Ahaz was twenty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem. And he did not do what was right in the sight of Jehovah as David his father had done,

But he walked in the ways of the kings of Israel and even made molten images for the Baals.

And he burned incense in the  ¹valley of the son of Hinnom and burned his children in fire, according to the abominations of the nations that Jehovah had dispossessed before the children of Israel.

And he sacrificed and burned incense on the high places and on the hills and under every flourishing tree.

Therefore Jehovah his God delivered him into the hand of the king of Syria; and they struck him and carried away captive from him a great multitude. And they brought them to Damascus. And he was also delivered into the hand of the king of Israel, and he struck a great blow on him.

For Pekah the son of Remaliah slew one hundred twenty thousand in Judah on one day, all of them valiant men, because they had forsaken Jehovah, the God of their fathers.

And Zichri, a mighty man of Ephraim, slew Maaseiah, the king's son, and Azrikam, the ruler of the house, and Elkanah, who was second to the king.

And the children of Israel carried away captive two hundred thousand women, sons, and daughters of their brothers, and also plundered much spoil from them; and they brought the spoil to Samaria.

But a prophet of Jehovah was there, whose name was Oded; and he went out to meet the army that was coming to Samaria and said to them, Now, because Jehovah, the God of your fathers, was angry with Judah, He has given them into your hand, and you have slain them in a rage which has reached up to heaven.

And now you intend to subjugate the children of Judah and Jerusalem as your male and female slaves. Is there not even with you anything but trespasses against Jehovah your God?

Now therefore listen to me, and return the captives that you have carried away captive from among your brothers, for the burning anger of Jehovah is upon you.

Then some of the heads of the children of Ephraim, Azariah the son of Johanan and Berechiah the son of Meshillemoth and Jehizkiah the son of Shallum and Amasa the son of Hadlai, rose up against those coming from the war;

And they said to them, You shall not bring the captives here, for you intend to bring a trespass against Jehovah upon us to add to our sins and our trespass; for our trespass is great, and there is burning anger upon Israel.

So the soldiers left the captives and the plunder before the leaders and all the assembly.

And those men who have been mentioned by name rose up and took the captives, and with the spoil clothed all who were naked among them. And they clothed them and gave them sandals and fed them and gave them something to drink, and they anointed them and carried all the feeble among them on asses and brought them to Jericho, the city of palms, to their brothers. And they returned to Samaria.

At that time King Ahaz sent word to the kings of Assyria to help him,

For again the Edomites came and struck Judah and carried away captives.

And the Philistines raided the cities of the lowlands and the south of Judah and took Beth-shemesh and Aijalon and Gederoth and Soco with its villages and Timnah with its villages and Gimzo with its villages; and they dwelt there.

For Jehovah humbled Judah on account of Ahaz the king of Israel, for he cast off restraint in Judah and trespassed greatly against Jehovah.

And Tilgath-pilneser the king of Assyria came against him and distressed him and did not strengthen him.

For Ahaz took away a portion of the house of Jehovah and of the house of the king and the officials and gave it to the king of Assyria, but it did not help him.

And at the time of his distress, he added to his trespass against Jehovah, this same King Ahaz;

For he sacrificed to the gods of Damascus, which had struck him, for he said, Because the gods of the kings of Syria helped them, to them will I sacrifice, so that they will help me. But they were the ruin of him and of all Israel.

And Ahaz gathered together the vessels of the house of God and cut the vessels of the house of God into pieces, and he shut up the doors of the house of Jehovah and made himself altars in every corner in Jerusalem.

And in every city of Judah he made high places for burning incense to other gods and provoked Jehovah, the God of his fathers, to anger.

Now the rest of his acts and all his ways, the first and the last, are there written in the book of the kings of Judah and Israel.

And Ahaz slept with his fathers; and they buried him in the city, in Jerusalem, for they did not bring him to the tombs of the kings of Israel.

And Hezekiah his son reigned in his place.

 ¹Hezekiah began to reign at the age of twenty-five years, and he reigned twenty-nine years in Jerusalem; and his mother's name was Abijah, the daughter of Zechariah.

And he did what was right in the sight of Jehovah, according to all that David his father had done.

He, in the first year of his reign, in the first month, opened the doors of the house of Jehovah and repaired them.

And he brought in the priests and the Levites and gathered them at the east square.

And he said to them, Listen to me, you Levites: Sanctify yourselves now, and sanctify the house of Jehovah, the God of your fathers; and bring out the impurity from the holy place.

For our fathers were unfaithful and did what was evil in the sight of Jehovah our God, and they forsook Him and turned their faces from the  ¹dwelling place of Jehovah, and they turned their backs on Him.

They also shut up the doors of the portico and extinguished the lamps; and they did not burn the incense, nor did they offer up the burnt offering in the holy place to the God of Israel.

Therefore the wrath of Jehovah was upon Judah and Jerusalem, and He made them an object of horror, astonishment, and hissing, as you see with your own eyes.

For indeed, our fathers fell by the sword, and our sons and our daughters and our wives are captives because of this.

Now it is on my heart to make a covenant with Jehovah the God of Israel, that His burning anger may turn away from us.

My sons, do not now be negligent, for Jehovah has chosen you to stand before Him to minister to Him and to be His ministers and burn incense.

Then the Levites rose up: Mahath the son of Amasai and Joel the son of Azariah, from among the sons of the Kohathites; and from among the sons of Merari, Kish the son of Abdi and Azariah the son of Jehallelel; and of the Gershonites, Joah the son of Zimmah and Eden the son of Joah;

And of the sons of Elizaphan, Shimri and Jeuel; and of the sons of Asaph, Zechariah and Mattaniah;

And of the sons of Heman, Jehuel and Shimei; and of the sons of Jeduthun, Shemaiah and Uzziel.

And they gathered their brothers together and sanctified themselves. And they went in, according to the command of the king by the words of Jehovah, to cleanse the house of Jehovah.

And the priests went into the inner part of the house of Jehovah to cleanse it; and they brought out into the court of the house of Jehovah all the uncleanness that they found in the temple of Jehovah, and the Levites took it to carry it outside to the brook Kidron.

And they began on the first day of the first month to sanctify the house, and on the eighth day of the month they came to the portico of Jehovah; then they sanctified the house of Jehovah for eight days, and on the sixteenth day of the first month they finished.

Then they went in to Hezekiah the king and said, We have cleansed the whole house of Jehovah: the altar of burnt offering with all its vessels and the table of the rows of bread with all its vessels.

And all the vessels that King Ahaz cast out during his reign when he trespassed we have prepared and sanctified, and they are now before the altar of Jehovah.

Then Hezekiah the king rose up early and gathered all the leaders of the city and went up to the house of Jehovah.

And they brought seven bulls and seven rams and seven lambs and seven male goats as a sin offering for the kingdom and for the sanctuary and for Judah. And he ordered the sons of Aaron, the priests, to offer them up on the altar of Jehovah.

So they slaughtered the cattle, and the priests took the blood and sprinkled it on the altar; then they slaughtered the rams and sprinkled the blood on the altar, and they slaughtered the lambs and sprinkled the blood on the altar.

Then they brought the male goats of the sin offering before the king and the congregation, and they laid their hands on them.

And the priests slaughtered them and offered their blood as a sin offering upon the altar to make expiation for all Israel, for the king had commanded the burnt offering and the sin offering for all Israel.

And he set the Levites in the house of Jehovah with cymbals, with harps, and with lyres in the way David and Gad the king's seer and Nathan the prophet had commanded, for the commandment was from Jehovah through His prophets.

And the Levites stood with the instruments of David, and the priests, with the trumpets.

And Hezekiah ordered the offering up of the burnt offering at the altar. And when the burnt offering began, the song of Jehovah began also, as well as the trumpets with the accompaniment of the instruments of David the king of Israel.

And the whole congregation worshipped, and the singers sang, and the trumpeters trumpeted—all this until the burnt offering was finished.

And when the offering was finished, the king and all who were found with him bowed down and worshipped.

And Hezekiah the king and the leaders commanded the Levites to praise Jehovah with the words of David and of Asaph the seer. And they praised with rejoicing and bowed down and worshipped.

Then Hezekiah responded and said, Now you  ¹have consecrated yourselves to Jehovah; come near and bring sacrifices and thank offerings to the house of Jehovah. So the congregation brought sacrifices and thank offerings, and all who were willing in heart brought burnt offerings.

And the number of burnt offerings that the congregation brought was seventy cattle, one hundred rams, and two hundred lambs; all these were for a burnt offering to Jehovah.

And the things consecrated were six hundred cattle and three thousand sheep;

However the priests were too few and could not flay all the burnt offerings, so their brothers the Levites aided them until the work was finished and until the rest of the priests had sanctified themselves, for the Levites were more upright in heart than the priests in sanctifying themselves.

And besides the abundance of burnt offerings there were also the fat of the peace offerings and the drink offerings for the burnt offerings. So the service of the house of Jehovah was established.

And Hezekiah and all the people rejoiced over what God had prepared for the people, for the thing had happened so suddenly.

And Hezekiah sent word to  ¹all Israel and Judah and also wrote letters to Ephraim and Manasseh telling them to come to the house of Jehovah in Jerusalem to hold the Passover to Jehovah the God of Israel.

For the king and his officers and all the congregation in Jerusalem had taken counsel to hold the Passover in the second month,

Because they could not hold it at that time, for the priests had not sanctified themselves in sufficient number nor had the people gathered to Jerusalem.

And the matter seemed right in the sight of the king and in the sight of all the congregation.

So they established a decree to send a proclamation throughout all Israel, from Beer-sheba to Dan, telling them to come to hold the Passover to Jehovah the God of Israel in Jerusalem; for they had not held it  ¹for a long time, as it was decreed in writing.

And as the king had commanded, the runners went with the letters from the hand of the king and his officers throughout all Israel and Judah, saying, You children of Israel, return to Jehovah, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, and He will return to the remnant of you who have escaped from the hand of the kings of Assyria.

And do not be like your fathers and like your brothers, who trespassed against Jehovah, the God of their fathers, so that He made them a desolation, as you now see.

Do not now be stiff-necked, as your fathers were; yield to Jehovah, and come to His sanctuary, which He has sanctified forever, and serve Jehovah your God, that His burning anger may turn away from you.

For when you turn to Jehovah, your brothers and your children will find compassion before those who led them captive and will return to this land, for Jehovah your God is gracious and compassionate, and will not turn His face away from you if you return to Him.

So the runners passed from city to city in the land of Ephraim and Manasseh and as far as Zebulun, but they laughed them to scorn and mocked them.

Nevertheless some men from Asher and Manasseh and Zebulun humbled themselves and came to Jerusalem.

Moreover the hand of God was on Judah, giving them one heart to perform the commandment of the king and the officers by the word of Jehovah.

And many people gathered at Jerusalem to hold the Feast of Unleavened Bread in the second month, a very great congregation.

And they rose up and removed the altars that were in Jerusalem, and they removed all the incense altars and threw them into the brook Kidron.

Then they slaughtered the passover sacrifice on the fourteenth day of the second month. And the priests and the Levites were ashamed, and they sanctified themselves and brought burnt offerings to the house of Jehovah.

And they stood at their station after their custom, according to the law of Moses, the man of God: The priests sprinkled the blood that they received from the hand of the Levites.

For there were many in the congregation who had not sanctified themselves; therefore the Levites were charged with slaughtering the passover sacrifices for everyone who was not clean, to sanctify them to Jehovah.

For a great number of the people, many from Ephraim and Manasseh and Issachar and Zebulun, had not cleansed themselves, yet they ate the passover otherwise than as prescribed; for Hezekiah prayed for them, saying, May Jehovah the Good expiate for everyone

Who has prepared his heart to seek after God, after Jehovah, the God of his fathers, even though he is not according to the rules of purification for the sanctuary.

And Jehovah heard Hezekiah and  ¹healed the people.

And the children of Israel who were found at Jerusalem held the Feast of Unleavened Bread for seven days with great rejoicing, and the Levites and the priests praised Jehovah day by day, with loud instruments played to Jehovah.

And Hezekiah encouraged all the Levites who showed themselves well-skilled in their service to Jehovah, and so they ate the food of the appointed feast for seven days, sacrificing sacrifices of peace offerings and extolling Jehovah, the God of their fathers.

And the whole congregation took counsel to hold the feast another seven days, and they held the feast those seven days with rejoicing.

For Hezekiah the king of Judah contributed one thousand bulls and seven thousand sheep to the congregation, and the leaders contributed one thousand bulls and ten thousand sheep to the congregation, and a great number of priests sanctified themselves.

And all the congregation of Judah with the priests and the Levites and all the congregation who came from Israel and the sojourners who came from the land of Israel and dwelt in Judah rejoiced,

And there was great rejoicing in Jerusalem, for since the days of Solomon the son of David, the king of Israel, there had not been the like in Jerusalem.

Then the Levitical priests rose up and blessed the people; and their voice was heard and their prayer went up to His sanctuary, to heaven.