Hosea 1:1 References
1
The word of the Lord which came to aHosea the son of Beeri, during the days of bUzziah, cJotham, dAhaz and eHezekiah, kings of Judah, and during the days of fJeroboam the son of Joash, king of Israel.
e 2 Kings 18:1-37, 2 Kings 19:1-37, 2 Kings 20:1-21, 2 Chronicles 29:1-36, 2 Chronicles 30:1-27, 2 Chronicles 31:1-21, 2 Chronicles 32:1-33, Micah 1:1
2 Kings 18
1
Now it came about ain the third year of Hoshea, the son of Elah king of Israel, that bHezekiah the son of Ahaz king of Judah became king.
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He was atwenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned twenty-nine years in Jerusalem; and his mother's name was Abi the daughter of Zechariah.
4
aHe removed the high places and broke down the sacred pillars and cut down the Asherah. He also broke in pieces bthe bronze serpent that Moses had made, for until those days the sons of Israel burned incense to it; and it was called Nehushtan.
5
aHe trusted in the Lord, the God of Israel; bso that after him there was none like him among all the kings of Judah, nor among those who were before him.
6
For he aclung to the Lord; he did not depart from following Him, but kept His commandments, which the Lord had commanded Moses.
7
aAnd the Lord was with him; wherever he went he prospered. And bhe rebelled against the king of Assyria and did not serve him.
8
aHe defeated the Philistines as far as Gaza and its territory, from bwatchtower to fortified city.
9
Now in the fourth year of King Hezekiah, which was the seventh year of Hoshea son of Elah king of Israel, aShalmaneser king of Assyria came up against Samaria and besieged it.
10
At the end of three years they captured it; in the sixth year of Hezekiah, which was athe ninth year of Hoshea king of Israel, Samaria was captured.
11
Then the king of Assyria carried Israel away into exile to Assyria, and put them in aHalah and on the Habor, the river of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes,
12
because they adid not obey the voice of the Lord their God, but transgressed His covenant, even all that Moses the servant of the Lord commanded; they would neither listen nor do it.
13
aNow in the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah, Sennacherib king of Assyria came up against all the fortified cities of Judah and seized them.
14
Then Hezekiah king of Judah sent to the king of Assyria at Lachish, saying, "aI have done wrong. Withdraw from me; whatever you impose on me I will bear." So the king of Assyria required of Hezekiah king of Judah three hundred talents of silver and thirty talents of gold.
15
aHezekiah gave him all the silver which was found in the house of the Lord, and in the treasuries of the king's house.
16
At that time Hezekiah cut off the gold from the doors of the temple of the Lord, and from the doorposts which Hezekiah king of Judah had overlaid, and gave it to the king of Assyria.
17
Then the king of Assyria sent aTartan and Rab-saris and Rabshakeh from Lachish to King Hezekiah with a large army to Jerusalem. So they went up and came to Jerusalem. And when they went up, they came and stood by the bconduit of the upper pool, which is on the highway of the fuller's field.
18
When they called to the king, aEliakim the son of Hilkiah, who was over the household, and bShebnah the scribe and Joah the son of Asaph the recorder, came out to them.
19
Then Rabshakeh said to them, "Say now to Hezekiah, 'Thus says the great king, the king of Assyria, "aWhat is this confidence that you have?
20
"You say (but they are only empty words), 'I have counsel and strength for the war.' Now on whom do you rely, athat you have rebelled against me?
21
"Now behold, you arely on the staff of this crushed reed, even on Egypt; on which if a man leans, it will go into his hand and pierce it. So is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all who rely on him.
22
"But if you say to me, 'We trust in the Lord our God,' is it not He whose high places and awhose altars Hezekiah has taken away, and has said to Judah and to Jerusalem, 'You shall worship before this altar in Jerusalem'?
23
"Now therefore, come, make a bargain with my master the king of Assyria, and I will give you two thousand horses, if you are able on your part to set riders on them.
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"How then can you repulse one official of the least of my master's servants, and rely on Egypt for chariots and for horsemen?
25
"Have I now come up without the Lord'S approval against this place to destroy it? The Lord said to me, 'Go up against this land and destroy it.'"'"
26
Then Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, and Shebnah and Joah, said to Rabshakeh, "Speak now to your servants in Aramaic, for we understand it; and do not speak with us in aJudean in the hearing of the people who are on the wall."
27
But Rabshakeh said to them, "Has my master sent me only to your master and to you to speak these words, and not to the men who sit on the wall, doomed to eat their own dung and drink their own urine with you?"
28
Then Rabshakeh stood and cried with a loud voice in Judean, saying, "Hear the word of the great king, the king of Assyria.
29
"Thus says the king, 'aDo not let Hezekiah deceive you, for he will not be able to deliver you from my hand;
30
nor let Hezekiah make you trust in the Lord, saying, "The Lord will surely deliver us, and this city will not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria."
31
'Do not listen to Hezekiah, for thus says the king of Assyria, "Make your peace with me and come out to me, and eat aeach of his vine and each of his fig tree and drink each of the waters of his own cistern,
32
until I come and take you away ato a land like your own land, a land of grain and new wine, a land of bread and vineyards, a land of olive trees and honey, that you may live and not die." But do not listen to Hezekiah when he misleads you, saying, "The Lord will deliver us."
33
'aHas any one of the gods of the nations delivered his land from the hand of the king of Assyria?
34
'aWhere are the gods of Hamath and bArpad? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim, Hena and cIvvah? Have they delivered Samaria from my hand?
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'Who among all the gods of the lands have delivered their land from my hand, athat the Lord should deliver Jerusalem from my hand?'"
36
But the people were silent and answered him not a word, for the king's commandment was, "Do not answer him."
37
Then aEliakim the son of Hilkiah, who was over the household, and Shebna the scribe and Joah the son of Asaph, the recorder, came to Hezekiah bwith their clothes torn and told him the words of Rabshakeh.
2 Kings 19
1
aAnd when King Hezekiah heard it, he btore his clothes, ccovered himself with sackcloth and entered the house of the Lord.
2
Then he sent Eliakim who was over the household with Shebna the scribe and the elders of the priests, acovered with sackcloth, to bIsaiah the prophet the son of Amoz.
3
They said to him, "Thus says Hezekiah, 'This day is a day of distress, rebuke, and rejection; for children have come to birth and there is no strength to deliver.
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'aPerhaps the Lord your God will hear all the words of Rabshakeh, whom his master the king of Assyria has sent bto reproach the living God, and will rebuke the words which the Lord your God has heard. Therefore, offer a prayer for cthe remnant that is left.'"
5
So the servants of King Hezekiah came to Isaiah.
6
Isaiah said to them, "Thus you shall say to your master, 'Thus says the Lord, "Do not be afraid because of the words that you have heard, with which the aservants of the king of Assyria bhave blasphemed Me.
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"Behold, I will put a spirit in him so that ahe will hear a rumor and return to his own land. And bI will make him fall by the sword in his own land."'"
8
Then Rabshakeh returned and found the king of Assyria fighting against aLibnah, for he had heard that the king had left bLachish.
9
When he heard them say concerning Tirhakah king of Cush, "Behold, he has come out to fight against you," he sent messengers again to Hezekiah saying,
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"Thus you shall say to Hezekiah king of Judah, 'Do not alet your God in whom you trust deceive you saying, "bJerusalem will not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria."
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'Behold, you have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all the lands, destroying them completely. So will you be spared?
12
'aDid the gods of those nations which my fathers destroyed deliver them, even bGozan and cHaran and Rezeph and dthe sons of Eden who were in Telassar?
13
'aWhere is the king of Hamath, the king of Arpad, the king of the city of Sepharvaim, and of Hena and Ivvah?'"
14
Then aHezekiah took the letter from the hand of the messengers and read it, and he went up to the house of the Lord and spread it out before the Lord.
15
Hezekiah prayed before the Lord and said, "O Lord, the God of Israel, awho are enthroned above the cherubim, bYou are the God, You alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made heaven and earth.
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"aIncline Your ear, O Lord, and hear; bopen Your eyes, O Lord, and see; and listen to the words of Sennacherib, which he has sent cto reproach the living God.
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"Truly, O Lord, the kings of Assyria have devastated the nations and their lands
18
and have cast their gods into the fire, afor they were not gods but the work of men's hands, wood and stone. So they have destroyed them.
19
"Now, O Lord our God, I pray, deliver us from his hand athat all the kingdoms of the earth may know that You alone, O bLord, are God."
20
Then Isaiah the son of Amoz sent to Hezekiah saying, "Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, 'Because you have prayed to Me about Sennacherib king of Assyria, aI have heard you.'
21
"This is the word that the Lord has spoken against him: 'She has despised you and mocked you, aThe virgin daughter of Zion; She bhas shaken her head behind you, The daughter of Jerusalem!
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'Whom have you areproached and bblasphemed? And against whom have you raised your voice, And haughtily lifted up your eyes? Against the cHoly One of Israel!
23
'aThrough your messengers you have reproached the Lord, And you have said, "With my many chariots I came up to the heights of the mountains, To the remotest parts of Lebanon; And I cut down its tall cedars and its choice cypresses. And I entered its farthest lodging place, its bthickest forest.
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"I dug wells and drank foreign waters, And with the sole of my feet I adried up All the rivers of Egypt."
25
'aHave you not heard? Long ago I did it; From ancient times I planned it. bNow I have brought it to pass, That you should turn fortified cities into ruinous heaps.
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'Therefore their inhabitants were short of strength, They were dismayed and put to shame; They were aas the vegetation of the field and as the green herb, As grass on the housetops is scorched before it is grown up.
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'But aI know your sitting down, And your going out and your coming in, And your raging against Me.
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'Because of your raging against Me, And because your arrogance has come up to My ears, Therefore I awill put My hook in your nose, And My bridle in your lips, And bI will turn you back by the way which you came.
29
'Then this shall be athe sign for you: you will eat this year what grows of itself, in the second year what springs from the same, and in the third year sow, reap, plant vineyards, and eat their fruit.
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'aThe surviving remnant of the house of Judah will again take root downward and bear fruit upward.
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'For out of Jerusalem will go forth a remnant, and aout of Mount Zion survivors. bThe zeal of the Lord will perform this.
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'Therefore thus says the Lord concerning the king of Assyria, "aHe will not come to this city or shoot an arrow there; and he will not come before it with a shield or throw up a siege ramp against it.
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"aBy the way that he came, by the same he will return, and he shall not come to this city,"' declares the Lord.
35
aThen it happened that night that the angel of the Lord went out and struck 185,000 in the camp of the Assyrians; and when men rose early in the morning, behold, all of them were dead.
37
It came about as he was worshiping in the house of Nisroch his god, that aAdrammelech and Sharezer killed him with the sword; and they escaped into bthe land of Ararat. And cEsarhaddon his son became king in his place.
2 Kings 20
1
aIn those days Hezekiah became mortally ill. And Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz came to him and said to him, "Thus says the Lord, 'bSet your house in order, for you shall die and not live.'"
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Then he turned his face to the wall and prayed to the Lord, saying,
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"aRemember now, O Lord, I beseech You, bhow I have walked before You in truth and with a whole heart and have done what is good in Your sight." And cHezekiah wept bitterly.
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Before Isaiah had gone out of the middle court, the word of the Lord came to him, saying,
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"Return and say to aHezekiah the leader of My people, 'Thus says the Lord, the God of your father David, "bI have heard your prayer, cI have seen your tears; behold, I will heal you. On the third day you shall go up to the house of the Lord.
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"I will add fifteen years to your life, and I will deliver you and this city from the hand of the king of Assyria; and aI will defend this city for My own sake and for My servant David's sake."'"
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Then Isaiah said, "Take a cake of figs." And they took and laid it on the boil, and he recovered.
8
Now Hezekiah said to Isaiah, "What will be the sign that the Lord will heal me, and that I shall go up to the house of the Lord the third day?"
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Isaiah said, "aThis shall be the sign to you from the Lord, that the Lord will do the thing that He has spoken: shall the shadow go forward ten steps or go back ten steps?"
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So Hezekiah answered, "It is easy for the shadow to decline ten steps; no, but let the shadow turn backward ten steps."
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Isaiah the prophet cried to the Lord, and aHe brought the shadow on the stairway back ten steps by which it had gone down on the stairway of Ahaz.
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aAt that time Berodach-baladan a son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent letters and a present to Hezekiah, for he heard that Hezekiah had been sick.
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Hezekiah listened to them, and showed them aall his treasure house, the silver and the gold and the spices and the precious oil and the house of his armor and all that was found in his treasuries. There was nothing in his house nor in all his dominion that Hezekiah did not show them.
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Then Isaiah the prophet came to King Hezekiah and said to him, "What did these men say, and from where have they come to you?" And Hezekiah said, "They have come from a far country, from Babylon."
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He said, "What have they seen in your house?" So Hezekiah answered, "They have seen all that is in my house; there is nothing among my treasuries that I have not shown them."
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Then Isaiah said to Hezekiah, "Hear the word of the Lord.
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'Behold, the days are coming when aall that is in your house, and all that your fathers have laid up in store to this day will be carried to Babylon; nothing shall be left,' says the Lord.
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'Some aof your sons who shall issue from you, whom you will beget, will be taken away; and they will become bofficials in the palace of the king of Babylon.'"
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Then Hezekiah said to Isaiah, "The word of the Lord which you have spoken is agood." For he thought, "Is it not so, if there will be peace and truth in my days?"
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aNow the rest of the acts of Hezekiah and all his might, and how he bmade the pool and the conduit and brought water into the city, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah?
2 Chronicles 29
1
aHezekiah became king when he was twenty-five years old; and he reigned twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. And his mother's name was Abijah, the daughter of Zechariah.
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In the first year of his reign, in the first month, he aopened the doors of the house of the Lord and repaired them.
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He brought in the priests and the Levites and gathered them into the square on the east.
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Then he said to them, "Listen to me, O Levites. aConsecrate yourselves now, and consecrate the house of the Lord, the God of your fathers, and carry the uncleanness out from the holy place.
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"For our fathers have been unfaithful and have done evil in the sight of the Lord our God, and have forsaken Him and aturned their faces away from the dwelling place of the Lord, and have turned their backs.
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"They have also ashut the doors of the porch and put out the lamps, and have not burned incense or offered burnt offerings in the holy place to the God of Israel.
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"Therefore athe wrath of the Lord was against Judah and Jerusalem, and He has made them an object of terror, of horror, and of bhissing, as you see with your own eyes.
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"For behold, aour 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 my heart ato make a covenant with the Lord God of Israel, that His burning anger may turn away from us.
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"My sons, do not be negligent now, for athe Lord has chosen you to stand before Him, to minister to Him, and to be His ministers and burn incense."
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Then the Levites arose: aMahath, the son of Amasai and Joel the son of Azariah, from the sons of bthe Kohathites; and from the sons of Merari, Kish the son of Abdi and Azariah the son of Jehallelel; and from the Gershonites, Joah the son of Zimmah and Eden the son of Joah;
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and from the sons of Elizaphan, Shimri and Jeiel; and from the sons of Asaph, Zechariah and Mattaniah;
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and from the sons of Heman, Jehiel and Shimei; and from the sons of Jeduthun, Shemaiah and Uzziel.
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They assembled their brothers, aconsecrated themselves, and went in bto cleanse the house of the Lord, according to the commandment of the king cby the words of the Lord.
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So the priests went in to the inner part of the house of the Lord to cleanse it, and every unclean thing which they found in the temple of the Lord they brought out to the court of the house of the Lord. Then the Levites received it to carry out to athe Kidron valley.
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Now they began the consecration aon the first day of the first month, and on the eighth day of the month they entered the porch of the Lord. Then they consecrated the house of the Lord in eight days, and finished on the sixteenth day of the first month.
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Then they went in to King Hezekiah and said, "We have cleansed the whole house of the Lord, the altar of burnt offering with all of its utensils, and the table of showbread with all of its utensils.
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"Moreover, aall the utensils which King Ahaz had discarded during his reign in his unfaithfulness, we have prepared and consecrated; and behold, they are before the altar of the Lord."
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Then King Hezekiah arose early and assembled the princes of the city and went up to the house of the Lord.
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They brought seven bulls, seven rams, seven lambs and seven male goats afor a sin offering for the kingdom, the sanctuary, and Judah. And he ordered the priests, the sons of Aaron, to offer them on the altar of the Lord.
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So they slaughtered the bulls, and the priests took the blood and sprinkled it on the altar. They also slaughtered the rams and sprinkled the blood on the altar; they slaughtered the lambs also and asprinkled the blood on the altar.
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Then they brought the male goats of the sin offering before the king and the assembly, and athey laid their hands on them.
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The priests slaughtered them and purged the altar with their blood ato atone for all Israel, for the king ordered the burnt offering and the sin offering for all Israel.
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aHe then stationed the Levites in the house of the Lord with cymbals, with harps and with lyres, baccording to the command of David and of cGad the king's seer, and of dNathan the prophet; for the command was from the Lord through His prophets.
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Then Hezekiah gave the order to offer the burnt offering on the altar. When the burnt offering began, athe song to the Lord also began with the trumpets, accompanied by the instruments of David, king of Israel.
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While the whole assembly worshiped, the singers also sang and the trumpets sounded; all this continued until the burnt offering was finished.
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Now at the completion of the burnt offerings, athe king and all who were present with him bowed down and worshiped.
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Moreover, King Hezekiah and the officials ordered the Levites to sing praises to the Lord with the words of David and Asaph the seer. aSo they sang praises with joy, and bowed down and worshiped.
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Then Hezekiah said, "aNow that you have consecrated yourselves to the Lord, come near and bring sacrifices and thank offerings to the house of the Lord." And the assembly brought sacrifices and thank offerings, and ball those who were willing brought burnt offerings.
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The number of the burnt offerings which the assembly brought was 70 bulls, 100 rams, and 200 lambs; all these were for a burnt offering to the Lord.
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The consecrated things were 600 bulls and 3,000 sheep.
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But the priests were too few, so that they were unable to skin all the burnt offerings; atherefore their brothers the Levites helped them until the work was completed and until the other priests had consecrated themselves. For bthe Levites were more conscientious to consecrate themselves than the priests.
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There were also amany burnt offerings with bthe fat of the peace offerings and with cthe libations for the burnt offerings. Thus the service of the house of the Lord was established again.
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Then Hezekiah and all the people rejoiced over what God had prepared for the people, because the thing came about suddenly.
2 Chronicles 30
1
Now 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 celebrate the Passover to the Lord God of Israel.
2
For the king and his princes and all the assembly in Jerusalem had decided ato celebrate the Passover in the second month,
3
since they could not celebrate it aat that time, because the priests had not consecrated themselves in sufficient numbers, nor had the people been gathered to Jerusalem.
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Thus the thing was right in the sight of the king and all the assembly.
5
So they established a decree to circulate a proclamation throughout all Israel afrom Beersheba even to Dan, that they should come to celebrate the Passover to the Lord God of Israel at Jerusalem. For they had not celebrated it in great numbers as it was prescribed.
6
aThe couriers went throughout all Israel and Judah with the letters from the hand of the king and his princes, even according to the command of the king, saying, "O sons of Israel, return to the Lord God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, that He may return to those of you who escaped and are left from bthe hand of the kings of Assyria.
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"aDo not be like your fathers and your brothers, who were unfaithful to the Lord God of their fathers, so that bHe made them a horror, as you see.
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"Now do not astiffen your neck like your fathers, but yield to the Lord and enter His sanctuary which He has consecrated forever, and serve the Lord your God, bthat His burning anger may turn away from you.
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"For aif you return to the Lord, your brothers and your sons will find compassion before those who led them captive and will return to this land. bFor the Lord your God is gracious and compassionate, and will not turn His face away from you if you return to Him."
10
So the couriers passed from city to city through the country of Ephraim and Manasseh, and as far as Zebulun, but athey laughed them to scorn and mocked them.
12
The ahand of God was also on Judah to give them one heart to do what the king and the princes commanded by the word of the Lord.
13
Now many people were gathered at Jerusalem to celebrate the Feast of Unleavened Bread ain the second month, a very large assembly.
14
They arose and removed the altars which were in Jerusalem; they also aremoved all the incense altars and bcast them into the brook Kidron.
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Then athey slaughtered the Passover lambs on the fourteenth of the second month. And bthe priests and Levites were ashamed of themselves, and consecrated themselves and brought burnt offerings to the house of the Lord.
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aThey stood at their stations after their custom, according to the law of Moses the man of God; the priests sprinkled the blood which they received from the hand of the Levites.
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For there were many in the assembly who had not consecrated themselves; therefore, athe Levites were over the slaughter of the Passover lambs for everyone who was unclean, in order to consecrate them to the Lord.
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For a multitude of the people, aeven many from Ephraim and Manasseh, Issachar and Zebulun, had not purified themselves, byet they ate the Passover cotherwise than prescribed. For Hezekiah prayed for them, saying, "May the good Lord pardon
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aeveryone who prepares his heart to seek God, the Lord God of his fathers, though not according to the purification rules of the sanctuary."
21
The sons of Israel present in Jerusalem acelebrated the Feast of Unleavened Bread for seven days with great joy, and the Levites and the priests praised the Lord day after day with loud instruments to the Lord.
22
Then Hezekiah aspoke encouragingly to all the Levites who showed good insight in the things of the Lord. So they ate for the appointed seven days, sacrificing peace offerings and bgiving thanks to the Lord God of their fathers.
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Then the whole assembly adecided to celebrate the feast another seven days, so they celebrated the seven days with joy.
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For aHezekiah king of Judah had contributed to the assembly 1,000 bulls and 7,000 sheep, and the princes had contributed to the assembly 1,000 bulls and 10,000 sheep; and ba large number of priests consecrated themselves.
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All the assembly of Judah rejoiced, with the priests and the Levites and aall the assembly that came from Israel, both the sojourners who came from the land of Israel and those living in Judah.
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So there was great joy in Jerusalem, because there was nothing like this in Jerusalem asince the days of Solomon the son of David, king of Israel.
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Then athe Levitical priests arose and bblessed the people; and their voice was heard and their prayer came to cHis holy dwelling place, to heaven.
2 Chronicles 31
1
Now when all this was finished, all Israel who were present went out to the cities of Judah, abroke the pillars in pieces, cut down the Asherim and pulled down the high places and the altars throughout all Judah and Benjamin, as well as in Ephraim and Manasseh, until they had destroyed them all. Then all the sons of Israel returned to their cities, each to his possession.
2
And Hezekiah appointed athe divisions of the priests and the Levites by their divisions, each according to his service, both the priests and the Levites, bfor burnt offerings and for peace offerings, to minister and to give thanks and to praise in the gates of the camp of the Lord.
3
He also appointed athe king's portion of his goods for the burnt offerings, namely, for the morning and evening burnt offerings, and the burnt offerings for the sabbaths and for the new moons and for the fixed festivals, bas it is written in the law of the Lord.
4
Also he commanded the people who lived in Jerusalem to give athe portion due to the priests and the Levites, that they might devote themselves to bthe law of the Lord.
5
As soon as the order spread, the sons of Israel provided in abundance the first fruits of grain, new wine, oil, honey and of all the produce of the field; and they brought in abundantly athe tithe of all.
6
The sons of Israel and Judah who lived in the cities of Judah also brought in the tithe of oxen and sheep, and athe tithe of sacred gifts which were consecrated to the Lord their God, and placed them in heaps.
7
In the third month they began to make the heaps, and finished them by the seventh month.
8
When Hezekiah and the rulers came and saw the heaps, they blessed the Lord and aHis people Israel.
9
Then Hezekiah questioned the priests and the Levites concerning the heaps.
10
Azariah the chief priest aof the house of Zadok said to him, "bSince the contributions began to be brought into the house of the Lord, we have had enough to eat with plenty left over, for the Lord has blessed His people, and this great quantity is left over."
12
They faithfully brought in the contributions and the tithes and the consecrated things; and Conaniah the Levite was the officer in charge aof them and his brother Shimei was second.
13
Jehiel, Azaziah, Nahath, Asahel, Jerimoth, Jozabad, Eliel, Ismachiah, Mahath and Benaiah were overseers under the authority of Conaniah and Shimei his brother by the appointment of King Hezekiah, and aAzariah was the chief officer of the house of God.
14
Kore the son of Imnah the Levite, the keeper of the eastern gate, was over the freewill offerings of God, to apportion the contributions for the Lord and the most holy things.
15
Under his authority were aEden, Miniamin, Jeshua, Shemaiah, Amariah and Shecaniah in bthe cities of the priests, to distribute faithfully their portions to their brothers by divisions, whether great or small,
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without regard to their genealogical enrollment, to the males from athirty years old and upward--everyone who entered the house of the Lord bfor his daily obligations--for their work in their duties according to their divisions;
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as well as the priests who were enrolled genealogically according to their fathers' households, and the Levites afrom twenty years old and upwards, by their duties and their divisions.
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The genealogical enrollment included all their little children, their wives, their sons and their daughters, for the whole assembly, for they consecrated themselves faithfully in holiness.
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Also for the sons of Aaron the priests who were in athe pasture lands of their cities, or in each and every city, bthere were men who were designated by name to distribute portions to every male among the priests and to everyone genealogically enrolled among the Levites.
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Thus Hezekiah did throughout all Judah; and ahe did what was good, right and true before the Lord his God.
21
Every work which he began in the service of the house of God in law and in commandment, seeking his God, he did with all his heart and aprospered.
2 Chronicles 32
1
After these acts of faithfulness aSennacherib king of Assyria came and invaded Judah and besieged the fortified cities, and thought to break into them for himself.
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Now when Hezekiah saw that Sennacherib had come and that he intended to make war on Jerusalem,
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he decided with his officers and his warriors to cut off the supply of water from the springs which were outside the city, and they helped him.
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So many people assembled aand stopped up all the springs and bthe stream which flowed through the region, saying, "Why should the kings of Assyria come and find abundant water?"
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And he took courage and arebuilt all the wall that had been broken down and erected towers on it, and built banother outside wall and strengthened the cMillo in the city of David, and made weapons and shields in great number.
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He appointed military officers over the people and gathered them to him in the square at the city gate, and aspoke encouragingly to them, saying,
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"aBe strong and courageous, do not fear or be dismayed because of the king of Assyria nor because of all the horde that is with him; bfor the one with us is greater than the one with him.
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"With him is only aan arm of flesh, but bwith us is the Lord our God to help us and to fight our battles." And the people relied on the words of Hezekiah king of Judah.
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After this aSennacherib king of Assyria sent his servants to Jerusalem while he was besieging Lachish with all his forces with him, against Hezekiah king of Judah and against all Judah who were at Jerusalem, saying,
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"Thus says Sennacherib king of Assyria, 'On what are you trusting that you are remaining in Jerusalem under siege?
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'Is not Hezekiah misleading you to give yourselves over to die by hunger and by thirst, saying, "The Lord our God will deliver us from the hand of the king of Assyria"?
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'aHas not the same Hezekiah taken away His high places and His altars, and said to Judah and Jerusalem, "You shall worship before one altar, and on it you shall burn incense"?
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'Do you not know what I and my fathers have done to all the peoples of the lands? aWere the gods of the nations of the lands able at all to deliver their land from my hand?
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'aWho was there among all the gods of those nations which my fathers utterly destroyed who could deliver his people out of my hand, that your God should be able to deliver you from my hand?
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'Now therefore, do not let Hezekiah deceive you or mislead you like this, and do not believe him, for ano god of any nation or kingdom was able to deliver his people from my hand or from the hand of my fathers. How much less will your God deliver you from my hand?'"
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His servants spoke further against the Lord God and against His servant Hezekiah.
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He also wrote letters to insult the Lord God of Israel, and to speak against Him, saying, "aAs the gods of the nations of the lands have not delivered their people from my hand, so the God of Hezekiah will not deliver His people from my hand."
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aThey called this out with a loud voice in the language of Judah to the people of Jerusalem who were on the wall, to frighten and terrify them, so that they might take the city.
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They spoke of the God of Jerusalem as of athe gods of the peoples of the earth, the work of men's hands.
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But King Hezekiah and Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz, prayed about this and cried out to heaven.
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And the Lord sent an angel who destroyed every mighty warrior, commander and officer in the camp of the king of Assyria. So he returned in shame to his own land. And when he had entered the temple of his god, some of his own children killed him there with the sword.
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So the Lord asaved Hezekiah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem from the hand of Sennacherib the king of Assyria and from the hand of all others, and guided them on every side.
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And amany were bringing gifts to the Lord at Jerusalem and choice presents to Hezekiah king of Judah, so that bhe was exalted in the sight of all nations thereafter.
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aIn those days Hezekiah became mortally ill; and he prayed to the Lord, and the Lord spoke to him and gave him a sign.
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But Hezekiah gave no return for the benefit he received, abecause his heart was proud; btherefore wrath came on him and on Judah and Jerusalem.
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However, aHezekiah humbled the pride of his heart, both he and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so that the wrath of the Lord did not come on them in the days of Hezekiah.
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Now Hezekiah had immense riches and honor; and he made for himself treasuries for silver, gold, precious stones, spices, shields and all kinds of valuable articles,
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storehouses also for the produce of grain, wine and oil, pens for all kinds of cattle and sheepfolds for the flocks.
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He made cities for himself and acquired flocks and herds in abundance, for aGod had given him very great wealth.
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It was Hezekiah who astopped the upper outlet of the waters of bGihon and directed them to the west side of the city of David. And Hezekiah prospered in all that he did.
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Even in the matter of athe envoys of the rulers of Babylon, who sent to him to inquire of bthe wonder that had happened in the land, God left him alone only cto test 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 deeds of devotion, behold, they are written in the vision of Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz, in the Book of the Kings of Judah and Israel.
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So Hezekiah slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the upper section of the tombs of the sons of David; and all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem ahonored him at his death. And his son Manasseh became king in his place.