Bible in 90 Days Plan

¹Hezekiah sent word to all Israel and to Judah and also wrote letters to Ephraim and Manasseh to come to the house of the LORD at Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover Feast to the LORD God of Israel.

²For the king and his officials and all the assembly in Jerusalem had decided to celebrate the Passover in the second month,

³since they could not celebrate it at that time because a sufficient number of priests had not consecrated themselves, nor had the people assembled at Jerusalem.

⁴Thus the [decision to set a] new time pleased the king and the entire assembly.

⁵So they decided to circulate a proclamation throughout Israel, from Beersheba to Dan, that the people were to 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 [for a long time].

⁶So the runners went throughout Israel and Judah with the letters from the hand of the king and his officials, in accordance with the command of the king, saying, "O sons (descendants) of Israel, return to the LORD God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel (Jacob), so that He will return to those of you who escaped and are left from the hand (power) of the kings of Assyria.

⁷Do not be like your fathers and your brothers, who were unfaithful to the LORD God of their fathers, so that He made them a horror (lifeless, desolate), just as you see.

⁸Now do not stiffen your neck [becoming obstinate] like your fathers, but yield to the LORD and come to His sanctuary which He has sanctified and set apart forever, and serve the LORD your God, so that His burning anger will turn away from you.

⁹For if you return to the LORD, your brothers (relatives) and your children will find compassion in the presence of those who led them away captive and will return to this land. For the LORD your God is gracious and merciful, and He will not turn His face away from you if you return to Him."

¹⁰So the runners (couriers) passed from city to city through the country of Ephraim and Manasseh, as far as Zebulun; but the people laughed at them with scorn and mocked them.

¹¹Yet some of the men of Asher, Manasseh, and Zebulun humbled themselves and came to Jerusalem.

¹²Also the hand of God was on Judah to give them one heart to do that which the king and the officials had commanded by the word of the LORD.

¹³Now many people were gathered at Jerusalem to celebrate the Feast of Unleavened Bread in the second month; it was a very large assembly.

¹⁴They took action and removed the [pagan] altars which were in Jerusalem; they also removed all the incense altars and threw them into the Brook Kidron [the dumping place for the ashes of such repulsive things].

¹⁵Then they slaughtered the Passover lambs on the fourteenth day of the second month. And the priests and the Levites were ashamed of themselves, and consecrated themselves and brought burnt offerings to the house of the LORD.

¹⁶They stood at their accustomed stations, in accordance with the Law of Moses, the man of God. The priests sprinkled the blood [which they received] from the hand of the Levites [on the altar].

¹⁷For there were many in the assembly who had not consecrated themselves [that is, become ceremonially clean and free from all sin]; so the Levites had to slaughter the Passover lambs for everyone who was not clean, in order to make them holy for the LORD.

¹⁸For the majority of the people, many from Ephraim and Manasseh, Issachar and Zebulun, had not purified themselves, and yet they ate the Passover contrary to what had been prescribed. For Hezekiah had prayed for them, saying, "May the good LORD pardon

¹⁹everyone who sets his heart to seek God—the LORD God of his fathers—even though it is not in accordance with the [ceremonial] purification [rules] of the sanctuary."

²⁰So the LORD listened to Hezekiah and healed the people [of their uncleanness].

²¹The Israelites who were present in Jerusalem celebrated the Feast of Unleavened Bread for seven days with great joy. The Levites and priests praised the LORD day after day, singing to the LORD with loud instruments.

²²Hezekiah spoke encouragingly to all the Levites who showed good understanding in the things of the LORD. So the people ate for the appointed seven days, sacrificing peace offerings and giving thanks to the LORD God of their fathers.

²³Then the whole assembly decided to celebrate [the feast] for another seven days; and they celebrated it another seven days with joy.

²⁴For Hezekiah king of Judah gave to the assembly 1,000 bulls and 7,000 sheep, and the officials gave the assembly 1,000 bulls and 10,000 sheep. And a large number of priests consecrated themselves [for service].

²⁵All the assembly of Judah rejoiced, with the priests and the Levites and all the assembly that came from Israel, both the sojourners (resident aliens, foreigners) who came from the land of Israel and those living in Judah.

²⁶So there was great joy in Jerusalem, because there had been nothing like this in Jerusalem since the time of Solomon the son of David, king of Israel.

²⁷Then the priests and Levites stood and blessed the people; and their voice was heard and their prayer came up to His holy dwelling place, to heaven.

¹Now when all of this was finished, all Israel who were present went out to the cities of Judah, and smashed the [pagan] pillars (obelisks, memorial stones) in pieces, cut down the Asherim (wooden symbols of a female deity), and tore down the high places and the altars [of idolatry] throughout all Judah and Benjamin, as well as in Ephraim and Manasseh, until they had destroyed them all. Then all the sons (descendants) of Israel returned to their own cities, each to his own property.

²And Hezekiah appointed the divisions of the priests, and the Levites by their divisions, each in accordance with his service, both 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 camp of the LORD.

³Hezekiah also appointed the king's [personal] portion of his goods: for the morning and evening burnt offerings, and the burnt offerings for the Sabbaths and for the New Moons and for the appointed feasts, as it is written in the Law of the LORD.

⁴He also told (ordered) the people living in Jerusalem to give the portion that was due to the priests and Levites, so that they might [be free to] devote themselves to the Law of the LORD.

⁵As soon as the king's order spread, the Israelites gave in abundance the first fruits of grain, new wine, [olive] oil, honey, and of all the produce of the field; and they brought in the tithe of everything abundantly.

⁶The sons of Israel and Judah who lived in the cities of Judah also brought in the tithe of oxen and sheep, and the tithe of sacred gifts which were consecrated to the LORD their God, and placed them in heaps.

⁷In the third month [at the end of wheat harvest] they began to make the heaps, and they finished them in the seventh month.

⁸When Hezekiah and the rulers came and saw the heaps, they blessed the LORD and His people Israel.

⁹Then Hezekiah questioned the priests and Levites about the heaps.

¹⁰Azariah the high priest of the house of Zadok answered him, "Since the people began to bring the offerings 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."

¹¹Then Hezekiah told them to prepare rooms [for storage] in the house of the LORD, and they prepared them.

¹²They faithfully brought in the contributions, the tithes, and the sacred (dedicated) things. Conaniah the Levite was in charge of them, and Shimei his brother was second [in authority].

¹³Jehiel, Azaziah, Nahath, Asahel, Jerimoth, Jozabad, Eliel, Ismachiah, Mahath, and Benaiah were overseers directed by Conaniah and Shimei his brother by the appointment of King Hezekiah, and Azariah was the chief officer of the house of God.

¹⁴Kore the son of Imnah the Levite, keeper of the East Gate, was in charge of the voluntary offerings to God, to apportion the contributions for the LORD and the most holy things.

¹⁵Under his authority were Eden, Miniamin, Jeshua, Shemaiah, Amariah, and Shecaniah in the cities of the priests, to distribute faithfully their portions to their brothers (relatives) by divisions, whether great or small,

¹⁶without regard to their genealogical registration, to the males from thirty years old and upward—everyone who entered the house of the LORD for his daily obligations—for their service in accordance with their duties by their divisions;

¹⁷as well as the priests who were registered genealogically according to their fathers' households, and the Levites from twenty years old and upward, by their duties and by their divisions.

¹⁸The genealogical registration included all their little children, their wives, and their sons and daughters, for the whole assembly, because they consecrated themselves faithfully in holiness.

¹⁹Also for the sons of Aaron, the priests, who were in the pasture lands of their cities or in each and every city, there were men who were designated by name to give portions to every male among the priests and to everyone genealogically registered among the Levites.

²⁰This is what Hezekiah did throughout Judah; and he did what was good, right, and true before the LORD his God.

²¹Every work which he began in the service of the house of God in keeping with the law and the commandment, seeking and inquiring of his God [and longing for Him], he did with all his heart and prospered.

¹After these things and this faithfulness, Sennacherib king of Assyria came and invaded Judah and besieged the fortified cities, intending to take them for himself.

²When Hezekiah saw that Sennacherib had come and that he intended to go to war against Jerusalem,

³he decided, together with his officers and his soldiers, to stop up the water [supply] from the springs which were outside the city [by enclosing them with masonry and concealing them], and they helped him.

⁴So many people came together, and they stopped up all the springs and the brook which flowed [underground] through the region, saying, "Why should the kings of Assyria come and find an abundance of water?"

⁵Also Hezekiah resolutely set to work and rebuilt all the wall that had been broken down, and erected towers on it, and he built another wall outside and strengthened the Millo (fortification) in the City of David, and made a great number of weapons and shields.

⁶He also appointed military officers over the people and gathered them to him in the square at the city gate, and spoke encouragingly to them, saying,

⁷"Be strong and courageous. Do not fear or be dismayed because of the king of Assyria, nor because of all the army that is with him; for the One with us is greater than the one with him.

⁸With him there is only an arm of flesh, but with 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.

⁹After this, Sennacherib king of Assyria, while he was at Lachish [besieging it] with all his forces, sent his servants to Jerusalem, to Hezekiah king of Judah, and to all Judah who were at Jerusalem, saying,

¹⁰"Thus says Sennacherib king of Assyria, 'In what do you trust that you are remaining in Jerusalem under siege?

¹¹Is not Hezekiah misleading you in order to let you die by famine and thirst, while saying, "The LORD our God will rescue us from the hand of the king of Assyria?"

¹²Has the same Hezekiah not taken away his [Baal's] high places and his altars, and commanded Judah and Jerusalem, "You shall worship before [only] one altar and burn incense on it"?

¹³Do you not know what I and my fathers (ancestors) have done to all the peoples of the [other] lands? Were the gods of the nations of those lands able to rescue their lands from my hand at all?

¹⁴Who [was there] among all the gods of those nations that my fathers utterly destroyed who was able to rescue his people from my hand, that your God should be able to rescue you from my hand?

¹⁵So now, do not let Hezekiah deceive or mislead you like this, and do not believe him, for no god of any nation or kingdom has been able to rescue his people from my hand or the hand of my fathers. How much less will your God rescue you from my hand!'"

¹⁶And his servants said even more against the LORD God and against His servant Hezekiah.

¹⁷The Assyrian king also wrote letters insulting and taunting the LORD God of Israel, and speaking against Him, saying, "As the gods of the nations of other lands have not rescued their people from my hand, so the God of Hezekiah will not rescue His people from my hand."

¹⁸They shouted it loudly 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 [without a long siege].

¹⁹They spoke of the God of Jerusalem as [they spoke of] the gods of the peoples of the earth, [which are only] the work of the hands of men.

²⁰But Hezekiah the king and the prophet Isaiah the son of Amoz prayed about this and cried out to heaven [for help].

²¹And the LORD sent an angel who destroyed every brave warrior, commander, and officer in the camp of the king of Assyria. So the king returned to his own land in shame. And when he entered the house (temple) of his god, some of his own children killed him there with the sword.

²²Thus the LORD saved Hezekiah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem from the hand of Sennacherib the king of Assyria and from the hand of all others, and He gave them rest on every side.

²³And many brought gifts to the LORD at Jerusalem and valuable presents to Hezekiah king of Judah; so from then on he was exalted in the sight of all nations.

²⁴In those days Hezekiah became terminally ill; and he prayed to the LORD, and He answered him and gave him a [miraculous] sign.

²⁵But Hezekiah did nothing [for the LORD] in return for the benefit bestowed on him, because his heart had become proud; therefore God's wrath came on him and on Judah and Jerusalem.

²⁶However, Hezekiah humbled his proud heart, both he and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so that the wrath of the LORD did not come on them during the days of Hezekiah.

²⁷Now Hezekiah had immense wealth and honor; and he made for himself treasuries for silver, gold, precious stones, spices, shields, and all kinds of delightful articles,

²⁸and storehouses for the produce of grain, new wine, and [olive] oil, and stalls for all kinds of cattle, and sheepfolds for the flocks.

²⁹Moreover, he made cities for himself and acquired an abundance of flocks and herds, for God gave him very many possessions.

³⁰This same Hezekiah also stopped up the upper outlet of the waters of Gihon and channeled them down to the west side of the City of David. Hezekiah succeeded in everything that he did.

³¹And so in the matter of the envoys of the rulers of Babylon, who were sent to him to inquire about the wonder that had happened in the land, God left him alone only to test him, in order to know everything that was in his heart.

³²Now the rest of the acts of Hezekiah and his godly achievements, 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.

³³So Hezekiah slept with his fathers [in death] and they buried him in the upper section of the tombs of the descendants of David; and all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem honored him at his death. And his son Manasseh became king in his place.

¹Manasseh was twelve years old when he became king, and he reigned for fifty-five years in Jerusalem.

²But he did evil in the sight of the LORD, like the repulsive acts of the [pagan] nations whom the LORD dispossessed before the sons (descendants) of Israel.

³For he rebuilt the [idolatrous] high places which his father Hezekiah had torn down; and he set up altars for the Baals and made the Asherim, and worshiped all the host of heaven [the sun, the moon, stars and planets] and served them.

⁴He built [pagan] altars in the house of the LORD, of which the LORD had said, "My Name shall be in Jerusalem forever."

⁵He built altars for all the host of heaven in the two courts of the house of the LORD.

⁶He made his sons pass through the fire [as an offering to his gods] in the Valley of Ben-hinnom; and he practiced witchcraft, used divination, and practiced sorcery, and dealt with mediums and spiritists. He did much evil in the sight of the LORD, provoking Him to anger.

⁷Then he set the carved image of 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 from all the tribes of Israel, I will put My Name [and the symbol of my Presence] forever;

⁸and I will not again remove Israel from the land which I appointed for your fathers, if they will only be careful to do everything that I have commanded them in regard to all the law, the statutes, and the ordinances given through Moses."

⁹So Manasseh caused Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to sin, by doing more evil than the [pagan] nations whom the LORD had destroyed before the sons of Israel.

¹⁰Now the LORD spoke to Manasseh and to his people, but they paid no attention.

¹¹So the LORD brought the commanders of the army of the king of Assyria against them, and they captured Manasseh with hooks [through his nose or cheeks] and bound him with bronze [chains] and took him to Babylon.

¹²But when he was in distress, he sought the LORD his God and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers.

¹³When he prayed to Him, He was moved by his entreaty and heard his pleading, and brought him back to Jerusalem to his kingdom. Then Manasseh knew that the LORD is God.

¹⁴After this he built an outer wall for the City of David on the west side of Gihon, in the river valley, to the entrance of the Fish Gate; and he encircled the Ophel with it and made it very high. Then he put military commanders in all the fortified cities of Judah.

¹⁵He also removed the foreign gods and the idol from the house of the LORD, as well as all the altars which he had built on the mountain of the house of the LORD and in Jerusalem; and he threw them outside the city.

¹⁶Then he set up the altar of the LORD and sacrificed peace offerings and thank offerings on it; and he ordered Judah to serve the LORD God of Israel.

¹⁷Yet the people still sacrificed on the high places, but only to the LORD their God.

¹⁸Now the rest of the acts of Manasseh, and his prayer to his God, and the words of the seers who spoke to him in the name of the LORD God of Israel, behold, they are among the records of the kings of Israel.

¹⁹His prayer also and how God heard him, and all his sin, his unfaithfulness, and the sites on which he built high places and set up the Asherim and the carved images, before he humbled himself, behold, they are written in the records of the Hozai.

²⁰So Manasseh slept with his fathers [in death], and they buried him in [the garden of] his own house. And his son Amon became king in his place.

²¹Amon was twenty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned for two years in Jerusalem.

²²But he did evil in the sight of the LORD, just as his father Manasseh had done. Amon sacrificed to all the carved images which his father Manasseh had made, and he served them.

²³Further, he did not humble himself before the LORD as his father Manasseh [finally] had done, but Amon multiplied his guilt and his sin.

²⁴And his servants conspired against him and killed him in his own house (palace).

²⁵But the people of the land struck down all those who had conspired against King Amon, and they made his son Josiah king in his place.

¹Josiah was eight years old when he became king, and he reigned for thirty-one years in Jerusalem.

²He did what was right in the sight of the LORD, and walked in the ways of David his father (forefather) and did not turn aside either to the right or to the left.

³For in the eighth year of his reign, while he was still young (sixteen), he began to seek after and inquire of the God of his father David; and in the twelfth year he began to purge Judah and Jerusalem of the high places, the Asherim, and the carved and cast images.

⁴They tore down the altars of the Baals in his presence; he cut to pieces the incense altars that were high above them; he also smashed the Asherim and the carved images and the cast images to pieces, and ground them to dust and scattered it on the graves of those who had sacrificed to them.

⁵Then Josiah burned the bones of the [pagan] priests on their altars and purged and cleansed Judah and Jerusalem.

⁶In the cities of Manasseh, Ephraim, Simeon, and as far as Naphtali, in their surrounding ruins,

⁷he tore down the altars and beat and crushed the Asherim and the carved images into powder, and cut to pieces all the incense altars throughout the land of Israel. Then he returned to Jerusalem.

⁸In the eighteenth year of Josiah's reign, when he had purged the land and the [Lord's] house, he sent Shaphan the son of Azaliah, and Maaseiah the governor of the city, and Joah the son of Joahaz the recorder (secretary), to repair the house of the LORD his God.

⁹When they came to Hilkiah the high priest, they delivered the money that had been brought into the house of God, which the Levites, who guarded the doors, had collected from Manasseh and Ephraim, and from all the remnant of Israel, and from all Judah and Benjamin, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem.

¹⁰Then they gave it to the workmen who were appointed over the house of the LORD, and the workmen who were working in the house of the LORD gave it [to others] to repair and restore the house (temple).

¹¹They in turn gave it to the carpenters and builders to buy quarried stone and timber for couplings (trusses, braces) and to make beams for the houses which the kings of Judah had let go to ruin.

¹²The men did the work faithfully with foremen over them to supervise and inspect [their work]: Jahath and Obadiah, the Levites of the sons of Merari, and Zechariah and Meshullam of the sons of the Kohathites, and the Levites, all who were skillful with musical instruments.

¹³They were also in charge of the burden bearers [who carried heavy loads], and supervised all the workmen in any kind of service; and some of the Levites were scribes and officials and gatekeepers.

¹⁴When they were bringing out the money which had been brought into the house of the LORD, Hilkiah the priest found the Book of the Law of the LORD given by Moses.

¹⁵Hilkiah told Shaphan the scribe, "I have found the Book of the Law in the house of the LORD." And he gave the book to Shaphan.

¹⁶Shaphan brought the book to the king, but [first] reported further to him, "Your servants are doing everything that was entrusted to them.

¹⁷They have emptied out the money that was found in the house of the LORD, and have delivered it into the hands of the overseers and the workmen."

¹⁸Then Shaphan the scribe told the king, "Hilkiah the priest has given me a book." And Shaphan read from it in the presence of the king.

¹⁹When the king heard the words of the Law, he tore his clothes.

²⁰Then the king commanded Hilkiah, Ahikam the son of Shaphan, Abdon the son of Micah, Shaphan the scribe, and Asaiah a servant of the king, saying,

²¹"Go, inquire of the LORD for me and for those who are left in Israel and in Judah in regard to the words of the book which has been found; for great is the wrath of the LORD which has been poured out on us because our fathers have not kept and obeyed the word of the LORD, to act in accordance with everything that is written in this book."

²²So Hilkiah and those whom the king had told went to Huldah the prophetess, the wife of Shallum the son of Tokhath, the son of Hasrah, keeper of the wardrobe (now she lived in Jerusalem, in the Second Quarter); and they spoke to her about this.

²³And she answered them, "Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel: 'Tell the man who sent you to me,

²⁴thus says the LORD: "Behold, I am bringing evil on this place and on its inhabitants, all the curses that are written in the book which they have read in the presence of the king of Judah.

²⁵Because they have abandoned (rejected) Me and have burned incense to other gods, in order to provoke Me to anger with all the works of their hands, My wrath will be poured out on this place and it will not be extinguished."'

²⁶But you shall say the following to King Josiah of Judah, who sent you to inquire of the LORD: 'Thus says the LORD God of Israel, concerning the words which you have heard,

²⁷"Because your heart was gentle and penitent and you humbled yourself before God when you heard His words against this place and its inhabitants, and humbled yourself before Me, and tore your clothes and wept before Me, I also have heard you," declares the LORD.

²⁸"Behold, I will gather you to your fathers [in death], and you shall be gathered to your grave in peace, and your eyes shall not see all the evil which I am going to bring on this place and on its inhabitants."'" So they brought back word to the king.

²⁹Then the king sent word and gathered all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem.

³⁰And the king went up to the house of the LORD with all the men of Judah, the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the priests, the Levites, and all the people, from the greatest to the least; and he read aloud so they could hear all the words of the Book of the Covenant which was found in the house of the LORD.

³¹Then the king stood in his place and made a covenant before the LORD—to walk after (obey) the LORD, and to keep His commandments, His testimonies, and His statutes with all his heart and with all his soul, to perform the words of the covenant written in this book.

³²Further, he made all who were present in Jerusalem and Benjamin stand [with him, in confirmation of it]. So the inhabitants of Jerusalem acted in accordance with the covenant of God, the God of their fathers.

³³Josiah removed all the [pagan] repulsive things from all the lands belonging to the sons (descendants) of Israel, and made all who were present in Israel serve the LORD their God. Throughout his lifetime they did not turn from following the LORD God of their fathers.

¹Josiah celebrated the Passover to the LORD in Jerusalem; they slaughtered the Passover lambs on the fourteenth day of the first month.

²He appointed the priests to their positions and encouraged them in the service of the house of the LORD.

³To the Levites who taught all Israel and were holy to the LORD he said, "Put the holy ark in the house (temple) which Solomon the son of David king of Israel built; it shall not be a burden [carried] on your shoulders any longer. Now serve the LORD your God and His people Israel.

⁴Prepare yourselves according to your fathers' (ancestors') households by your divisions, in accordance with the instructions of David king of Israel, and the instructions of his son Solomon.

⁵And stand in the holy place [of the priests] according to the sections of the fathers' households of your fellow kinsmen the lay people, and according to the Levites, by division of [the families of] a father's household.

⁶Slaughter the Passover lambs and consecrate yourselves, and prepare for your fellow countrymen to carry out (obey) the word of the LORD given by Moses."

⁷Then Josiah contributed to the lay people, to all who were present, flocks of lambs and young goats numbering 30,000, all as Passover offerings, and 3,000 bulls—these were from the king's property.

⁸His officers also contributed a voluntary offering to the people, the priests and the Levites. Hilkiah, Zechariah, and Jehiel, the officials of the house of God, gave to the priests for the Passover offerings 2,600 from the flocks [of lambs and young goats], and 300 bulls.

⁹Conaniah also, and Shemaiah and Nethanel, his brothers, and Hashabiah and Jeiel and Jozabad, officers of the Levites, contributed to the Levites for the Passover offerings 5,000 from the flocks [of lambs and young goats], and 500 bulls.

¹⁰When the service was ready, the priests stood in their [assigned] places and the Levites by their divisions, in accordance with the king's command.

¹¹They slaughtered the Passover lambs, and while the priests sprinkled the blood received from their hand, the Levites skinned the animals.

¹²Then they removed the burnt offerings, to distribute them to the sections of the fathers' households of the lay people to offer to the LORD, as it is written in the Book of Moses. They did the same with the bulls.

¹³So they roasted the Passover lambs on the fire according to the ordinance; and they cooked the holy offerings in pots, in kettles, and in pans, and quickly brought them to all the lay people.

¹⁴Afterward the Levites prepared for themselves and for the priests, because the priests, the sons of Aaron, were busy offering the burnt offerings and the fat until night; so the Levites prepared for themselves and for the priests, the sons of Aaron.

¹⁵The singers, the sons of Asaph, were also in their places in accordance with the command of David, Asaph, Heman, and Jeduthun the king's seer; and the gatekeepers at each gate did not need to leave their service, because their kinsmen the Levites prepared for them.

¹⁶So all the service of the LORD was prepared on that day to celebrate the Passover, and to offer burnt offerings on the altar of the LORD, in accordance with the command of King Josiah.

¹⁷Thus the sons of Israel who were present celebrated the Passover at that time, and the Feast of Unleavened Bread for seven days.

¹⁸No Passover like it had been celebrated in Israel since the days of Samuel the prophet; nor had any of the kings of Israel celebrated such a Passover as Josiah did with the priests, the Levites, all Judah and Israel who were present, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem.

¹⁹In the eighteenth year of Josiah's reign this Passover was celebrated.

²⁰After all this, when Josiah had prepared the temple, Neco king of Egypt came up to make war at Carchemish on the Euphrates, and Josiah went out to meet him.

²¹But Neco sent messengers to Josiah, saying, "What business do we have with each other, O King of Judah? I am not coming against you today, but against the house with which I am at war, and God has ordered me to hurry. Stop for your own sake from interfering with God who is with me, so that He will not destroy you."

²²Yet Josiah would not turn away from him, but disguised himself in order to fight against him. He did not listen to the words of Neco from the mouth of God, but came to fight against him on the plain of Megiddo.

²³The archers shot King Josiah, and the king said to his servants, "Take me away, for I am badly wounded."

²⁴So his servants took him out of the chariot and carried him in the second chariot which he had, and brought him to Jerusalem where he died and was buried in the tombs of his fathers. All Judah and Jerusalem mourned for Josiah.

²⁵Then Jeremiah sung a lament (funeral song) for Josiah, and all the male and female singers have spoken about Josiah in their laments to this day. They made the songs an ordinance in Israel; behold, they are written in the Lamentations.

²⁶Now the rest of the acts of Josiah and his deeds of devotion and godly achievements as written in the Law of the LORD,

²⁷and his acts, from the first to the last, behold, they are written in the Book of the Kings of Israel and Judah.

¹Then the people of the land took Joahaz the son of Josiah, and made him king in Jerusalem in place of his father.

²Joahaz was twenty-three years old when he became king, and he reigned [only] three months in Jerusalem.

³Then the king of Egypt deposed him at Jerusalem, and imposed a fine on the land of a hundred talents of silver and one talent of gold.

⁴The king of Egypt made Eliakim, the brother of Joahaz, king over Judah and Jerusalem, and changed his name to Jehoiakim. But Neco took Joahaz his brother, and brought him to Egypt.

⁵Jehoiakim was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned for eleven years in Jerusalem; and he did evil in the sight of the LORD his God.

⁶Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up against him and bound him with bronze [chains] to take him to Babylon.

⁷Nebuchadnezzar also brought some of the articles of the house (temple) of the LORD to Babylon and put them in his temple there.

⁸Now the rest of the acts of Jehoiakim and the repulsive acts which he committed, and what was found against him, behold, they are written in the Book of the Kings of Israel and Judah. And his son Jehoiachin became king in his place.

⁹Jehoiachin was eight[teen] years old when he became king, and he reigned for three months and ten days in Jerusalem, and he did evil in the sight of the LORD.

¹⁰Now at the turn of the year [in the spring], King Nebuchadnezzar sent word and had him brought to Babylon with the valuable articles of the house of the LORD, and made his brother Zedekiah king over Judah and Jerusalem.

¹¹Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he became king, and he reigned for eleven years in Jerusalem.

¹²He did evil in the sight of the LORD his God; he did not humble himself before Jeremiah the prophet, who spoke for the LORD.

¹³He also rebelled against King Nebuchadnezzar who had made him swear allegiance by God. He stiffened his neck and hardened his heart against turning to the LORD God of Israel.

¹⁴Also, all the officials of the priests and the people were very unfaithful, following all the repulsive acts of the [pagan] nations; and they defiled the house of the LORD which He had sanctified in Jerusalem.

¹⁵The LORD, the God of their fathers, sent word to them again and again by His messengers, because He had compassion on His people and on His dwelling place.

¹⁶But they kept mocking the messengers of God and despising His words and scoffing at His prophets until the wrath of the LORD arose against His people, until there was no remedy or healing.

¹⁷Therefore He brought the king of the Chaldeans against them, who killed their young men with the sword in the house of their sanctuary, and had no compassion on young man or virgin, old man or infirm; He gave them all into his hand.

¹⁸And as for all the articles 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 officials, he brought them all to Babylon.

¹⁹Then they burned the house of God and tore down the wall of Jerusalem, and burned all its fortified buildings with fire, and destroyed all its valuable articles.

²⁰He deported to Babylon those who had escaped from the sword; and they were servants to him and to his sons until the kingdom of Persia was established there,

²¹to fulfill the word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah, until the land had restored its Sabbaths; for as long as the land lay desolate it kept Sabbath until seventy years were complete.

²²Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia—in order to fulfill the word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah—the LORD stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, so that he sent a proclamation throughout his kingdom, and also put it in writing, saying,

²³"Thus says Cyrus king of Persia: 'The LORD, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth, and He has appointed me to build Him a house in Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Whoever there is among you of all His people, may the LORD his God be with him, and let him go up [to Jerusalem]!'"

¹Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia [that is, the first year he ruled Babylon], in order to fulfill the word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah [the prophet], the LORD stirred up (put in motion) the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, so that he sent a proclamation throughout all his kingdom, and also put it in writing, saying:

²"Thus says Cyrus king of Persia, 'The LORD, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth and He has appointed me to build Him a house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah.

³Whoever there is among you of all His people, may his God be with him! Let him go up to Jerusalem, which is in Judah and rebuild the house of the LORD, the God of Israel; He is God who is in Jerusalem.

⁴In any place where a survivor (Jewish exile) may live, let the men (Gentiles) of that place support him with silver and gold, with goods and cattle, together with freewill offerings for the house of God in Jerusalem.'"

⁵Then the heads of the fathers' households of Judah and Benjamin, and the priests and Levites, all those whose spirits God had stirred up, arose to go up and rebuild the house of the LORD which is in Jerusalem.

⁶All those who were around them encouraged them with articles of silver, with gold, with goods, with cattle, and with valuable things, in addition to all that was given as a freewill offering.

⁷Also King Cyrus brought out the articles of the house of the LORD, which Nebuchadnezzar had carried away from Jerusalem [when he captured that city] and had put in the house of his gods.

⁸And Cyrus, king of Persia, had Mithredath the treasurer bring them out, and he counted them out to Sheshbazzar, the governor (leader) of Judah.

⁹And they counted: 30 dishes (basins) of gold, 1,000 dishes of silver, 29 duplicates;

¹⁰30 [small] gold bowls, 410 [small] silver bowls of a second kind, and 1,000 other articles.

¹¹All the articles of gold and of silver totaled 5,400. All these Sheshbazzar [the governor] brought up with the exiles who went from Babylon up to Jerusalem.

¹Now these are the people of the province [of Judah] who came up from the captivity of the exiles, whom Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon had deported to Babylon, and who returned to Jerusalem and Judah, each to his own city.

²These came with Zerubbabel: Jeshua, Nehemiah, Seraiah, Reelaiah, Mordecai, Bilshan, Mispar, Bigvai, Rehum, Baanah. The number of the men of the people of Israel:

³the sons (descendants) of Parosh, 2,172;

⁴the sons of Shephatiah, 372;

⁵the sons of Arah, 775;

⁶the sons of Pahath-moab of the sons of Jeshua and Joab, 2,812;

⁷the sons of Elam, 1,254;

⁸the sons of Zattu, 945;

⁹the sons of Zaccai, 760;

¹⁰the sons of Bani, 642;

¹¹the sons of Bebai, 623;

¹²the sons of Azgad, 1,222;

¹³the sons of Adonikam, 666;

¹⁴the sons of Bigvai, 2,056;

¹⁵the sons of Adin, 454;

¹⁶the sons of Ater of Hezekiah, 98;

¹⁷the sons of Bezai, 323;

¹⁸the sons of Jorah, 112;

¹⁹the sons of Hashum, 223;

²⁰the sons of Gibbar, 95;

²¹the men of Bethlehem, 123;

²²the men of Netophah, 56;

²³the men of Anathoth, 128;

²⁴the sons of Azmaveth, 42;

²⁵the sons of Kiriath-arim, Chephirah and Beeroth, 743;

²⁶the sons of Ramah and Geba, 621;

²⁷the men of Michmas, 122;

²⁸the men of Bethel and Ai, 223;

²⁹the sons of Nebo, 52;

³⁰the sons of Magbish, 156;

³¹the sons of the other Elam, 1,254;

³²the sons of Harim, 320;

³³the sons of Lod, Hadid and Ono, 725;

³⁴the men of Jericho, 345;

³⁵the sons of Senaah, 3,630.

³⁶The priests: the sons of Jedaiah of the house of Jeshua, 973;

³⁷the sons of Immer, 1,052;

³⁸the sons of Pashhur, 1,247;

³⁹the sons of Harim, 1,017.

⁴⁰The Levites: the sons of Jeshua and Kadmiel, of the sons of Hodaviah, 74.

⁴¹The singers: the sons of Asaph, 128.

⁴²The sons of the gatekeepers: of Shallum, Ater, Talmon, Akkub, Hatita, and Shobai, in all 139.

⁴³The temple servants: the sons of Ziha, Hasupha, Tabbaoth,

⁴⁴the sons of Keros, Siaha, Padon,

⁴⁵the sons of Lebanah, Hagabah, Akkub,

⁴⁶the sons of Hagab, Shalmai, Hanan,

⁴⁷the sons of Giddel, Gahar, Reaiah,

⁴⁸the sons of Rezin, Nekoda, Gazzam,

⁴⁹the sons of Uzza, Paseah, Besai,

⁵⁰the sons of Asnah, Meunim, Nephisim,

⁵¹the sons of Bakbuk, Hakupha, Harhur,

⁵²the sons of Bazluth, Mehida, Harsha,

⁵³the sons of Barkos, Sisera, Temah,

⁵⁴the sons of Neziah, Hatipha.

⁵⁵The sons of [King] Solomon's servants: the sons of Sotai, Hassophereth (Sophereth), Peruda,

⁵⁶the sons of Jaalah, Darkon, Giddel,

⁵⁷the sons of Shephatiah, Hattil, Pochereth-hazzebaim, Ami.

⁵⁸All the temple servants and the sons of Solomon's servants totaled 392.

⁵⁹Now these are the ones who came up from Tel-melah, Tel-harsha, Cherub, Addan, and Immer, but they could not provide evidence of their fathers' households and their descendants, whether they were of Israel:

⁶⁰the sons of Delaiah, Tobiah, and Nekoda, 652.

⁶¹Of the sons of the priests: the sons of Hobaiah, of Hakkoz, and of Barzillai, who took a wife from the daughters of Barzillai the Gileadite, and he was known by their name.

⁶²These searched [for their names] among those registered in the genealogies, but they were not found; so they were excluded from the priesthood as [ceremonially] unclean.

⁶³The governor told them that they should not eat of the most holy things [the priests' food] until a priest stood up with Urim and Thummim [who by consulting these articles in his breastplate could determine God's will in the matter].

⁶⁴The whole assembly totaled 42,360,

⁶⁵besides their male and female servants who numbered 7,337; and [among them] they had 200 male and female singers.

⁶⁶Their horses totaled 736; their mules, 245;

⁶⁷their camels totaled 435; their donkeys, 6,720.

⁶⁸Some of the heads of the fathers' households (extended families), when they arrived at the house of the LORD in Jerusalem, made voluntary contributions for the house of God to rebuild it on its [old] foundation.

⁶⁹They gave according to their ability to the treasury for the work, 61,000 drachmas of gold, 5,000 minas of silver, and 100 priestly [linen] garments.

⁷⁰So the priests, the Levites, some of the people, the singers, the gatekeepers, and the temple servants settled in their [own] cities, and all Israel [gradually settled] into their cities.

¹When the seventh month came and the sons of Israel were in the cities, the people gathered together as one man to Jerusalem.

²Then Jeshua the son of Jozadak and his brothers the priests, and Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel and his brothers arose, and they built the altar of the God of Israel, to offer burnt offerings on it, as it is written in the Law of Moses, the man of God.

³So they set up the altar on its [old] foundation, for they were terrified because of the peoples of the lands; and they offered burnt offerings on it to the LORD, morning and evening.

⁴They celebrated the Feast of Booths, as it is written, and offered the fixed number of daily burnt offerings, in accordance with the ordinances, as each day required;

⁵and afterward, there was the continual burnt offering, the offering at the New Moons, and at all the appointed festivals of the LORD that were consecrated, and the offerings of everyone who made a voluntary offering to the LORD.

⁶From the first day of the seventh month they began to offer burnt offerings to the LORD, but the foundation of the temple of the LORD had not been laid.

⁷They gave money to the masons and to the carpenters, and gave food, drink, and [olive] oil to the people from Sidon and Tyre, to bring cedar wood from Lebanon to the seaport of Joppa, in accordance with the authorization they had from Cyrus king of Persia.

⁸In the second year of their coming to God's house at Jerusalem, in the second month, Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel and Jeshua the son of Jozadak began [the work], with the rest of their brothers—the priests and Levites and all who came to Jerusalem from the captivity. They appointed the Levites, from twenty years old and upward, to oversee the work of the house of the LORD.

⁹Then Jeshua with his sons and brothers stood united with Kadmiel and his sons, the sons of Judah and the sons of Henadad with their sons and brothers the Levites, to oversee the workmen in the house of God.

¹⁰Now when the builders had laid the foundation of the temple of the LORD, the priests stood in their apparel with trumpets, and the Levites, the sons of Asaph, with their cymbals, to praise the LORD in accordance with the directions of David king of Israel.

¹¹They sang [responsively], praising and giving thanks to the LORD, saying, "For He is good, for His lovingkindness (mercy) toward Israel endures forever." And all the people shouted with a great shout when they praised the LORD because the foundation of the house of the LORD was laid.

¹²But many of the priests and Levites and heads of fathers' households, the old men who had seen the first house (temple), wept with a loud voice when the foundation of this house was laid before their eyes, while many shouted aloud for joy,

¹³so that the people could not distinguish the sound of the shout of joy from the sound of the weeping of the people, for the people shouted with a loud shout, and the sound was heard far away.

¹Now when [the Samaritans] the adversaries of Judah and Benjamin heard that the exiles from the captivity were building a temple to the LORD God of Israel,

²they came to Zerubbabel [who was now governor] and to the heads of the fathers' households and said to them, "Let us build with you, for we seek your God [and worship] just as you do; and we have sacrificed to Him since the days of Esarhaddon king of Assyria, who brought us up here."

³But Zerubbabel and Jeshua and the rest of the heads of fathers' households of Israel said to them, "You have nothing in common with us in building a house to our God; but we ourselves will together build to the LORD God of Israel, just as King Cyrus, the king of Persia, has commanded us."

⁴Then [the Samaritans and others of] the people of the land discouraged the people of Judah, and frightened them [to deter them] from building,

⁵and hired advisers [to work] against them to frustrate their plans during the entire time that Cyrus king of Persia reigned, [and this lasted] even until the reign of Darius king of Persia.

⁶Now in the reign of Ahasuerus (Xerxes), in the beginning of his reign, the Samaritans wrote [to him] an accusation against the inhabitants of Judah and Jerusalem [who had returned from exile].

⁷Later, in the days of [King] Artaxerxes, Bishlam, Mithredath, Tabeel and the rest of their associates wrote to Artaxerxes king of Persia; and the text of the letter was written in Aramaic and translated from Aramaic.

⁸Rehum the [Persian] commander [of the Samaritans] and Shimshai the scribe wrote a letter against Jerusalem to Artaxerxes the king as follows—

⁹then wrote Rehum the [Persian] commander, Shimshai the scribe, and the rest of their associates, the judges, the lesser governors, the officials, the secretaries, the men of Erech, the Babylonians, the men of Susa, that is, the Elamites,

¹⁰and the rest of the nations whom the great and noble Osnappar deported and settled in the city of Samaria, and in the rest of the region west of the [Euphrates] River. Now

¹¹this is a copy of the letter which they sent to him: "To King Artaxerxes from your servants, the men in the region west of the [Euphrates] River; and now:

¹²Let it be known to the king that the Jews who came up from you have come to us at Jerusalem. They are rebuilding this rebellious and evil city and are finishing its walls and repairing the foundations.

¹³Now let it be known to the king, that if that city is rebuilt and the walls are finished, then they will not pay tax, custom, or toll, and the revenue of the kings will be diminished.

¹⁴Now because we are in the service of the palace, and it is not proper for us to witness the king's dishonor, for that reason we have sent word and informed the king,

¹⁵in order that a search may be made in the record books of your fathers. And you will discover in the record books and learn that this is a rebellious city, damaging to kings and provinces, and that in the past they have incited rebellion within it. That is why that city was laid waste (destroyed).

¹⁶We are informing the king that if that city is rebuilt and its walls finished, it will mean that you will have no possession in the province west of the [Euphrates] River."

¹⁷Then the king sent an answer to Rehum the [Persian] commander, to Shimshai the scribe, and to the rest of their colleagues who live in Samaria and in the rest of the provinces west of the River: "Peace (Greetings). And now,

¹⁸The document which you sent to us has been translated and read before me.

¹⁹I have issued a command and a search has been made, and it has been discovered that this city [Jerusalem] in earlier times has revolted against the kings, and that rebellion and sedition have been perpetrated in it.

²⁰There have also been mighty kings over Jerusalem who have ruled over all the provinces west of the [Euphrates] River, and tax, custom, and toll were paid to them.

²¹So, now issue a decree to make these men stop [work], so that this city is not rebuilt until a [new] command is issued by me.

²²Beware of being negligent in carrying out this matter. Why should damage increase to the detriment of the kings?"

²³Then as soon as the copy of King Artaxerxes' document was read before Rehum and Shimshai the scribe, and their colleagues, they went up hurriedly to Jerusalem to the Jews, and made them stop [work] by force of arms.

²⁴Then the work on the house of God in Jerusalem stopped. It was suspended until the second year of the reign of Darius king of Persia.

¹Now when the prophets, Haggai the prophet and Zechariah, the son (grandson) of Iddo, prophesied to the Jews who were in Judah and Jerusalem in the name of the God of Israel, whose Spirit was over them,

²then Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel [heir to the throne of Judah] and Jeshua the son of Jozadak arose and began to rebuild the house of God in Jerusalem; and the prophets of God [Haggai and Zechariah] were with them, supporting and encouraging them.

³At that time Tattenai, the governor of the province on the west side of the [Euphrates] River, and Shethar-bozenai and their colleagues came to them and said, "Who issued you a decree and authorized you to rebuild this temple and to restore this wall (shrine)?"

⁴Then, accordingly, we told them the names of the men who were reconstructing this building.

⁵But the eye of their God was on the elders of the Jews, so they [Tattenai and the others] did not stop them until a report could come before Darius, and then an answer was returned by letter concerning it.

⁶This is a copy of the letter that Tattenai, governor of the province west of the [Euphrates] River, and Shethar-bozenai and his associates, the officials who were west of the River, sent to Darius the king.

⁷They sent a report to him in which it was written: "To Darius the king, all peace.

⁸Let it be known to the king that we have gone to the province of Judah, to the house of the great God. It is being built with huge stones, with beams laid in the walls; and this work goes on with diligence and care and is succeeding in their hands.

⁹Then we asked those elders, 'Who issued you a decree to rebuild this temple and to finish this structure?'

¹⁰We also asked them their names so that we might notify you, and so that we might record the names of the men in charge.

¹¹They replied, 'We are servants of the God of heaven and earth, and are rebuilding the temple which was erected many years ago, which a great king of Israel built and finished.

¹²But because our fathers provoked the God of heaven to wrath, He handed them over to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, the Chaldean, who destroyed this temple and exiled the people to Babylon.

¹³But in the first year of Cyrus king of Babylon, [the same] King Cyrus issued a decree to rebuild this house of God.

¹⁴Also the gold and silver utensils of the house of God which Nebuchadnezzar had taken from the temple in Jerusalem and had brought into the temple of Babylon, King Cyrus took from the temple of Babylon and had them given to a man whose name was Sheshbazzar, whom he had appointed governor.

¹⁵And Cyrus said to him, "Take these utensils, go and deposit them in the temple in Jerusalem, and let the house of God be rebuilt on its site."

¹⁶Then that Sheshbazzar came and laid the foundations of the house of God in Jerusalem; and from then until now it has been under construction and is not yet completed.'

¹⁷So now, if it pleases the king, let a search be conducted in the king's treasure house [in the royal archives] there in Babylon to see if it is true that a decree was issued by King Cyrus to rebuild this house of God at Jerusalem; and let the king send us his decision concerning this matter."

¹Then King Darius issued a decree, and a search was conducted in Babylon in the archives where the treasures [and records] were stored.

²In Ecbatana in the fortress (palace) in the province of Media, a scroll was found on which this was recorded: "Memorandum—

³"In the first year of King Cyrus, Cyrus the king issued a decree: 'Concerning the house of God in Jerusalem, let the temple (house), the place where sacrifices are offered, be rebuilt and let its foundations be strongly laid, its height and its width each 60 cubits,

⁴with three layers of huge stones and one layer of timbers. Let the cost be paid from the royal treasury.

⁵Also let the gold and silver utensils of the house of God, which Nebuchadnezzar took from the temple in Jerusalem and brought to Babylon, be returned and brought back to their [proper] places in the temple in Jerusalem; and you shall put them in the house of God.'

⁶"Now therefore, Tattenai, governor of the province west of the [Euphrates] River, Shethar-bozenai and your associates, the officials who are west of the River, keep far away from there.

⁷Leave the work on this house of God alone; let the governor of the Jews and the Jewish elders rebuild this house of God on its site.

⁸Also, I issue a decree as to what you are to do for these Jewish elders for the rebuilding of this house of God: the full cost is to be paid to these people from the royal treasury out of the taxes of the provinces west of the River, and that without delay.

⁹Whatever is needed, including young bulls, rams, and lambs for the burnt offerings to the God of heaven, and wheat, salt, wine, and anointing oil, according to the request of the priests at Jerusalem, let it all be given to them daily without fail,

¹⁰so that they may offer pleasing (sweet-smelling) sacrifices to the God of heaven and pray for the life of the king and his sons.

¹¹I have also issued a decree that if there is any man who violates this edict, a beam of timber shall be pulled from his house [and set up]; then he shall be impaled on it, and his house shall be turned into a refuse heap for this [violation].

¹²May the God who has caused His Name to dwell there overthrow any king or people who attempts to alter this command, so as to destroy this house of God in Jerusalem. I, Darius, have issued this decree; let it be carried out quickly and with due diligence.

¹³Then Tattenai, governor of the province west of the [Euphrates] River, with Shethar-bozenai and their associates carried out the decree with due diligence, just as King Darius had sent and commanded.

¹⁴And the Jewish elders built and prospered through the prophesying of Haggai the prophet and Zechariah the son of Iddo. They finished their building as commanded by the God of Israel and in accordance with the decree of Cyrus and Darius and Artaxerxes king of Persia.

¹⁵This temple was finished on the third day of the month of Adar, in the sixth year of the reign of King Darius.

¹⁶And all Israel—the priests, the Levites, and the rest of the [former] exiles—celebrated the dedication of this house of God with joy.

¹⁷They offered at the dedication of this house of God 100 bulls, 200 rams, 400 lambs, and, as a sin offering for all Israel, 12 male goats, according to the number of Israel's tribes.

¹⁸Then they appointed the priests to their divisions and the Levites in their orders for the service of God at Jerusalem, as it is written in the book of Moses.

¹⁹The [former] exiles kept the Passover on the fourteenth [day] of the first month.

²⁰For the priests and the Levites had purified themselves together; all of them were [ceremonially] clean. So they slaughtered the Passover lamb for all the exiles, for their brothers the priests, and for themselves.

²¹The Passover was eaten by the sons (descendants) of Israel (Jacob) who returned from exile and by all those who had separated themselves from the [ceremonial] uncleanness of the nations of the land to join them, in order to seek the LORD God of Israel.

²²They observed the Feast of Unleavened Bread for seven days with joy, for the LORD had caused them to rejoice and had turned the heart of the king of Assyria toward them, so that he encouraged them and strengthened their hands in the work of the house of God, the God of Israel.