Study Desk

The priests and Levites had been divided into groups, and each group had its own special job to do. So King Hezekiah told these groups to begin doing their jobs again. So the priests and Levites again had the job of offering the burnt offerings and the fellowship offerings. And they had the job of serving in the Temple and singing and praising God by the doors to the Lord 's house.

The men of Israel and Judah living in the towns of Judah also brought one-tenth of their cattle and sheep. They also brought one-tenth of the things that were put in a special place that was only for the Lord their God. They brought all these things and put them in piles.

Then the priests brought the offerings, tithes, and other things that were to be given only to God. All these things collected were put in the storerooms in the Temple. Conaniah the Levite was in charge of everything that was collected. Shimei was second in charge of these things. Shimei was Conaniah's brother.

Kore was in charge of the offerings that the people freely gave to God. He was responsible for giving out the collections that were given to the Lord . And he was responsible for giving out the gifts that had been made holy. Kore was the gatekeeper at the East Gate. His father's name was Imnah the Levite.

So King Hezekiah did those good things in all Judah. He did what was good and right and faithful before the Lord his God.

He had success in every work he began—the service of God's Temple and in obeying the law and commands, and in following his God. Hezekiah did all these things with all his heart.

The king of Assyria only has men. But we have the Lord our God with us! Our God will help us. He will fight our battles!" So King Hezekiah of Judah encouraged the people and made them feel stronger.

Hezekiah is fooling you. You are being tricked into staying in Jerusalem so that you will die from hunger and thirst. Hezekiah says to you, "The Lord our God will save us from the king of Assyria."

But Hezekiah himself took away the high places and altars that belonged to that god. He told you people of Judah and Jerusalem that you must worship and burn incense on only one altar.

My ancestors destroyed those countries. There is no god that can stop me from destroying his people. So you think your god can save you from me?

Don't let Hezekiah fool you or trick you. Don't believe him because no god of any nation or kingdom has ever been able to keep his people safe from me or my ancestors. Don't think your god can stop me from destroying you.'"

The officers of the king of Assyria said worse things against the Lord God and against Hezekiah, God's servant.

The king of Assyria also wrote letters that insulted the Lord , the God of Israel. This is what the king of Assyria said in those letters: "The gods of the other nations could not stop me from destroying their people. In the same way Hezekiah's god will not be able to stop me from destroying his people."

Then they insulted the God of Jerusalem just as they had insulted all the gods of the people from other nations—even though those gods are only things people made with their hands.

Then the Lord sent an angel to the king of Assyria's camp. That angel killed all the soldiers, leaders, and officers in the Assyrian army. So the king of Assyria went back home to his own country, and his people were ashamed of him. He went into the temple of his god and some of his own sons killed him there with a sword.

But Hezekiah's heart was proud, so he did not give God thanks for his kindness. This is why God was angry with Hezekiah and with the people of Judah and Jerusalem.

Hezekiah also built many towns, and he got many flocks of sheep and cattle. God gave him much wealth.

One time the leaders of Babylon sent messengers to Hezekiah. The messengers asked about a strange sign that had happened in the nations. When they came, God left Hezekiah alone to test him and to know everything that was in Hezekiah's heart.

Everything else Hezekiah did as king and the ways he served God faithfully are written in the book, The Vision of the Prophet Isaiah Son of Amoz and in the book, The History of the Kings of Judah and Israel.

Manasseh also made a statue of an idol and put it in God's Temple—the very same Temple that God had talked about to David and his son Solomon. God had said, "I will put my name in this house and in Jerusalem—the city that I chose from all the cities in all the tribes—and my name will be there forever!