Study Desk

For the king and his officials and the whole assembly in Jerusalem had decided to keep the Passover in the second month,

So the couriers went throughout Israel and Judah with letters from the king and his officials, which read: "Children of Israel, return to the LORD, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, so that He may return to those of you who remain, who have escaped the grasp of the kings of Assyria.

Now do not stiffen your neck as your fathers did. Submit to the LORD and come to His sanctuary which He has consecrated forever. Serve the LORD your God, so that His fierce anger will turn away from you.

For if you return to the LORD, your brothers and sons will receive mercy in the presence of their captors and will return to this land. For the LORD your God is gracious and merciful; He will not turn His face away from you if you return to Him."

Also, the power of God was on the people in Judah to give them one heart to obey the command of the king and his officials according to the word of the LORD.

who sets his heart on seeking God-the LORD, the God of his fathers-even if he is not cleansed according to the purification rules of the sanctuary."

Then the priests and the Levites stood to bless the people, and God heard their voice, and their prayer came into His holy dwelling place in heaven.

When all this had ended, the Israelites in attendance went out to the cities of Judah and broke up the sacred pillars, chopped down the Asherah poles, and tore down the high places and altars throughout Judah and Benjamin, as well as in Ephraim and Manasseh, until they had utterly destroyed them all. Then all the Israelites returned to their cities, each to his own property.

The king contributed from his own possessions for the regular morning and evening burnt offerings and for the burnt offerings on the Sabbaths, New Moons, and appointed feasts, as written in the Law of the LORD.

When Hezekiah and his officials came and viewed the heaps, they blessed the LORD and His people Israel.

and Azariah, the chief priest of the household of Zadok, answered him, "Since the people began to bring their contributions into the house of the LORD, we have had enough to eat and there is plenty left over, because the LORD has blessed His people; this great abundance is what is left over."

And they faithfully brought in the contributions, tithes, and dedicated gifts. Conaniah the Levite was the officer in charge of them, and his brother Shimei was second.

Jehiel, Azaziah, Nahath, Asahel, Jerimoth, Jozabad, Eliel, Ismachiah, Mahath, and Benaiah were overseers under the authority of Conaniah and his brother Shimei, by appointment of King Hezekiah and of Azariah the chief official of the house of God.

Under his authority, Eden, Miniamin, Jeshua, Shemaiah, Amariah, and Shecaniah faithfully distributed portions to their fellow priests in their cities, according to their divisions, old and young alike.

So this is what Hezekiah did throughout Judah. He did what was good and upright and true before the LORD his God.

He was diligent in every work that he began in the service of the house of God, and in the law and the commandments, in order to seek his God. And so he prospered.

he consulted with his leaders and commanders about stopping up the waters of the springs outside the city, and they helped him carry it out.

Later, as Sennacherib king of Assyria and all his forces besieged Lachish, he sent his servants to Jerusalem with a message for King Hezekiah of Judah and all the people of Judah who were in Jerusalem:

Did not Hezekiah himself remove His high places and His altars and say to Judah and Jerusalem, 'You must worship before one altar, and on it you shall burn sacrifices'?

Who among all the gods of these nations that my fathers devoted to destruction has been able to deliver his people from my hand? How then can your God deliver you from my hand?