Hezekiah Reigns over Judah

18 Now it happened ^(A)in the third year of Hoshea, the son of Elah king of Israel, that ^(B)Hezekiah the son of Ahaz king of Judah became king. ² He was ^(C)twenty-five years old when he became king; and he reigned twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. And his mother’s name was Abi, the daughter of Zechariah. ^3 (D)And he did what was right in the sight of Yahweh, according to all that David his father had done. ^4 (E)He took away the high places and shattered the sacred pillars and cut down the ^[a]Asherah. And he broke in pieces ^(F)the bronze serpent that Moses had made, for until those days the sons of Israel were burning incense to it; and it was called ^[b]Nehushtan. ^5 (G)He trusted in Yahweh, the God of Israel; ^(H)so that after him there was none like him among all the kings of Judah, nor among those who were before him. ⁶ So he ^(I)clung to Yahweh; he did not turn away from following Him, but kept His commandments, which Yahweh had commanded Moses.

Hezekiah Prospers

^7 (J)And Yahweh was with him; wherever he went he prospered. And ^(K)he rebelled against the king of Assyria and did not serve him. ^8 (L)He struck the Philistines as far as Gaza and its territory, from ^(M)watchtower to fortified city.

⁹ Now in the fourth year of King Hezekiah, which was the seventh year of Hoshea son of Elah king of Israel, ^(N)Shalmaneser king of Assyria came up against Samaria and besieged it. ¹⁰ And at the end of three years they captured it; in the sixth year of Hezekiah, which was ^(O)the ninth year of Hoshea king of Israel, Samaria was captured. ¹¹ Then the king of Assyria took Israel away into exile to Assyria, and put them in ^(P)Halah and on the Habor, the river of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes, ¹² because they ^(Q)did not listen to the voice of Yahweh their God, but trespassed against His covenant, even all that Moses the servant of Yahweh commanded; they would neither listen nor do it.

Sennacherib Comes Up Against Judah

^13 (R)Now in the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah, Sennacherib king of Assyria came up against all the fortified cities of Judah and seized them. ¹⁴ Then Hezekiah king of Judah sent to the king of Assyria at Lachish, saying, “^(S)I have done wrong. Turn away from me; whatever penalty you give to me I will bear.” So the king of Assyria set a penalty on Hezekiah king of Judah ^[c]three hundred talents of silver and ^[d]thirty talents of gold. ^15 (T)Thus Hezekiah gave him all the silver which was found in the house of Yahweh and in the treasuries of the king’s house. ¹⁶ At that time Hezekiah cut off the gold from the doors of the temple of Yahweh and from the doorposts, which Hezekiah king of Judah had overlaid, and gave it to the king of Assyria.

¹⁷ Then the king of Assyria sent ^(U)Tartan and Rab-saris and Rabshakeh from Lachish to King Hezekiah with a heavy military force to Jerusalem. So they went up and came to Jerusalem. And when they went up, they came and stood by the ^(V)conduit of the upper pool, which is on the highway of the ^[e]fuller’s field. ¹⁸ Then they called to the king, and ^(W)Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, who was over the household, and ^(X)Shebnah the scribe and Joah the son of Asaph the recorder, came out to them.

¹⁹ Then Rabshakeh said to them, “Say now to Hezekiah, ‘Thus says the great king, the king of Assyria, “^(Y)What is this trust that you have? ²⁰ You say (but they are ^[f]only empty words), ‘I have counsel and might for the war.’ Now on whom do you trust, ^(Z)that you have rebelled against me?

Hezekiah Reigns over Judah

29 ^(A)Hezekiah became king when he was twenty-five years old; and he reigned twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. And his mother’s name was Abijah, the daughter of Zechariah. ^2 (B)And he did what was right in the sight of Yahweh, according to all that David his father had done.

³ In the first year of his reign, in the first month, he ^(C)opened the doors of the house of Yahweh and repaired them. ⁴ And he brought in the priests and the Levites and gathered them into the square on the east.

Hezekiah Sets the House of God as Holy

⁵ Then he said to them, “Listen to me, O Levites. ^(D)Set yourselves apart now as holy, and set apart as holy the house of Yahweh, the God of your fathers, and bring out the impurity from the holy place. ⁶ For our fathers have been unfaithful and have done what is evil in the sight of Yahweh our God, and have forsaken Him and ^(E)turned their faces away from the dwelling place of Yahweh, and have ^[a]turned their backs. ⁷ They have also ^(F)shut the doors of the porch and put out the lamps, and have not burned incense or offered burnt offerings in the holy place to the God of Israel. ⁸ Therefore ^(G)the wrath of Yahweh was against Judah and Jerusalem, and He has made them an object of terror, of horror, and of ^(H)hissing, as you see with your own eyes. ⁹ And behold, ^(I)our fathers have fallen by the sword, and our sons and our daughters and our wives are in captivity for this. ¹⁰ Now it is in my heart ^(J)to cut a covenant with Yahweh, the God of Israel, that His burning anger may turn away from us. ¹¹ My sons, do not be at ease now, for ^(K)Yahweh has chosen you to stand before Him, to minister to Him, and to be His ministers and offer offerings up in smoke.”

¹² Then the Levites arose:

¹⁵ And they gathered their brothers, ^(N)set themselves apart as holy, and went in ^(O)to cleanse the house of Yahweh, according to the commandment of the king ^(P)by the words of Yahweh. ¹⁶ So the priests went in to the inner part of the house of Yahweh to cleanse it, and every unclean thing which they found in the temple of Yahweh they brought out to the court of the house of Yahweh. Then the Levites received it to bring out to ^(Q)the Kidron ^[d]valley, to an outer area. ¹⁷ Then they began ^[e]to set it apart as holy ^(R)on the first day of the first month, and on the eighth day of the month they entered the porch of Yahweh. Then they set apart the house of Yahweh as holy in eight days, and completed it on the sixteenth day of the first month. ¹⁸ Then they went in to King Hezekiah and said, “We have cleansed the whole house of Yahweh, the altar of burnt offering with all of its utensils, and the table of showbread with all of its utensils. ¹⁹ Moreover, ^(S)all the utensils which King Ahaz had rejected during his reign in his unfaithfulness, we have prepared and set apart as holy; and behold, they are before the altar of Yahweh.”

Hezekiah Brings an Offering

²⁰ Then King Hezekiah arose early and gathered the princes of the city and went up to the house of Yahweh. ²¹ And they brought seven bulls, seven rams, seven lambs, and seven male goats ^(T)for a sin offering for the kingdom, the sanctuary, and Judah. And he ordered the priests, the sons of Aaron, to offer them on the altar of Yahweh. ²² So they slaughtered the bulls, and the priests took the blood and splashed it on the altar. They also slaughtered the rams and splashed the blood on the altar; they slaughtered the lambs also and ^(U)splashed the blood on the altar. ²³ Then they had the male goats of the sin offering approach before the king and the assembly, and ^(V)they laid their hands on them. ²⁴ And the priests slaughtered them and purged the altar with their blood ^(W)to atone for all Israel, for the king ordered the burnt offering and the sin offering for all Israel.

^25 (X)He then caused the Levites to stand in the house of Yahweh with cymbals, with harps, and with lyres, ^(Y)according to the command of David and of ^(Z)Gad the king’s seer, and of ^(AA)Nathan the prophet; for the command was from Yahweh by the hand of His prophets. ²⁶ And the Levites stood with ^(AB)the musical instruments of David, and ^(AC)the priests with the trumpets. ²⁷ Then Hezekiah said to offer the burnt offering on the altar. When the burnt offering began, ^(AD)the song to Yahweh also began with the trumpets, ^[f]accompanied by the instruments of David, king of Israel. ²⁸ While the whole assembly worshiped, the singers also sang and the trumpets sounded; all this continued until the burnt offering was completed.

²⁹ Now at the completion of the burnt offerings, ^(AE)the king and all who were present with him bowed down and worshiped. ³⁰ Moreover, King Hezekiah and the officials ordered the Levites to sing praises to Yahweh with the words of David and Asaph the seer. ^(AF)So they sang praises with gladness, and bowed down and worshiped.

³¹ Then Hezekiah answered and said, “^(AG)Now that you have ^[g]become ordained to Yahweh, approach and bring sacrifices and thank offerings to the house of Yahweh.” And the assembly brought sacrifices and thank offerings, and ^(AH)all those who were willing of heart brought burnt offerings.