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King Joash forgot that Zechariah's father had always been a loyal friend. So when the people of Judah plotted to kill Zechariah, Joash joined them and gave orders for them to stone him to death in the courtyard of the temple. As Zechariah was dying, he said, "I pray that the Lord will see this and punish all of you."

and so he will let your enemies defeat you, even if you fight hard. He is the one who brings both victory and defeat."

Amaziah, you think you're so powerful because you defeated Edom. But stay at home and do your celebrating. If you cause any trouble, both you and your kingdom of Judah will be destroyed.

so Jehoash led his army to the town of Beth-Shemesh in Judah to attack Amaziah and his troops.

Zechariah was Uzziah's advisor and taught him to obey God. And so, as long as Zechariah was alive, Uzziah was faithful to God, and God made him successful.

He also built defense towers out in the desert. He owned such a large herd of livestock in the western foothills and in the flatlands, that he had cisterns dug there to catch the rainwater. He loved farming, so he had crops and vineyards planted in the hill country wherever there was fertile soil, and he hired farmers to take care of them.

and said, "Your Majesty, this isn't right! You are not allowed to burn incense to the Lord . That must be done only by priests who are descendants of Aaron. You will have to leave! You have sinned against the Lord , and so he will no longer bless you."

Azariah and the other priests saw it and immediately told him to leave the temple. Uzziah realized that the Lord had punished him, so he hurried to get outside.

Ahaz and the people of Judah sinned and turned away from the Lord , the God their ancestors had worshiped. So the Lord punished them by letting their enemies defeat them. The king of Syria attacked Judah and took many of its people to Damascus as prisoners. King Pekah of Israel later defeated Judah and killed one hundred twenty thousand of its bravest soldiers in one day.

Oded lived in Samaria and was one of the Lord 's prophets. He met Israel's army on their way back from Judah and said to them: The Lord God of your ancestors let you defeat Judah's army only because he was angry with them. But you should not have been so cruel!

So in front of the leaders and the crowd, the troops handed over their prisoners and the property they had taken from Judah.

So Tiglath Pileser came to Judah, but instead of helping, he made things worse.

So I have decided to renew our agreement with the Lord God of Israel. Maybe then he will stop being so angry at us.

The priests and Levites began their work on the first day of the first month. It took them one week to purify the courtyards of the temple and another week to purify the temple. So on the sixteenth day of that same month

they went back to Hezekiah and said: Your Majesty, we have finished our work. The entire temple is now pure again, and so is the altar and its utensils, as well as the table for the sacred loaves of bread and its utensils.

Then Hezekiah and his officials ordered the Levites to sing the songs of praise that David and Asaph the prophet had written. And so they bowed down and joyfully sang praises to the Lord .

Besides all the sacrifices that were burned on the altar, the fat from the other animal sacrifices was burned, and the offerings of wine were poured over the altar. So the temple was once again used for worshiping the Lord .

Hezekiah and the people of Judah celebrated, because God had helped them make this happen so quickly.

Passover wasn't celebrated in the first month, which was the usual time, because many of the priests were still unclean and unacceptable to serve, and because not everyone in Judah had come to Jerusalem for the festival. So Hezekiah, his officials, and the people agreed to celebrate Passover in the second month. Hezekiah sent a message to everyone in Israel and Judah, including those in the territories of Ephraim and West Manasseh, inviting them to the temple in Jerusalem for the celebration of Passover in honor of the Lord God of Israel.

Most of the people that came from Ephraim, West Manasseh, Issachar, and Zebulun had not made themselves clean, but they ignored God's Law and ate the Passover lambs anyway. Hezekiah found out what they had done and prayed, " Lord God, these people are unclean according to the laws of holiness. But they are worshiping you, just as their ancestors did. So, please be kind and forgive them."