2Chronicles:28-36
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Ahaz was twenty years old when he began to reign ,
and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem :
but he did not that which was right in the sight of the LORD ,
like David his father :
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For he walked in the ways of the kings of Israel ,
and made also molten images for Baalim .
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Moreover he burnt incense in the valley of the son of Hinnom ,
and burnt his children in the fire ,
after the abominations of the heathen whom the LORD had cast out before the children of Israel .
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He sacrificed also and burnt incense in the high places ,
and on the hills ,
and under every green tree .
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Wherefore the LORD his God delivered him into the hand of the king of Syria ;
and they smote him ,
and carried away a great multitude of them captives ,
and brought them to Damascus .
And he was also delivered into the hand of the king of Israel ,
who smote him with a great slaughter .
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For Pekah the son of Remaliah slew in Judah an hundred and twenty thousand in one day ,
which were all valiant men ;
because they had forsaken the LORD God of their fathers .
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And Zichri ,
a mighty man of Ephraim ,
slew Maaseiah the king '
s son ,
and Azrikam the governor of the house ,
and Elkanah that was next to the king .
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And the children of Israel carried away captive of their brethren two hundred thousand ,
women ,
sons ,
and daughters ,
and took also away much spoil from them ,
and brought the spoil to Samaria .
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But a prophet of the LORD was there ,
whose name was Oded :
and he went out before the host that came to Samaria ,
and said unto them ,
Behold ,
because the LORD God of your fathers was wroth with Judah ,
he hath delivered them into your hand ,
and ye have slain them in a rage that reacheth up unto heaven .
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And now ye purpose to keep under the children of Judah and Jerusalem for bondmen and bondwomen unto you :
but are there not with you ,
even with you ,
sins against the LORD your God ?
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Now hear me therefore ,
and deliver the captives again ,
which ye have taken captive of your brethren :
for the fierce wrath of the LORD is upon you .
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Then certain of the heads of the children of Ephraim ,
Azariah the son of Johanan ,
Berechiah the son of Meshillemoth ,
and Jehizkiah the son of Shallum ,
and Amasa the son of Hadlai ,
stood up against them that came from the war ,
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And said unto them ,
Ye shall not bring in the captives hither :
for whereas we have offended against the LORD already ,
ye intend to add more to our sins and to our trespass :
for our trespass is great ,
and there is fierce wrath against Israel .
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So the armed men left the captives and the spoil before the princes and all the congregation .
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And the men which were expressed by name rose up ,
and took the captives ,
and with the spoil clothed all that were naked among them ,
and arrayed them ,
and shod them ,
and gave them to eat and to drink ,
and anointed them ,
and carried all the feeble of them upon asses ,
and brought them to Jericho ,
the city of palm trees ,
to their brethren :
then they returned to Samaria .
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At that time did king Ahaz send unto the kings of Assyria to help him .
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For again the Edomites had come and smitten Judah ,
and carried away captives .
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The Philistines also had invaded the cities of the low country ,
and of the south of Judah ,
and had taken Bethshemesh ,
and Ajalon ,
and Gederoth ,
and Shocho with the villages thereof ,
and Timnah with the villages thereof ,
Gimzo also and the villages thereof :
and they dwelt there .
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For the LORD brought Judah low because of Ahaz king of Israel ;
for he made Judah naked ,
and transgressed sore against the LORD .
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And Tilgathpilneser king of Assyria came unto him ,
and distressed him ,
but strengthened him not .
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For Ahaz took away a portion out of the house of the LORD ,
and out of the house of the king ,
and of the princes ,
and gave it unto the king of Assyria :
but he helped him not .
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And in the time of his distress did he trespass yet more against the LORD :
this is that king Ahaz .
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For he sacrificed unto the gods of Damascus ,
which smote him :
and he said ,
Because the gods of the kings of Syria help them ,
therefore will I sacrifice to them ,
that they may help me .
But they were the ruin of him ,
and of all Israel .
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And Ahaz gathered together the vessels of the house of God ,
and cut in pieces the vessels of the house of God ,
and shut up the doors of the house of the LORD ,
and he made him altars in every corner of Jerusalem .
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And in every several city of Judah he made high places to burn incense unto other gods ,
and provoked to anger the LORD God of his fathers .
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Now the rest of his acts and of all his ways ,
first and last ,
behold ,
they are written in the book of the kings of Judah and Israel .
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And Ahaz slept with his fathers ,
and they buried him in the city ,
even in Jerusalem :
but they brought him not into the sepulchres of the kings of Israel :
and Hezekiah his son reigned in his stead .
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Hezekiah began to reign when he was five and twenty years old ,
and he reigned nine and twenty years in Jerusalem .
And his mother '
s name was Abijah ,
the daughter of Zechariah .
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And he did that which was right in the sight of the LORD ,
according to all that David his father had done .
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He in the first year of his reign ,
in the first month ,
opened the doors of the house of the LORD ,
and repaired them .
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And he brought in the priests and the Levites ,
and gathered them together into the east street ,
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And said unto them ,
Hear me ,
ye Levites ,
sanctify now yourselves ,
and sanctify the house of the LORD God of your fathers ,
and carry forth the filthiness out of the holy place .
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For our fathers have trespassed ,
and done that which was evil in the eyes of the LORD our God ,
and have forsaken him ,
and have turned away their faces from the habitation of the LORD ,
and turned their backs .
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Also they have shut up the doors of the porch ,
and put out the lamps ,
and have not burned incense nor offered burnt offerings in the holy place unto the God of Israel .
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Wherefore the wrath of the LORD was upon Judah and Jerusalem ,
and he hath delivered them to trouble ,
to astonishment ,
and to hissing ,
as ye see with your eyes .
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For ,
lo ,
our fathers have fallen by the sword ,
and our sons and our daughters and our wives are in captivity for this .
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Now it is in mine heart to make a covenant with the LORD God of Israel ,
that his fierce wrath may turn away from us .
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My sons ,
be not now negligent :
for the LORD hath chosen you to stand before him ,
to serve him ,
and that ye should minister unto him ,
and burn incense .
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Then the Levites arose ,
Mahath the son of Amasai ,
and Joel the son of Azariah ,
of the sons of the Kohathites :
and of the sons of Merari ,
Kish the son of Abdi ,
and Azariah the son of Jehalelel :
and of the Gershonites ;
Joah the son of Zimmah ,
and Eden the son of Joah :
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And of the sons of Elizaphan ;
Shimri ,
and Jeiel :
and of the sons of Asaph ;
Zechariah ,
and Mattaniah :
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And of the sons of Heman ;
Jehiel ,
and Shimei :
and of the sons of Jeduthun ;
Shemaiah ,
and Uzziel .
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And they gathered their brethren ,
and sanctified themselves ,
and came ,
according to the commandment of the king ,
by the words of the LORD ,
to cleanse the house of the LORD .
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And the priests went into the inner part of the house of the LORD ,
to cleanse it ,
and brought out all the uncleanness that they found in the temple of the LORD into the court of the house of the LORD .
And the Levites took it ,
to carry it out abroad into the brook Kidron .
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Now they began on the first day of the first month to sanctify ,
and on the eighth day of the month came they to the porch of the LORD :
so they sanctified the house of the LORD in eight days ;
and in the sixteenth day of the first month they made an end .
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Then they went in to Hezekiah the king ,
and said ,
We have cleansed all the house of the LORD ,
and the altar of burnt offering ,
with all the vessels thereof ,
and the shewbread table ,
with all the vessels thereof .
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Moreover all the vessels ,
which king Ahaz in his reign did cast away in his transgression ,
have we prepared and sanctified ,
and ,
behold ,
they are before the altar of the LORD .
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Then Hezekiah the king rose early ,
and gathered the rulers of the city ,
and went up to the house of the LORD .
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And they brought seven bullocks ,
and seven rams ,
and seven lambs ,
and seven he goats ,
for a sin offering for the kingdom ,
and for the sanctuary ,
and for Judah .
And he commanded the priests the sons of Aaron to offer them on the altar of the LORD .
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So they killed the bullocks ,
and the priests received the blood ,
and sprinkled it on the altar :
likewise ,
when they had killed the rams ,
they sprinkled the blood upon the altar :
they killed also the lambs ,
and they sprinkled the blood upon the altar .
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And they brought forth the he goats for the sin offering before the king and the congregation ;
and they laid their hands upon them :
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And the priests killed them ,
and they made reconciliation with their blood upon the altar ,
to make an atonement for all Israel :
for the king commanded that the burnt offering and the sin offering should be made for all Israel .
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And he set the Levites in the house of the LORD with cymbals ,
with psalteries ,
and with harps ,
according to the commandment of David ,
and of Gad the king '
s seer ,
and Nathan the prophet :
for so was the commandment of the LORD by his prophets .
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And the Levites stood with the instruments of David ,
and the priests with the trumpets .
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And Hezekiah commanded to offer the burnt offering upon the altar .
And when the burnt offering began ,
the song of the LORD began also with the trumpets ,
and with the instruments ordained by David king of Israel .
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And all the congregation worshipped ,
and the singers sang ,
and the trumpeters sounded :
and all this continued until the burnt offering was finished .
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And when they had made an end of offering ,
the king and all that were present with him bowed themselves ,
and worshipped .
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Moreover Hezekiah the king and the princes commanded the Levites to sing praise unto the LORD with the words of David ,
and of Asaph the seer .
And they sang praises with gladness ,
and they bowed their heads and worshipped .
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Then Hezekiah answered and said ,
Now ye have consecrated yourselves unto the LORD ,
come near and bring sacrifices and thank offerings into the house of the LORD .
And the congregation brought in sacrifices and thank offerings ;
and as many as were of a free heart burnt offerings .
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And the number of the burnt offerings ,
which the congregation brought ,
was threescore and ten bullocks ,
an hundred rams ,
and two hundred lambs :
all these were for a burnt offering to the LORD .
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And the consecrated things were six hundred oxen and three thousand sheep .
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But the priests were too few ,
so that they could not flay all the burnt offerings :
wherefore their brethren the Levites did help them ,
till the work was ended ,
and until the other priests had sanctified themselves :
for the Levites were more upright in heart to sanctify themselves than the priests .
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And also the burnt offerings were in abundance ,
with the fat of the peace offerings ,
and the drink offerings for every burnt offering .
So the service of the house of the LORD was set in order .
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And Hezekiah rejoiced ,
and all the people ,
that God had prepared the people :
for the thing was done suddenly .
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And Hezekiah sent to all Israel and Judah ,
and wrote letters also to Ephraim and Manasseh ,
that they should come to the house of the LORD at Jerusalem ,
to keep the passover unto the LORD God of Israel .
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For the king had taken counsel ,
and his princes ,
and all the congregation in Jerusalem ,
to keep the passover in the second month .
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For they could not keep it at that time ,
because the priests had not sanctified themselves sufficiently ,
neither had the people gathered themselves together to Jerusalem .
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And the thing pleased the king and all the congregation .
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So they established a decree to make proclamation throughout all Israel ,
from Beersheba even to Dan ,
that they should come to keep the passover unto the LORD God of Israel at Jerusalem :
for they had not done it of a long time in such sort as it was written .
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So the posts went with the letters from the king and his princes throughout all Israel and Judah ,
and according to the commandment of the king ,
saying ,
Ye children of Israel ,
turn again unto the LORD God of Abraham ,
Isaac ,
and Israel ,
and he will return to the remnant of you ,
that are escaped out of the hand of the kings of Assyria .
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And be not ye like your fathers ,
and like your brethren ,
which trespassed against the LORD God of their fathers ,
who therefore gave them up to desolation ,
as ye see .
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Now be ye not stiffnecked ,
as your fathers were ,
but yield yourselves unto the LORD ,
and enter into his sanctuary ,
which he hath sanctified for ever :
and serve the LORD your God ,
that the fierceness of his wrath may turn away from you .
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For if ye turn again unto the LORD ,
your brethren and your children shall find compassion before them that lead them captive ,
so that they shall come again into this land :
for the LORD your God is gracious and merciful ,
and will not turn away his face from you ,
if ye return unto him .
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So the posts passed from city to city through the country of Ephraim and Manasseh even unto Zebulun :
but they laughed them to scorn ,
and mocked them .
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Nevertheless divers of Asher and Manasseh and of Zebulun humbled themselves ,
and came to Jerusalem .
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Also in Judah the hand of God was to give them one heart to do the commandment of the king and of the princes ,
by the word of the LORD .
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And there assembled at Jerusalem much people to keep the feast of unleavened bread in the second month ,
a very great congregation .
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And they arose and took away the altars that were in Jerusalem ,
and all the altars for incense took they away ,
and cast them into the brook Kidron .
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Then they killed the passover on the fourteenth day of the second month :
and the priests and the Levites were ashamed ,
and sanctified themselves ,
and brought in the burnt offerings into the house of the LORD .
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And they stood in their place after their manner ,
according to the law of Moses the man of God :
the priests sprinkled the blood ,
which they received of the hand of the Levites .
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For there were many in the congregation that were not sanctified :
therefore the Levites had the charge of the killing of the passovers for every one that was not clean ,
to sanctify them unto the LORD .
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For a multitude of the people ,
even many of Ephraim ,
and Manasseh ,
Issachar ,
and Zebulun ,
had not cleansed themselves ,
yet did they eat the passover otherwise than it was written .
But Hezekiah prayed for them ,
saying ,
The good LORD pardon every one
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That prepareth his heart to seek God ,
the LORD God of his fathers ,
though he be not cleansed according to the purification of the sanctuary .
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And the LORD hearkened to Hezekiah ,
and healed the people .
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And the children of Israel that were present at Jerusalem kept the feast of unleavened bread seven days with great gladness :
and the Levites and the priests praised the LORD day by day ,
singing with loud instruments unto the LORD .
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And Hezekiah spake comfortably unto all the Levites that taught the good knowledge of the LORD :
and they did eat throughout the feast seven days ,
offering peace offerings ,
and making confession to the LORD God of their fathers .
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And the whole assembly took counsel to keep other seven days :
and they kept other seven days with gladness .
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For Hezekiah king of Judah did give to the congregation a thousand bullocks and seven thousand sheep ;
and the princes gave to the congregation a thousand bullocks and ten thousand sheep :
and a great number of priests sanctified themselves .
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And all the congregation of Judah ,
with the priests and the Levites ,
and all the congregation that came out of Israel ,
and the strangers that came out of the land of Israel ,
and that dwelt in Judah ,
rejoiced .
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So there was great joy in Jerusalem :
for since the time of Solomon the son of David king of Israel there was not the like in Jerusalem .
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Then the priests the Levites arose and blessed the people :
and their voice was heard ,
and their prayer came up to his holy dwelling place ,
even unto heaven .
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Now when all this was finished ,
all Israel that were present went out to the cities of Judah ,
and brake the images in pieces ,
and cut down the groves ,
and threw down the high places and the altars out of all Judah and Benjamin ,
in Ephraim also and Manasseh ,
until they had utterly destroyed them all .
Then all the children of Israel returned ,
every man to his possession ,
into their own cities .
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And Hezekiah appointed the courses of the priests and the Levites after their courses ,
every man according to his service ,
the priests and Levites for burnt offerings and for peace offerings ,
to minister ,
and to give thanks ,
and to praise in the gates of the tents of the LORD .
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He appointed also the king '
s portion of his substance for the burnt offerings ,
to wit ,
for the morning and evening burnt offerings ,
and the burnt offerings for the sabbaths ,
and for the new moons ,
and for the set feasts ,
as it is written in the law of the LORD .
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Moreover he commanded the people that dwelt in Jerusalem to give the portion of the priests and the Levites ,
that they might be encouraged in the law of the LORD .
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And as soon as the commandment came abroad ,
the children of Israel brought in abundance the firstfruits of corn ,
wine ,
and oil ,
and honey ,
and of all the increase of the field ;
and the tithe of all things brought they in abundantly .
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And concerning the children of Israel and Judah ,
that dwelt in the cities of Judah ,
they also brought in the tithe of oxen and sheep ,
and the tithe of holy things which were consecrated unto the LORD their God ,
and laid them by heaps .
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In the third month they began to lay the foundation of the heaps ,
and finished them in the seventh month .
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And when Hezekiah and the princes came and saw the heaps ,
they blessed the LORD ,
and his people Israel .
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Then Hezekiah questioned with the priests and the Levites concerning the heaps .
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And Azariah the chief priest of the house of Zadok answered him ,
and said ,
Since the people began to bring the offerings into the house of the LORD ,
we have had enough to eat ,
and have left plenty :
for the LORD hath blessed his people ;
and that which is left is this great store .
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Then Hezekiah commanded to prepare chambers in the house of the LORD ;
and they prepared them ,
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And brought in the offerings and the tithes and the dedicated things faithfully :
over which Cononiah the Levite was ruler ,
and Shimei his brother was the next .
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And Jehiel ,
and Azaziah ,
and Nahath ,
and Asahel ,
and Jerimoth ,
and Jozabad ,
and Eliel ,
and Ismachiah ,
and Mahath ,
and Benaiah ,
were overseers under the hand of Cononiah and Shimei his brother ,
at the commandment of Hezekiah the king ,
and Azariah the ruler of the house of God .
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And Kore the son of Imnah the Levite ,
the porter toward the east ,
was over the freewill offerings of God ,
to distribute the oblations of the LORD ,
and the most holy things .
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And next him were Eden ,
and Miniamin ,
and Jeshua ,
and Shemaiah ,
Amariah ,
and Shecaniah ,
in the cities of the priests ,
in their set office ,
to give to their brethren by courses ,
as well to the great as to the small :
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Beside their genealogy of males ,
from three years old and upward ,
even unto every one that entereth into the house of the LORD ,
his daily portion for their service in their charges according to their courses ;
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Both to the genealogy of the priests by the house of their fathers ,
and the Levites from twenty years old and upward ,
in their charges by their courses ;
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And to the genealogy of all their little ones ,
their wives ,
and their sons ,
and their daughters ,
through all the congregation :
for in their set office they sanctified themselves in holiness :
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Also of the sons of Aaron the priests ,
which were in the fields of the suburbs of their cities ,
in every several city ,
the men that were expressed by name ,
to give portions to all the males among the priests ,
and to all that were reckoned by genealogies among the Levites .
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And thus did Hezekiah throughout all Judah ,
and wrought that which was good and right and truth before the LORD his God .
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And in every work that he began in the service of the house of God ,
and in the law ,
and in the commandments ,
to seek his God ,
he did it with all his heart ,
and prospered .
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After these things ,
and the establishment thereof ,
Sennacherib king of Assyria came ,
and entered into Judah ,
and encamped against the fenced cities ,
and thought to win them for himself .
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And when Hezekiah saw that Sennacherib was come ,
and that he was purposed to fight against Jerusalem ,
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He took counsel with his princes and his mighty men to stop the waters of the fountains which were without the city :
and they did help him .
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So there was gathered much people together ,
who stopped all the fountains ,
and the brook that ran through the midst of the land ,
saying ,
Why should the kings of Assyria come ,
and find much water ?
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Also he strengthened himself ,
and built up all the wall that was broken ,
and raised it up to the towers ,
and another wall without ,
and repaired Millo in the city of David ,
and made darts and shields in abundance .
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And he set captains of war over the people ,
and gathered them together to him in the street of the gate of the city ,
and spake comfortably to them ,
saying ,
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Be strong and courageous ,
be not afraid nor dismayed for the king of Assyria ,
nor for all the multitude that is with him :
for there be more with us than with him :
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With him is an arm of flesh ;
but with us is the LORD our God to help us ,
and to fight our battles .
And the people rested themselves upon the words of Hezekiah king of Judah .
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After this did Sennacherib king of Assyria send his servants to Jerusalem , (
but he himself laid siege against Lachish ,
and all his power with him ,)
unto Hezekiah king of Judah ,
and unto all Judah that were at Jerusalem ,
saying ,
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Thus saith Sennacherib king of Assyria ,
Whereon do ye trust ,
that ye abide in the siege in Jerusalem ?
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Doth not Hezekiah persuade you to give over yourselves to die by famine and by thirst ,
saying ,
The LORD our God shall deliver us out of the hand of the king of Assyria ?
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Hath not the same Hezekiah taken away his high places and his altars ,
and commanded Judah and Jerusalem ,
saying ,
Ye shall worship before one altar ,
and burn incense upon it ?
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Know ye not what I and my fathers have done unto all the people of other lands ?
were the gods of the nations of those lands any ways able to deliver their lands out of mine hand ?
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Who was there among all the gods of those nations that my fathers utterly destroyed ,
that could deliver his people out of mine hand ,
that your God should be able to deliver you out of mine hand ?
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Now therefore let not Hezekiah deceive you ,
nor persuade you on this manner ,
neither yet believe him :
for no god of any nation or kingdom was able to deliver his people out of mine hand ,
and out of the hand of my fathers :
how much less shall your God deliver you out of mine hand ?
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And his servants spake yet more against the LORD God ,
and against his servant Hezekiah .
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He wrote also letters to rail on the LORD God of Israel ,
and to speak against him ,
saying ,
As the gods of the nations of other lands have not delivered their people out of mine hand ,
so shall not the God of Hezekiah deliver his people out of mine hand .
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Then they cried with a loud voice in the Jews '
speech unto the people of Jerusalem that were on the wall ,
to affright them ,
and to trouble them ;
that they might take the city .
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And they spake against the God of Jerusalem ,
as against the gods of the people of the earth ,
which were the work of the hands of man .
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And for this cause Hezekiah the king ,
and the prophet Isaiah the son of Amoz ,
prayed and cried to heaven .
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And the LORD sent an angel ,
which cut off all the mighty men of valour ,
and the leaders and captains in the camp of the king of Assyria .
So he returned with shame of face to his own land .
And when he was come into the house of his god ,
they that came forth of his own bowels slew him there with the sword .
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Thus the LORD saved Hezekiah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem from the hand of Sennacherib the king of Assyria ,
and from the hand of all other ,
and guided them on every side .
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And many brought gifts unto the LORD to Jerusalem ,
and presents to Hezekiah king of Judah :
so that he was magnified in the sight of all nations from thenceforth .
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In those days Hezekiah was sick to the death ,
and prayed unto the LORD :
and he spake unto him ,
and he gave him a sign .
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But Hezekiah rendered not again according to the benefit done unto him ;
for his heart was lifted up :
therefore there was wrath upon him ,
and upon Judah and Jerusalem .
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Notwithstanding Hezekiah humbled himself for the pride of his heart ,
both he and the inhabitants of Jerusalem ,
so that the wrath of the LORD came not upon them in the days of Hezekiah .
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And Hezekiah had exceeding much riches and honour :
and he made himself treasuries for silver ,
and for gold ,
and for precious stones ,
and for spices ,
and for shields ,
and for all manner of pleasant jewels ;
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Storehouses also for the increase of corn ,
and wine ,
and oil ;
and stalls for all manner of beasts ,
and cotes for flocks .
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Moreover he provided him cities ,
and possessions of flocks and herds in abundance :
for God had given him substance very much .
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This same Hezekiah also stopped the upper watercourse of Gihon ,
and brought it straight down to the west side of the city of David .
And Hezekiah prospered in all his works .
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Howbeit in the business of the ambassadors of the princes of Babylon ,
who sent unto him to enquire of the wonder that was done in the land ,
God left him ,
to try him ,
that he might know all that was in his heart .
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Now the rest of the acts of Hezekiah ,
and his goodness ,
behold ,
they are written in the vision of Isaiah the prophet ,
the son of Amoz ,
and in the book of the kings of Judah and Israel .
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And Hezekiah slept with his fathers ,
and they buried him in the chiefest of the sepulchres of the sons of David :
and all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem did him honour at his death .
And Manasseh his son reigned in his stead .
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Manasseh was twelve years old when he began to reign ,
and he reigned fifty and five years in Jerusalem :
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But did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD ,
like unto the abominations of the heathen ,
whom the LORD had cast out before the children of Israel .
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For he built again the high places which Hezekiah his father had broken down ,
and he reared up altars for Baalim ,
and made groves ,
and worshipped all the host of heaven ,
and served them .
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Also he built altars in the house of the LORD ,
whereof the LORD had said ,
In Jerusalem shall my name be for ever .
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And he built altars for all the host of heaven in the two courts of the house of the LORD .
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And he caused his children to pass through the fire in the valley of the son of Hinnom :
also he observed times ,
and used enchantments ,
and used witchcraft ,
and dealt with a familiar spirit ,
and with wizards :
he wrought much evil in the sight of the LORD ,
to provoke him to anger .
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And he set a carved image ,
the idol which he had made ,
in the house of God ,
of which God had said to David and to Solomon his son ,
In this house ,
and in Jerusalem ,
which I have chosen before all the tribes of Israel ,
will I put my name for ever :
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Neither will I any more remove the foot of Israel from out of the land which I have appointed for your fathers ;
so that they will take heed to do all that I have commanded them ,
according to the whole law and the statutes and the ordinances by the hand of Moses .
*
So Manasseh made Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to err ,
and to do worse than the heathen ,
whom the LORD had destroyed before the children of Israel .
*
And the LORD spake to Manasseh ,
and to his people :
but they would not hearken .
*
Wherefore the LORD brought upon them the captains of the host of the king of Assyria ,
which took Manasseh among the thorns ,
and bound him with fetters ,
and carried him to Babylon .
*
And when he was in affliction ,
he besought the LORD his God ,
and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers ,
*
And prayed unto him :
and he was intreated of him ,
and heard his supplication ,
and brought him again to Jerusalem into his kingdom .
Then Manasseh knew that the LORD he was God .
*
Now after this he built a wall without the city of David ,
on the west side of Gihon ,
in the valley ,
even to the entering in at the fish gate ,
and compassed about Ophel ,
and raised it up a very great height ,
and put captains of war in all the fenced cities of Judah .
*
And he took away the strange gods ,
and the idol out of the house of the LORD ,
and all the altars that he had built in the mount of the house of the LORD ,
and in Jerusalem ,
and cast them out of the city .
*
And he repaired the altar of the LORD ,
and sacrificed thereon peace offerings and thank offerings ,
and commanded Judah to serve the LORD God of Israel .
*
Nevertheless the people did sacrifice still in the high places ,
yet unto the LORD their God only .
*
Now the rest of the acts of Manasseh ,
and his prayer unto his God ,
and the words of the seers that spake to him in the name of the LORD God of Israel ,
behold ,
they are written in the book of the kings of Israel .
*
His prayer also ,
and how God was intreated of him ,
and all his sin ,
and his trespass ,
and the places wherein he built high places ,
and set up groves and graven images ,
before he was humbled :
behold ,
they are written among the sayings of the seers .
*
So Manasseh slept with his fathers ,
and they buried him in his own house :
and Amon his son reigned in his stead .
*
Amon was two and twenty years old when he began to reign ,
and reigned two years in Jerusalem .
*
But he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD ,
as did Manasseh his father :
for Amon sacrificed unto all the carved images which Manasseh his father had made ,
and served them ;
*
And humbled not himself before the LORD ,
as Manasseh his father had humbled himself ;
but Amon trespassed more and more .
*
And his servants conspired against him ,
and slew him in his own house .
*
But the people of the land slew all them that had conspired against king Amon ;
and the people of the land made Josiah his son king in his stead .
*
Josiah was eight years old when he began to reign ,
and he reigned in Jerusalem one and thirty years .
*
And he did that which was right in the sight of the LORD ,
and walked in the ways of David his father ,
and declined neither to the right hand ,
nor to the left .
*
For in the eighth year of his reign ,
while he was yet young ,
he began to seek after the God of David his father :
and in the twelfth year he began to purge Judah and Jerusalem from the high places ,
and the groves ,
and the carved images ,
and the molten images .
*
And they brake down the altars of Baalim in his presence ;
and the images ,
that were on high above them ,
he cut down ;
and the groves ,
and the carved images ,
and the molten images ,
he brake in pieces ,
and made dust of them ,
and strowed it upon the graves of them that had sacrificed unto them .
*
And he burnt the bones of the priests upon their altars ,
and cleansed Judah and Jerusalem .
*
And so did he in the cities of Manasseh ,
and Ephraim ,
and Simeon ,
even unto Naphtali ,
with their mattocks round about .
*
And when he had broken down the altars and the groves ,
and had beaten the graven images into powder ,
and cut down all the idols throughout all the land of Israel ,
he returned to Jerusalem .
*
Now in the eighteenth year of his reign ,
when he had purged the land ,
and the house ,
he sent Shaphan the son of Azaliah ,
and Maaseiah the governor of the city ,
and Joah the son of Joahaz the recorder ,
to repair the house of the LORD his God .
*
And when they came to Hilkiah the high priest ,
they delivered the money that was brought into the house of God ,
which the Levites that kept the doors had gathered of the hand of Manasseh and Ephraim ,
and of all the remnant of Israel ,
and of all Judah and Benjamin ;
and they returned to Jerusalem .
*
And they put it in the hand of the workmen that had the oversight of the house of the LORD ,
and they gave it to the workmen that wrought in the house of the LORD ,
to repair and amend the house :
*
Even to the artificers and builders gave they it ,
to buy hewn stone ,
and timber for couplings ,
and to floor the houses which the kings of Judah had destroyed .
*
And the men did the work faithfully :
and the overseers of them were Jahath and Obadiah ,
the Levites ,
of the sons of Merari ;
and Zechariah and Meshullam ,
of the sons of the Kohathites ,
to set it forward ;
and other of the Levites ,
all that could skill of instruments of musick .
*
Also they were over the bearers of burdens ,
and were overseers of all that wrought the work in any manner of service :
and of the Levites there were scribes ,
and officers ,
and porters .
*
And when they brought out the money that was brought into the house of the LORD ,
Hilkiah the priest found a book of the law of the LORD given by Moses .
*
And Hilkiah answered and said to Shaphan the scribe ,
I have found the book of the law in the house of the LORD .
And Hilkiah delivered the book to Shaphan .
*
And Shaphan carried the book to the king ,
and brought the king word back again ,
saying ,
All that was committed to thy servants ,
they do it .
*
And they have gathered together the money that was found in the house of the LORD ,
and have delivered it into the hand of the overseers ,
and to the hand of the workmen .
*
Then Shaphan the scribe told the king ,
saying ,
Hilkiah the priest hath given me a book .
And Shaphan read it before the king .
*
And it came to pass ,
when the king had heard the words of the law ,
that he rent his clothes .
*
And the king commanded Hilkiah ,
and Ahikam the son of Shaphan ,
and Abdon the son of Micah ,
and Shaphan the scribe ,
and Asaiah a servant of the king '
s ,
saying ,
*
Go ,
enquire of the LORD for me ,
and for them that are left in Israel and in Judah ,
concerning the words of the book that is found :
for great is the wrath of the LORD that is poured out upon us ,
because our fathers have not kept the word of the LORD ,
to do after all that is written in this book .
*
And Hilkiah ,
and they that the king had appointed ,
went to Huldah the prophetess ,
the wife of Shallum the son of Tikvath ,
the son of Hasrah ,
keeper of the wardrobe ; (
now she dwelt in Jerusalem in the college :)
and they spake to her to that effect .
*
And she answered them ,
Thus saith the LORD God of Israel ,
Tell ye the man that sent you to me ,
*
Thus saith the LORD ,
Behold ,
I will bring evil upon this place ,
and upon the inhabitants thereof ,
even all the curses that are written in the book which they have read before the king of Judah :
*
Because they have forsaken me ,
and have burned incense unto other gods ,
that they might provoke me to anger with all the works of their hands ;
therefore my wrath shall be poured out upon this place ,
and shall not be quenched .
*
And as for the king of Judah ,
who sent you to enquire of the LORD ,
so shall ye say unto him ,
Thus saith the LORD God of Israel concerning the words which thou hast heard ;
*
Because thine heart was tender ,
and thou didst humble thyself before God ,
when thou heardest his words against this place ,
and against the inhabitants thereof ,
and humbledst thyself before me ,
and didst rend thy clothes ,
and weep before me ;
I have even heard thee also ,
saith the LORD .
*
Behold ,
I will gather thee to thy fathers ,
and thou shalt be gathered to thy grave in peace ,
neither shall thine eyes see all the evil that I will bring upon this place ,
and upon the inhabitants of the same .
So they brought the king word again .
*
Then the king sent and gathered together all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem .
*
And the king went up into the house of the LORD ,
and all the men of Judah ,
and the inhabitants of Jerusalem ,
and the priests ,
and the Levites ,
and all the people ,
great and small :
and he read in their ears all the words of the book of the covenant that was found in the house of the LORD .
*
And the king stood in his place ,
and made a covenant before the LORD ,
to walk after the LORD ,
and to keep his commandments ,
and his testimonies ,
and his statutes ,
with all his heart ,
and with all his soul ,
to perform the words of the covenant which are written in this book .
*
And he caused all that were present in Jerusalem and Benjamin to stand to it .
And the inhabitants of Jerusalem did according to the covenant of God ,
the God of their fathers .
*
And Josiah took away all the abominations out of all the countries that pertained to the children of Israel ,
and made all that were present in Israel to serve ,
even to serve the LORD their God .
And all his days they departed not from following the LORD ,
the God of their fathers .
*
Moreover Josiah kept a passover unto the LORD in Jerusalem :
and they killed the passover on the fourteenth day of the first month .
*
And he set the priests in their charges ,
and encouraged them to the service of the house of the LORD ,
*
And said unto the Levites that taught all Israel ,
which were holy unto the LORD ,
Put the holy ark in the house which Solomon the son of David king of Israel did build ;
it shall not be a burden upon your shoulders :
serve now the LORD your God ,
and his people Israel ,
*
And prepare yourselves by the houses of your fathers ,
after your courses ,
according to the writing of David king of Israel ,
and according to the writing of Solomon his son .
*
And stand in the holy place according to the divisions of the families of the fathers of your brethren the people ,
and after the division of the families of the Levites .
*
So kill the passover ,
and sanctify yourselves ,
and prepare your brethren ,
that they may do according to the word of the LORD by the hand of Moses .
*
And Josiah gave to the people ,
of the flock ,
lambs and kids ,
all for the passover offerings ,
for all that were present ,
to the number of thirty thousand ,
and three thousand bullocks :
these were of the king '
s substance .
*
And his princes gave willingly unto the people ,
to the priests ,
and to the Levites :
Hilkiah and Zechariah and Jehiel ,
rulers of the house of God ,
gave unto the priests for the passover offerings two thousand and six hundred small cattle ,
and three hundred oxen .
*
Conaniah also ,
and Shemaiah and Nethaneel ,
his brethren ,
and Hashabiah and Jeiel and Jozabad ,
chief of the Levites ,
gave unto the Levites for passover offerings five thousand small cattle ,
and five hundred oxen .
*
So the service was prepared ,
and the priests stood in their place ,
and the Levites in their courses ,
according to the king '
s commandment .
*
And they killed the passover ,
and the priests sprinkled the blood from their hands ,
and the Levites flayed them .
*
And they removed the burnt offerings ,
that they might give according to the divisions of the families of the people ,
to offer unto the LORD ,
as it is written in the book of Moses .
And so did they with the oxen .
*
And they roasted the passover with fire according to the ordinance :
but the other holy offerings sod they in pots ,
and in caldrons ,
and in pans ,
and divided them speedily among all the people .
*
And afterward they made ready for themselves ,
and for the priests :
because the priests the sons of Aaron were busied in offering of burnt offerings and the fat until night ;
therefore the Levites prepared for themselves ,
and for the priests the sons of Aaron .
*
And the singers the sons of Asaph were in their place ,
according to the commandment of David ,
and Asaph ,
and Heman ,
and Jeduthun the king '
s seer ;
and the porters waited at every gate ;
they might not depart from their service ;
for their brethren the Levites prepared for them .
*
So all the service of the LORD was prepared the same day ,
to keep the passover ,
and to offer burnt offerings upon the altar of the LORD ,
according to the commandment of king Josiah .
*
And the children of Israel that were present kept the passover at that time ,
and the feast of unleavened bread seven days .
*
And there was no passover like to that kept in Israel from the days of Samuel the prophet ;
neither did all the kings of Israel keep such a passover as Josiah kept ,
and the priests ,
and the Levites ,
and all Judah and Israel that were present ,
and the inhabitants of Jerusalem .
*
In the eighteenth year of the reign of Josiah was this passover kept .
*
After all this ,
when Josiah had prepared the temple ,
Necho king of Egypt came up to fight against Carchemish by Euphrates :
and Josiah went out against him .
*
But he sent ambassadors to him ,
saying ,
What have I to do with thee ,
thou king of Judah ?
I come not against thee this day ,
but against the house wherewith I have war :
for God commanded me to make haste :
forbear thee from meddling with God ,
who is with me ,
that he destroy thee not .
*
Nevertheless Josiah would not turn his face from him ,
but disguised himself ,
that he might fight with him ,
and hearkened not unto the words of Necho from the mouth of God ,
and came to fight in the valley of Megiddo .
*
And the archers shot at king Josiah ;
and the king said to his servants ,
Have me away ;
for I am sore wounded .
*
His servants therefore took him out of that chariot ,
and put him in the second chariot that he had ;
and they brought him to Jerusalem ,
and he died ,
and was buried in one of the sepulchres of his fathers .
And all Judah and Jerusalem mourned for Josiah .
*
And Jeremiah lamented for Josiah :
and all the singing men and the singing women spake of Josiah in their lamentations to this day ,
and made them an ordinance in Israel :
and ,
behold ,
they are written in the lamentations .
*
Now the rest of the acts of Josiah ,
and his goodness ,
according to that which was written in the law of the LORD ,
*
And his deeds ,
first and last ,
behold ,
they are written in the book of the kings of Israel and Judah .
*
Then the people of the land took Jehoahaz the son of Josiah ,
and made him king in his father '
s stead in Jerusalem .
*
Jehoahaz was twenty and three years old when he began to reign ,
and he reigned three months in Jerusalem .
*
And the king of Egypt put him down at Jerusalem ,
and condemned the land in an hundred talents of silver and a talent of gold .
*
And the king of Egypt made Eliakim his brother king over Judah and Jerusalem ,
and turned his name to Jehoiakim .
And Necho took Jehoahaz his brother ,
and carried him to Egypt .
*
Jehoiakim was twenty and five years old when he began to reign ,
and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem :
and he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD his God .
*
Against him came up Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon ,
and bound him in fetters ,
to carry him to Babylon .
*
Nebuchadnezzar also carried of the vessels of the house of the LORD to Babylon ,
and put them in his temple at Babylon .
*
Now the rest of the acts of Jehoiakim ,
and his abominations which he did ,
and that which was found in him ,
behold ,
they are written in the book of the kings of Israel and Judah :
and Jehoiachin his son reigned in his stead .
*
Jehoiachin was eight years old when he began to reign ,
and he reigned three months and ten days in Jerusalem :
and he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD .
*
And when the year was expired ,
king Nebuchadnezzar sent ,
and brought him to Babylon ,
with the goodly vessels of the house of the LORD ,
and made Zedekiah his brother king over Judah and Jerusalem .
*
Zedekiah was one and twenty years old when he began to reign ,
and reigned eleven years in Jerusalem .
*
And he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD his God ,
and humbled not himself before Jeremiah the prophet speaking from the mouth of the LORD .
*
And he also rebelled against king Nebuchadnezzar ,
who had made him swear by God :
but he stiffened his neck ,
and hardened his heart from turning unto the LORD God of Israel .
*
Moreover all the chief of the priests ,
and the people ,
transgressed very much after all the abominations of the heathen ;
and polluted the house of the LORD which he had hallowed in Jerusalem .
*
And the LORD God of their fathers sent to them by his messengers ,
rising up betimes ,
and sending ;
because he had compassion on his people ,
and on his dwelling place :
*
But they mocked the messengers of God ,
and despised his words ,
and misused his prophets ,
until the wrath of the LORD arose against his people ,
till there was no remedy .
*
Therefore he brought upon them the king of the Chaldees ,
who slew their young men with the sword in the house of their sanctuary ,
and had no compassion upon young man or maiden ,
old man ,
or him that stooped for age :
he gave them all into his hand .
*
And all the vessels of the house of God ,
great and small ,
and the treasures of the house of the LORD ,
and the treasures of the king ,
and of his princes ;
all these he brought to Babylon .
*
And they burnt the house of God ,
and brake down the wall of Jerusalem ,
and burnt all the palaces thereof with fire ,
and destroyed all the goodly vessels thereof .
*
And them that had escaped from the sword carried he away to Babylon ;
where they were servants to him and his sons until the reign of the kingdom of Persia :
*
To fulfil the word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah ,
until the land had enjoyed her sabbaths :
for as long as she lay desolate she kept sabbath ,
to fulfil threescore and ten years .
*
Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia ,
that the word of the LORD spoken by the mouth of Jeremiah might be accomplished ,
the LORD stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia ,
that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom ,
and put it also in writing ,
saying ,
*
Thus saith Cyrus king of Persia ,
All the kingdoms of the earth hath the LORD God of heaven given me ;
and he hath charged me to build him an house in Jerusalem ,
which is in Judah .
Who is there among you of all his people ?
The LORD his God be with him ,
and let him go up .
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