Study Desk

They shut the doors of the porch of the Temple, and they let the fire go out in the lamps. They stopped burning incense and offering burnt offerings in the holy place to the God of Israel.

Now I, Hezekiah, have decided to make an agreement with the Lord , the God of Israel, so he will not be angry with us anymore.

When Ahaz was king, he was unfaithful to God and removed some things from the Temple. But we have put them back and made them holy for the Lord . They are now in front of the Lord 's altar."

They brought seven bulls, seven male sheep, seven lambs, and seven male goats. These animals were an offering to remove the sin of the people and the kingdom of Judah and to make the Temple ready for service to God. King Hezekiah commanded the priests, the descendants of Aaron, to offer these animals on the Lord 's altar.

the priests killed them. With the goats' blood they made an offering on the altar to remove the sins of the Israelites so they would belong to God. The king had said that the burnt offering and sin offering should be made for all Israel.

King Hezekiah and his officers ordered the Levites to praise the Lord , using the words David and Asaph the seer had used. So they praised God with joy and bowed down and worshiped.

And Hezekiah and the people were very happy that God had made it happen so quickly for his people.

King Hezekiah sent messages to all the people of Israel and Judah, and he wrote letters to the people of Ephraim and Manasseh. Hezekiah invited all these people to come to the Temple of the Lord in Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover for the Lord , the God of Israel.

So they made an announcement everywhere in Israel, from Beersheba to Dan, telling the people to come to Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover for the Lord , the God of Israel. For a long time most of the people had not celebrated the Passover as the law commanded.

At the king's command, the messengers took letters from him and his officers all through Israel and Judah. This is what the letters said: People of Israel, return to the Lord , the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel. Then God will return to you who are still alive, who have escaped from the kings of Assyria.

Don't be like your ancestors or your relatives. They turned against the Lord , the God of their ancestors, so he caused other people to be disgusted with them. You know this is true.

Don't be stubborn as your ancestors were, but obey the Lord willingly. Come to the Temple, which he has made holy forever. Serve the Lord your God so he will not be angry with you.

Come back to the Lord . Then the people who captured your relatives and children will be kind to them and will let them return to this land. The Lord your God is kind and merciful. He will not turn away from you if you return to him.

And God united all the people of Judah in obeying King Hezekiah and his officers, because their command had come from the Lord .

They took their regular places in the Temple as the Teachings of Moses, the man of God, commanded. The Levites gave the blood of the sacrifices to the priests, who sprinkled it on the altar.

Although many people from Ephraim, Manasseh, Issachar, and Zebulun had not purified themselves for the feast, they ate the Passover even though it was against the law. So Hezekiah prayed for them, saying, " Lord , you are good. You are the Lord , the God of our ancestors. Please forgive all those who try to obey you even if they did not make themselves clean as the rules of the Temple command."

Hezekiah encouraged all the Levites who showed they understood well how to do their service for the Lord . The people ate the feast for seven days, offered fellowship offerings, and praised the Lord , the God of their ancestors.

The priests and Levites stood up and blessed the people, and God heard them because their prayer reached heaven, his holy home.

The people of Israel and Judah who lived in Judah also brought one-tenth of their cattle and sheep and one-tenth of the holy things that were given to the Lord their God, and they put all of them in piles.

Conaniah and his brother Shimei were over these supervisors: Jehiel, Azaziah, Nahath, Asahel, Jerimoth, Jozabad, Eliel, Ismakiah, Mahath, and Benaiah. King Hezekiah and Azariah the officer in charge of the Temple of God had chosen them.