advised that if this city is rebuilt and its walls erected, its citizens will refuse to pay tributes, taxes, and tariffs, thereby restricting royal revenues.

urging that a search may be made in the official registers of your predecessors. You will discover in the registers that this city is a rebellious city, that it is damaging to both kings and provinces, that it has been moved to sedition from time immemorial, and that because of this it was destroyed.

We certify to the king that if this city is rebuilt and its walls completed, you will lose your land holdings in the province beyond the Euphrates River.

Pursuant to my edict, an investigation has been undertaken. It is noted that this city has fomented rebellion against kings from time immemorial, and that rebellion and sedition has occurred in it.

Accordingly, issue an order to force these men to cease their work so that this city is not rebuilt until you receive further notice from me.

Be diligent and take precautions so that you do not neglect your responsibility in this matter. Why should the kingdom sustain any more damage?

At that time, the prophets Haggai and Iddo's son Zechariah prophesied specifically to the Jews in Judah and Jerusalem in the name of the God of Israel.

Here is a copy of the letter that Trans-Euphrates Governor Tattenai, Shethar-bozenai, and his colleagues the Trans-Euphrates Persians sent to King Darius.

This is to inform the king that we traveled to the Temple of the great God in the Judean province, which is being built with large stones and reinforced with wooden beams in its walls. The work proceeds diligently and is in capable hands.

We also asked them their names so that we could certify the identities of their leaders to you.

In answer they responded, "We are servants of the God of heaven and earth, and are rebuilding the Temple that was built many years ago by a great king of Israel.

"However, during King Cyrus' first year that same King Cyrus of Babylon issued a decree to reconstruct this Temple of God.

He delivered into the care of Sheshbazzar (whom he appointed governor) the gold and silver utensils that Nebuchadnezzar had taken from the Jerusalem Temple and brought into the Babylonian temple.

"Then this very same Sheshbazzar arrived and laid the foundations for the Temple of God in Jerusalem. Since that time until now the Temple has been under construction and is not yet completed."

Accordingly, with your approval we suggest that a search be conducted within the king's treasury at Babylon to verify whether or not King Cyrus ever issued such a decree to reconstruct this Temple of God in Jerusalem. Then please notify us concerning the king's pleasure in this matter.

Furthermore, let the gold and silver utensils from the Temple of God (that Nebuchadnezzar took from the Temple in Jerusalem and carried off to Babylon) be brought back to the Temple at Jerusalem and restored to their respective places in the Temple of God.

Furthermore, I hereby decree what you are to do for the Jewish leaders who are building this Temple of God: you are to pay the expenses of these men out of the king's assets from taxes collected beyond the River so that they are not hindered.

And be sure that you don't fail to provide their daily needs including young bulls, rams, and lambs for the burnt offerings of the God of Heaven, along with wheat, salt, wine, and oil, as the priests in Jerusalem tell you

I hereby also decree that whoever shall alter the wording of this edict, let his residence be torn down for timber to build a gallows, hang him on it, and turn his home into an outhouse.

left Babylon. He was a skillful scribe of the Law of Moses that the LORD God of Israel had given. And the king granted him everything he had requested because the hand of the LORD his God was upon him.

Here is a copy of the letter that King Artaxerxes gave to Ezra, the priest-scribe, a scholar in matters concerning the commandments of the LORD and concerning his statutes pertaining to Israel:

I hereby decree that all of the people of Israel along with their priests and descendants of Levi in my kingdom who are determined to return to Jerusalem with you may do so.

You are carrying silver and gold that the king and his advisors have freely given to the God of Israel, whose Temple is in Jerusalem,