Study Desk

King Uzziah was leprous to the day of his death, and being leprous lived in a separate house, for he was excluded from the house of the Lord . His son Jotham was in charge of the palace of the king, governing the people of the land.

Uzziah slept with his ancestors; they buried him near his ancestors in the burial field that belonged to the kings, for they said, "He is leprous." His son Jotham succeeded him.

but he walked in the ways of the kings of Israel. He even made cast images for the Baals;

Now hear me, and send back the captives whom you have taken from your kindred, for the fierce wrath of the Lord is upon you."

and said to them, "You shall not bring the captives in here, for you propose to bring on us guilt against the Lord in addition to our present sins and guilt. For our guilt is already great, and there is fierce wrath against Israel."

At that time King Ahaz sent to the king of Assyria for help.

For the Edomites had again invaded and defeated Judah, and carried away captives.

For the Lord brought Judah low because of King Ahaz of Israel, for he had behaved without restraint in Judah and had been faithless to the Lord .

For Ahaz plundered the house of the Lord and the houses of the king and of the officials, and gave tribute to the king of Assyria; but it did not help him.

For he sacrificed to the gods of Damascus, which had defeated him, and said, "Because the gods of the kings of Aram helped them, I will sacrifice to them so that they may help me." But they were the ruin of him, and of all Israel.

For our ancestors have been unfaithful and have done what was evil in the sight of the Lord our God; they have forsaken him, and have turned away their faces from the dwelling of the Lord , and turned their backs.

Our fathers have fallen by the sword and our sons and our daughters and our wives are in captivity for this.

My sons, do not now be negligent, for the Lord has chosen you to stand in his presence to minister to him, and to be his ministers and make offerings to him."

They began to sanctify on the first day of the first month, and on the eighth day of the month they came to the vestibule of the Lord ; then for eight days they sanctified the house of the Lord , and on the sixteenth day of the first month they finished.

Then they went inside to King Hezekiah and said, "We have cleansed all the house of the Lord , the altar of burnt offering and all its utensils, and the table for the rows of bread and all its utensils.

They brought seven bulls, seven rams, seven lambs, and seven male goats for a sin offering for the kingdom and for the sanctuary and for Judah. He commanded the priests the descendants of Aaron to offer them on the altar of the Lord .

Then the male goats for the sin offering were brought to the king and the assembly; they laid their hands on them,

and the priests slaughtered them and made a sin offering with their blood at the altar, to make atonement for all Israel. For the king commanded that the burnt offering and the sin offering should be made for all Israel.

He stationed the Levites in the house of the Lord with cymbals, harps, and lyres, according to the commandment of David and of Gad the king's seer and of the prophet Nathan, for the commandment was from the Lord through his prophets.

The number of the burnt offerings that the assembly brought was seventy bulls, one hundred rams, and two hundred lambs; all these were for a burnt offering to the Lord .