Study Desk

and put all the gifts and tithes in them for safekeeping. They placed a Levite named Conaniah in charge and made his brother Shimei his assistant.

He was successful, because everything he did for the Temple or in observance of the Law, he did in a spirit of complete loyalty and devotion to his God.

After these events, in which King Hezekiah served the Lord faithfully, Sennacherib, the emperor of Assyria, invaded Judah. He besieged the fortified cities and gave orders for his army to break their way through the walls.

Then King Hezekiah and the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz prayed to God and cried out to him for help.

But Hezekiah was too proud to show gratitude for what the Lord had done for him, and Judah and Jerusalem suffered for it.

King Hezekiah became very wealthy, and everyone held him in honor. He had storerooms built for his gold, silver, precious stones, spices, shields, and other valuable objects.

In addition, he had storehouses built for his grain, wine, and olive oil; barns for his cattle; and pens for his sheep.

It was King Hezekiah who blocked the outlet for Gihon Spring and channeled the water to flow through a tunnel to a point inside the walls of Jerusalem. Hezekiah succeeded in everything he did,

Manasseh was twelve years old when he became king of Judah, and he ruled in Jerusalem for fifty-five years.

He rebuilt the pagan places of worship that his father Hezekiah had destroyed. He built altars for the worship of Baal, made images of the goddess Asherah, and worshiped the stars.

In the two courtyards of the Temple he built altars for the worship of the stars.

In his suffering he became humble, turned to the Lord his God, and begged him for help.

Amon was twenty-two years old when he became king of Judah, and he ruled in Jerusalem for two years.

Josiah was eight years old when he became king of Judah, and he ruled in Jerusalem for thirty-one years.

"Go and consult the Lord for me and for the people who still remain in Israel and Judah. Find out about the teachings of this book. The Lord is angry with us because our ancestors have not obeyed the word of the Lord and have not done what this book says must be done."

As for the king himself, this is what I, the Lord God of Israel, say: You listened to what is written in the book,

King Josiah celebrated the Passover at Jerusalem in honor of the Lord ; on the fourteenth day of the first month they killed the animals for the festival.

For the use of the people at the Passover, King Josiah contributed from his own herds and flocks 30,000 sheep, lambs, and young goats, and 3,000 bulls.

His officials also made contributions for the people, the priests, and the Levites to use. And the officials in charge of the Temple—Hilkiah, the High Priest, Zechariah, and Jehiel—gave the priests 2,600 lambs and young goats and 300 bulls for sacrifices during the festival.

The leaders of the Levites—Conaniah, Shemaiah and his brother Nethanel, Hashabiah, Jeiel, and Jozabad—contributed 5,000 lambs and young goats and 500 bulls for the Levites to offer as sacrifices.