The Living Bible (147 page)
Authors: Inc. Tyndale House Publishers
Tags: #BIBLES / Other Translations / Text
King Hezekiah now sent letters throughout all of Israel, Judah, Ephraim, and Manasseh, inviting everyone to come to the Temple at Jerusalem for the annual Passover celebration.
2-3
The king, his aides, and all the assembly of Jerusalem had voted to celebrate the Passover in May this time, rather than at the normal time in April, because not enough priests were sanctified at the earlier date, and there wasn’t enough time to get notices out.
4
The king and his advisors were in complete agreement in this matter,
5
so they sent a Passover proclamation throughout Israel, from Dan to Beersheba, inviting everyone. They had not kept it in great numbers as prescribed.
*
6
“Come back to the Lord God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel,” the king’s letter said, “so that he will return to us who have escaped from the power of the kings of Assyria.
7
Do not be like your fathers and brothers who sinned against the Lord God of their fathers and were destroyed.
8
Do not be stubborn, as they were, but yield yourselves to the Lord and come to his Temple which he has sanctified forever, and worship the Lord your God so that his fierce anger will turn away from you.
9
For if you turn to the Lord again, your brothers and your children will be treated mercifully by their captors, and they will be able to return to this land. For the Lord your God is full of kindness and mercy and will not continue to turn away his face from you if you return to him.”
10
So the messengers went from city to city throughout Ephraim and Manasseh and as far as Zebulun. But for the most part they were received with laughter and scorn!
11
However, some from the tribes of Asher, Manasseh, and Zebulun turned to God and came to Jerusalem.
12
But in Judah the entire nation felt a strong, God-given desire to obey the Lord’s direction as commanded by the king and his officers.
13
And so it was that a very large crowd assembled at Jerusalem in the month of May for the Passover celebration.
14
They set to work and destroyed the heathen altars in Jerusalem, and knocked down all the incense altars, and threw them into Kidron Brook.
15
On the first day of May the people killed their Passover lambs. Then the priests and Levites became ashamed of themselves for not taking a more active part, so they sanctified themselves and brought burnt offerings into the Temple.
16
They stood at their posts as instructed by the law of Moses the man of God; and the priests sprinkled the blood received from the Levites.
17-19
Since many of the people arriving from Ephraim, Manasseh, Issachar, and Zebulun were ceremonially impure because they had not undergone the purification rites, the Levites killed their Passover lambs for them, to sanctify them. Then King Hezekiah prayed for them, and they were permitted to eat the Passover anyway, even though this was contrary to God’s rules. But Hezekiah said, “May the good Lord pardon everyone who determines to follow the Lord God of his fathers, even though he is not properly sanctified for the ceremony.”
20
And the Lord listened to Hezekiah’s prayer and did not destroy them.
21
So the people of Israel celebrated the Passover at Jerusalem for seven days with great joy.
Meanwhile the Levites and priests praised the Lord with music and cymbals day after day.
22
(King Hezekiah spoke very appreciatively to the Levites of their excellent music.)
So for seven days the observance continued, and peace offerings were sacrificed, and the people confessed their sins to the Lord God of their fathers.
23
The enthusiasm continued, so it was unanimously decided to continue the observance for another seven days.
24
King Hezekiah gave the people 1,000 young bulls for offerings and 7,000 sheep; and the princes donated 1,000 young bulls and 10,000 sheep. And at this time another large group of priests stepped forward and sanctified themselves.
25
Then the people of Judah, together with the priests, the Levites, the foreign residents, and the visitors from Israel, were filled with deep joy.
26
For Jerusalem hadn’t seen a celebration like this one since the days of King David’s son Solomon.
27
Then the priests and Levites stood and blessed the people, and the Lord heard their prayers from his holy temple in heaven.
Afterwards a massive campaign against idol worship was begun. Those who were at Jerusalem for the Passover went out to the cities of Judah, Benjamin, Ephraim, and Manasseh and tore down the idol altars, the obelisks, the shameful images, and other heathen centers of worship. Then the people who had come to the Passover from the northern tribes returned again to their own homes.
2
Hezekiah now organized the priests and Levites into service corps to offer the burnt offerings and peace offerings, and to worship and give thanks and praise to the Lord.
3
He also made a personal contribution of animals for the daily morning and evening burnt offerings, as well as for the weekly Sabbath and monthly new moon festivals, and for the other annual feasts as required in the law of God.
4
In addition, he required the people in Jerusalem to bring their tithes to the priests and Levites so that they wouldn’t need other employment but could apply themselves fully to their duties as required in the law of God.
5-6
The people responded immediately and generously with the first of their crops and grain, new wine, olive oil, honey, and everything else—a tithe of all they owned, as required by law to be given to the Lord their God. Everything was laid out in great piles. The people who had moved to Judah from the northern tribes and the people of Judah living in the provinces also brought in the tithes of their cattle and sheep, and brought a tithe of the dedicated things to give to the Lord, and piled them up in great heaps.
7-8
The first of these tithes arrived in June, and the piles continued to grow until October. When Hezekiah and his officials came and saw these huge piles, how they blessed the Lord and praised his people!
9
“Where did all this come from?” Hezekiah asked the priests and Levites.
10
And Azariah the High Priest from the clan of Zadok replied, “These are tithes! We have been eating from these stores of food for many weeks, but all this is left over, for the Lord has blessed his people.”
11
Hezekiah decided to prepare storerooms in the Temple.
12-13
All the dedicated supplies were brought into the Lord’s house. Conaniah the Levite was put in charge, assisted by his brother Shimei and the following aides: Jehiel, Azaziah, Nahath, Asahel, Jerimoth, Jozabad, Eliel, Ismachiah, Mahath, Benaiah.
These appointments were made by King Hezekiah and Azariah the High Priest.
14-15
Kore (son of Imnah, the Levite), who was the gatekeeper at the East Gate, was put in charge of distributing the offerings to the priests. His faithful assistants were Eden, Miniamin, Jeshua, Shemaiah, Amariah, and Shecaniah. They distributed the gifts to the clans of priests in their cities, dividing them to young and old alike.
16
However, the priests on duty at the Temple and their families
*
were supplied directly from there, so they were not included in this distribution.
17-18
The priests were listed in the genealogical register by clans, and the Levites twenty years old and older were listed under the names of their work corps. A regular food allotment was given to all families of properly registered priests, for they had no other source of income because their time and energies were devoted to the service of the Temple.
19
One of the priests was appointed in each of the cities of the priests to issue food and other supplies to all priests in the area and to all registered Levites.
20
In this way King Hezekiah handled the distribution throughout all Judah, doing what was just and fair in the sight of the Lord his God.
21
He worked very hard to encourage respect for the Temple, the law, and godly living, and was very successful.
Some time later after this good work of King Hezekiah, King Sennacherib of Assyria invaded Judah and laid siege to the fortified cities, planning to place them under tribute.
2
When it was clear that Sennacherib was intending to attack Jerusalem,
3
Hezekiah summoned his princes and officers for a council of war, and it was decided to plug the springs outside the city.
4
They organized a huge work crew to block them and to cut off the brook running through the fields.
“Why should the king of Assyria come and find water?” they asked.
5
Then Hezekiah further strengthened his defenses by repairing the wall wherever it was broken down, and by adding to the fortifications, and constructing a second wall outside it. He also reinforced Fort Millo in the City of David and manufactured large numbers of weapons and shields.
6
He recruited an army and appointed officers, and summoned them to the plains before the city, and encouraged them with this address:
7
“Be strong, be brave, and do not be afraid of the king of Assyria or his mighty army, for there is someone with us who is far greater than he is!
8
He has a great army, but they are all mere men, while we have the Lord our God to fight our battles for us!” This greatly encouraged them.
9
Then King Sennacherib of Assyria, while still besieging the city of Lachish, sent ambassadors with this message to King Hezekiah and the citizens of Jerusalem:
10
“King Sennacherib of Assyria asks, ‘Do you think you can survive my siege of Jerusalem?
11
King Hezekiah is trying to persuade you to commit suicide by staying there—to die by famine and thirst—while he promises that “the Lord our God will deliver us from the king of Assyria”!
12
Don’t you realize that Hezekiah is the very person who destroyed all the idols, and commanded Judah and Jerusalem to use only the one altar at the Temple, and to burn incense upon it alone?
13
Don’t you realize that I and the other kings of Assyria before me have never yet failed to conquer a nation we attacked? The gods of those nations weren’t able to do a thing to save their lands!
14
Name just one time when anyone, anywhere, was able to resist us successfully. What makes you think your God can do any better?
15
Don’t let Hezekiah fool you! Don’t believe him. I say it again—no god of any nation has ever yet been able to rescue his people from me or my ancestors; how much less your God!’”
16
Thus the ambassador mocked the Lord God and God’s servant Hezekiah, heaping up insults.
17
King Sennacherib also sent letters scorning the Lord God of Israel.
“The gods of all the other nations failed to save their people from my hand, and the God of Hezekiah will fail too,” he wrote.
18
The messengers who brought the letters shouted threats in the Jewish language to the people gathered on the walls of the city, trying to frighten and dishearten them.
19
These messengers talked about the God of Jerusalem just as though he were one of the heathen gods—a handmade idol!
20
Then King Hezekiah and Isaiah the prophet (son of Amoz) cried out in prayer to God in heaven,
21
and the Lord sent an angel who destroyed the Assyrian army with all its officers and generals! So Sennacherib returned home in deep shame to his own land. And when he arrived at the temple of his god, some of his own sons killed him there.
22
That is how the Lord saved Hezekiah and the people of Jerusalem. And now there was peace at last throughout his realm.
23
From then on King Hezekiah became immensely respected among the surrounding nations, and many gifts for the Lord arrived at Jerusalem, with valuable presents for King Hezekiah too.
24
But about that time Hezekiah became deathly sick, and he prayed to the Lord, and the Lord replied with a miracle.
25
However, Hezekiah didn’t respond with true thanksgiving and praise for he had become proud, and so the anger of God was upon him and upon Judah and Jerusalem.
26
But finally Hezekiah and the residents of Jerusalem humbled themselves, so the wrath of the Lord did not fall upon them during Hezekiah’s lifetime.
27
So Hezekiah became very wealthy and was highly honored. He had to construct special treasury buildings for his silver, gold, precious stones, and spices, and for his shields and gold bowls.
28-29
He also built many storehouses for his grain, new wine, and olive oil, with many stalls for his animals and folds for the great flocks of sheep and goats he purchased; and he acquired many towns, for God had given him great wealth.
30
He dammed up Gihon’s Upper Spring and brought the water down through an aqueduct to the west side of the City of David sector in Jerusalem. He prospered in everything he did.
31
However, when ambassadors arrived from Babylon to find out about the miracle of his being healed, God left him to himself in order to test him and to see what he was really like.
32
The rest of the story of Hezekiah and all of the good things he did are written in
The Book of Isaiah
(the prophet, the son of Amoz), and in
The Annals of the Kings of Judah and Israel
.
33
When Hezekiah died, he was buried in the royal hillside cemetery among the other kings, and all Judah and Jerusalem honored him at his death. Then his son Manasseh became the new king.