Hezekiah

20The other things Hezekiah did are written down in another book. It tells how strong he was. It tells how he made a pool and a water tunnel. The tunnel brought water into the city. All of it is in the book of the history of the kings of Judah.

And the rest of the acts of Hezekiah, and all his might, and how he made a pool, and a conduit, and brought water into the city, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah?

NoteThis was a record book the kings kept about what they did. Nobody has that book today. The water tunnel was a long hole dug through rock. It carried water from a spring outside the city to the inside. Then people still had water to drink if an enemy army came.

21Then Hezekiah died like his fathers before him. His son Manasseh became king after him.

And Hezekiah slept with his fathers: and Manasseh his son reigned in his stead.

Note"Slept with his fathers" is an old, gentle way of saying he died. He was buried in the same place as his family.

1Hezekiah was twenty-five years old when he became king. He ruled twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. His mother was Abijah, the daughter of Zechariah.

Hezekiah began to reign when he was five and twenty years old, and he reigned nine and twenty years in Jerusalem. And his mother’s name was Abijah, the daughter of Zechariah.

NoteA king ruled a whole country. Hezekiah ruled Judah, the land around the city of Jerusalem.

2He did what was right in God's eyes. He lived the way David, his ancestor, had lived.

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

NoteDavid was a famous king of Israel long before this. Hezekiah came from David's family.

3In the first month of his first year as king, Hezekiah opened the doors of God's house. He also fixed them.

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

NoteGod's house means the temple. It was a big stone building in Jerusalem. People came there to worship God.

4Then he brought in the priests and the Levites. Priests led the worship at God's house, and Levites helped them. He gathered them all in the open square on the east side.

And he brought in the priests and the Levites, and gathered them together into the east street,

NoteLevites came from one family group in Israel, the family of Levi. They did the work at God's house. Priests came from that family too, and they led the worship.

5He said, "Listen to me, Levites. Make yourselves clean and ready for God. Make God's house clean and ready too. It belongs to the God your fathers worshiped. Carry every dirty thing out of the holy place.

And said unto them, Hear me, ye Levites, sanctify now yourselves, and sanctify the house of the LORD God of your fathers, and carry forth the filthiness out of the holy place.

NoteClean here does not just mean washing off dirt. It means getting ready to be near God. The holy place was a special room inside God's house.

6Our fathers were not faithful to God. They did what was evil in his eyes. They walked away from him. They turned their faces away from the place where he lived among us. They turned their backs on him.

For our fathers have trespassed, and done that which was evil in the eyes of the LORD our God, and have forsaken him, and have turned away their faces from the habitation of the LORD, and turned their backs.

NoteFathers here means the people who lived long before them. It means their grandparents, and their grandparents' parents.

7They also shut the doors of the front porch of God's house. They let the lamps go out. They did not burn incense there, and incense is sweet-smelling smoke. They did not bring burnt offerings, which are animals burned as gifts to God.

Also they have shut up the doors of the porch, and put out the lamps, and have not burned incense nor offered burnt offerings in the holy place unto the God of Israel.

NoteIncense was made from spices and sticky tree sap. Burning it made a sweet smell. The lamps were small bowls of oil with a flame. They were meant to stay lit all the time.

8So the LORD was angry with Judah and Jerusalem. He handed them over to trouble and fear. Now other people stare at them and make fun of them. You can see all of this with your own eyes.

Wherefore the wrath of the LORD was upon Judah and Jerusalem, and he hath delivered them to trouble, to astonishment, and to hissing, as ye see with your eyes.

NoteThe old words say people would hiss at them. Hissing was a way of saying, look how badly things went for them.

9That is why our fathers were killed in battle. That is why our sons, daughters, and wives were taken away as prisoners.

For, lo, our fathers have fallen by the sword, and our sons and our daughters and our wives are in captivity for this.

NoteTaken away as prisoners means soldiers marched them to another country. They had to live there and could not go home.

10Now I want to make an agreement with the LORD, the God of Israel. Then maybe his hot anger will turn away from us.

Now it is in mine heart to make a covenant with the LORD God of Israel, that his fierce wrath may turn away from us.

NoteAn agreement like this was called a covenant. It was a strong promise between God and the people.

11My sons, do not be lazy now. The LORD picked you to stand in front of him and serve him. He picked you to do his work and to burn incense."

My sons, be not now negligent: for the LORD hath chosen you to stand before him, to serve him, and that ye should minister unto him, and burn incense.

NoteThe old words say do not be negligent. That means do not forget your job or do it in a sloppy way.

12Then the Levites got to work. From the family of Kohath came Mahath son of Amasai and Joel son of Azariah. From the family of Merari came Kish son of Abdi and Azariah son of Jehalelel. From the family of Gershon came Joah son of Zimmah and Eden son of Joah.

Then the Levites arose, Mahath the son of Amasai, and Joel the son of Azariah, of the sons of the Kohathites: and of the sons of Merari, Kish the son of Abdi, and Azariah the son of Jehalelel: and of the Gershonites; Joah the son of Zimmah, and Eden the son of Joah:

NoteLevi had three sons: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari. All the Levites came from these three families.

13From the family of Elizaphan came Shimri and Jeiel. From the family of Asaph came Zechariah and Mattaniah.

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

NoteAsaph led the singers at God's house long before this. His family kept doing that same job.

14From the family of Heman came Jehiel and Shimei. From the family of Jeduthun came Shemaiah and Uzziel.

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

NoteHeman and Jeduthun also led music at God's house long before. Their families kept doing that job too.

15They called their relatives together and made themselves ready for God. Then they went to clean God's house. They did what the king had told them, and his order came from God's own words.

And they gathered their brethren, and sanctified themselves, and came, according to the commandment of the king, by the words of the LORD, to cleanse the house of the LORD.

16The priests went inside God's house to clean it. They carried out every unclean thing they found there. They put it all in the courtyard outside. Then the Levites took it away to the Kidron Valley.

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

NoteUnclean things were things that did not belong in God's house. The Kidron Valley was a low place just outside the city. Rubbish was dumped there.

17They started this work on the first day of the first month. On the eighth day they reached the porch of God's house. They spent eight more days on the house itself. They finished on the sixteenth day of the first month.

Now they began on the first day of the first month to sanctify, and on the eighth day of the month came they to the porch of the LORD: so they sanctified the house of the LORD in eight days; and in the sixteenth day of the first month they made an end.

NoteTheir first month came in the spring. Their year did not start in winter like ours does.

18Then they went to King Hezekiah and told him the news. "We have cleaned all of God's house," they said. "We cleaned the altar for burnt offerings and all its tools. We cleaned the table for the special bread and all its dishes.

Then they went in to Hezekiah the king, and said, We have cleansed all the house of the LORD, and the altar of burnt offering, with all the vessels thereof, and the shewbread table, with all the vessels thereof.

NoteAn altar was a big stone table. Gifts to God were burned on top of it. The special bread was twelve loaves set out on a table in God's house. Fresh loaves were put there every week.

19King Ahaz threw some of the temple things away while he was king, because he was not faithful to God. We have fixed those things and made them ready again. They are now sitting in front of the LORD's altar."

Moreover all the vessels, which king Ahaz in his reign did cast away in his transgression, have we prepared and sanctified, and, behold, they are before the altar of the LORD.

NoteAhaz was Hezekiah's father. He was king before him, and he worshiped other gods.

20Early the next morning King Hezekiah called the leaders of the city together. They went up to God's house.

Then Hezekiah the king rose early, and gathered the rulers of the city, and went up to the house of the LORD.

21They brought seven bulls, seven rams, seven lambs, and seven male goats. These were a sin offering, a gift to God to make wrong things right. It was for the kingdom, for God's house, and for Judah. The king told the priests, who came from Aaron's family, to offer them on the altar.

And they brought seven bullocks, and seven rams, and seven lambs, and seven he goats, for a sin offering for the kingdom, and for the sanctuary, and for Judah. And he commanded the priests the sons of Aaron to offer them on the altar of the LORD.

NoteA sin offering was an animal given to God when people had done wrong. Aaron was Moses' brother and the first priest. Only men from his family could be priests.

22So they killed the bulls. The priests took the blood and sprinkled it on the altar. Then they killed the rams and sprinkled that blood on the altar. Then they killed the lambs and sprinkled that blood on the altar too.

So they killed the bullocks, and the priests received the blood, and sprinkled it on the altar: likewise, when they had killed the rams, they sprinkled the blood upon the altar: they killed also the lambs, and they sprinkled the blood upon the altar.

NoteBlood was sprinkled on the altar to show the animal was truly given to God. That was part of how people worshiped then.

23Then they brought the male goats for the sin offering. They brought them in front of the king and all the people. The people laid their hands on the goats.

And they brought forth the he goats for the sin offering before the king and the congregation; and they laid their hands upon them:

NoteLaying your hands on an animal's head was a sign. It meant the animal was standing in your place.

24The priests killed the goats and put the blood on the altar. This was to make things right between God and all Israel. The king had said these offerings should be made for all Israel.

And the priests killed them, and they made reconciliation with their blood upon the altar, to make an atonement for all Israel: for the king commanded that the burnt offering and the sin offering should be made for all Israel.

NoteMake things right is the old word atonement. It means the wrong was covered over and forgiven.

25The king had the Levites stand in God's house with cymbals, harps, and lyres. These are all music instruments. David had given this order long before, along with Gad the king's seer and Nathan the prophet. A seer and a prophet both told people what God said. This order came from the LORD through them.

And he set the Levites in the house of the LORD with cymbals, with psalteries, and with harps, according to the commandment of David, and of Gad the king’s seer, and Nathan the prophet: for so was the commandment of the LORD by his prophets.

NoteCymbals are round metal plates you crash together. A lyre is a small harp you hold in your arms. Gad and Nathan lived back in King David's time, long before Hezekiah.

26The Levites stood there with the instruments David had made. The priests stood there with the trumpets.

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

NoteThese trumpets were long, straight silver horns. Priests were the ones who blew them.

27Hezekiah gave the word to offer the burnt offering on the altar. When it began, the song to the LORD began too. The trumpets played, and so did the instruments of David, king of Israel.

And Hezekiah commanded to offer the burnt offering upon the altar. And when the burnt offering began, the song of the LORD began also with the trumpets, and with the instruments ordained by David king of Israel.

28All the people worshiped. The singers sang. The trumpet players played. This went on until the burnt offering was finished.

And all the congregation worshipped, and the singers sang, and the trumpeters sounded: and all this continued until the burnt offering was finished.

29When the offerings were done, the king bowed down low. Everyone with him bowed down and worshiped too.

And when they had made an end of offering, the king and all that were present with him bowed themselves, and worshipped.

30King Hezekiah and his leaders told the Levites to sing praise to the LORD. They used the words of David and of Asaph the seer. So they sang with joy. They bowed their heads and worshiped.

Moreover Hezekiah the king and the princes commanded the Levites to sing praise unto the LORD with the words of David, and of Asaph the seer. And they sang praises with gladness, and they bowed their heads and worshipped.

NoteAsaph wrote songs for worship. Some of his songs are in the book of Psalms.

31Then Hezekiah said, "You have given yourselves to the LORD. Come near now. Bring your gifts and thank-you offerings to God's house." So the people brought gifts and thank-you offerings. Everyone who wanted to also brought burnt offerings.

Then Hezekiah answered and said, Now ye have consecrated yourselves unto the LORD, come near and bring sacrifices and thank offerings into the house of the LORD. And the congregation brought in sacrifices and thank offerings; and as many as were of a free heart burnt offerings.

NoteA thank-you offering was a gift to say thank you to God. Much of the meat was cooked and shared in a happy meal.

32The people brought seventy bulls, one hundred rams, and two hundred lambs. All of these were burnt offerings for the LORD.

And the number of the burnt offerings, which the congregation brought, was threescore and ten bullocks, an hundred rams, and two hundred lambs: all these were for a burnt offering to the LORD.

33The animals set apart for God were six hundred bulls and three thousand sheep.

And the consecrated things were six hundred oxen and three thousand sheep.

NoteSet apart for God means given to God. Once given, they were used only for him.

34But there were not enough priests to take the skins off all the animals. So their Levite relatives helped them until the work was done. They helped until more priests had made themselves ready. The Levites had worked harder than the priests at getting themselves ready.

But the priests were too few, so that they could not flay all the burnt offerings: wherefore their brethren the Levites did help them, till the work was ended, and until the other priests had sanctified themselves: for the Levites were more upright in heart to sanctify themselves than the priests.

NoteTaking the skin off was part of getting an animal ready. Priests usually did this job, not Levites. Getting ready meant washing and following God's rules first.

35There were many burnt offerings. There was also fat from the peace offerings and wine poured out with each burnt offering. So the work of God's house was set up in good order again.

And also the burnt offerings were in abundance, with the fat of the peace offerings, and the drink offerings for every burnt offering. So the service of the house of the LORD was set in order.

NoteFat was thought of as the best part of an animal. So it was burned for God. A peace offering was shared in a meal with family and friends. Wine poured out beside the altar was another kind of gift.

36Hezekiah and all the people were glad. God had made the people ready for this. It had all happened very fast.

And Hezekiah rejoiced, and all the people, that God had prepared the people: for the thing was done suddenly.

1King Hezekiah sent word to all Israel and Judah. He also wrote letters to the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh. He asked them to come to the LORD's house in Jerusalem. There they would keep the Passover, the meal that remembers how God once saved Israel.

And Hezekiah sent to all Israel and Judah, and wrote letters also to Ephraim and Manasseh, that they should come to the house of the LORD at Jerusalem, to keep the passover unto the LORD God of Israel.

NoteHezekiah was the king of Judah, the southern part of the land. Ephraim and Manasseh were tribes, big family groups, in the north. The LORD's house was the temple in Jerusalem, the one special place for worship. Passover was a meal held every spring. It remembered the night God brought Israel safely out of Egypt.

2The king, his leaders, and all the people in Jerusalem talked it over. They decided to keep the Passover in the second month of the year.

For the king had taken counsel, and his princes, and all the congregation in Jerusalem, to keep the passover in the second month.

NoteTheir year began in the spring. Passover was supposed to be in the first month. Keeping it in the second month meant waiting one extra month.

3They could not keep it at the usual time. Not enough priests had made themselves ready for holy work. The people had not gathered in Jerusalem yet either.

For they could not keep it at that time, because the priests had not sanctified themselves sufficiently, neither had the people gathered themselves together to Jerusalem.

NotePriests were the men who served God at the temple. Before that work they washed and followed special rules. That is what "made themselves ready" means here.

4This plan seemed good to the king and to all the people.

And the thing pleased the king and all the congregation.

5So they made a rule and sent the news all through Israel. It went from Beersheba in the south to Dan in the far north. Everyone was asked to come to Jerusalem for the Passover of the LORD. They had not kept it in great numbers, the way the law said.

So they established a decree to make proclamation throughout all Israel, from Beersheba even to Dan, that they should come to keep the passover unto the LORD God of Israel at Jerusalem: for they had not done it of a long time in such sort as it was written.

NoteBeersheba was a town far in the south. Dan was far in the north. Saying "from Beersheba to Dan" was their way of saying everywhere.

6Messengers carried letters from the king and his leaders through Israel and Judah. The king told them what to say. "People of Israel, come back to the LORD, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel. Then he will come back to those of you who are left. You are the ones who escaped the kings of Assyria."

So the posts went with the letters from the king and his princes throughout all Israel and Judah, and according to the commandment of the king, saying, Ye children of Israel, turn again unto the LORD God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, and he will return to the remnant of you, that are escaped out of the hand of the kings of Assyria.

NoteAssyria was a strong country with a big army. Its kings had taken many people of Israel away from home. The ones left behind are the people this letter is written to.

7"Do not be like your fathers and your brothers. They turned away from the LORD, the God of their fathers. So he gave them up to be ruined. You can see it for yourselves."

And be not ye like your fathers, and like your brethren, which trespassed against the LORD God of their fathers, who therefore gave them up to desolation, as ye see.

NoteWhen a land is "left empty and ruined," the towns are broken and no one lives there. The word for "ruined" here means something so broken that people are shocked when they see it.

8"Do not be stubborn as your fathers were. Give yourselves to the LORD. Come into his holy house, which he has set apart forever. Serve the LORD your God. Then his burning anger will turn away from you."

Now be ye not stiffnecked, as your fathers were, but yield yourselves unto the LORD, and enter into his sanctuary, which he hath sanctified for ever: and serve the LORD your God, that the fierceness of his wrath may turn away from you.

NoteThe King James says "stiffnecked." It pictures an animal that will not turn its head when you lead it. It means stubborn, not willing to listen.

9"If you come back to the LORD, this will happen. The people who took your brothers and children away will be kind to them. They will come home to this land again. The LORD your God is kind and full of mercy. He will not turn his face away if you come back to him."

For if ye turn again unto the LORD, your brethren and your children shall find compassion before them that lead them captive, so that they shall come again into this land: for the LORD your God is gracious and merciful, and will not turn away his face from you, if ye return unto him.

NotePeople taken away in war had to live in another country. The letter says those who took them could let them come home.

10The messengers went from town to town through Ephraim and Manasseh, as far as Zebulun. But the people there laughed at them and made fun of them.

So the posts passed from city to city through the country of Ephraim and Manasseh even unto Zebulun: but they laughed them to scorn, and mocked them.

11Even so, some people from Asher, Manasseh, and Zebulun were humble. They came to Jerusalem.

Nevertheless divers of Asher and Manasseh and of Zebulun humbled themselves, and came to Jerusalem.

NoteBeing humble here means they were willing to listen instead of thinking they knew best.

12In Judah, God's hand was on the people. He gave them all one heart to obey the king and his leaders. This was just as the LORD had said.

Also in Judah the hand of God was to give them one heart to do the commandment of the king and of the princes, by the word of the LORD.

Note"God's hand was on the people" is a word picture. It means God helped them and gave them courage.

13A huge crowd came together in Jerusalem in the second month. They came to keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread, when bread is made without yeast.

And there assembled at Jerusalem much people to keep the feast of unleavened bread in the second month, a very great congregation.

NoteYeast is what makes bread rise and puff up. At this feast people ate flat bread for seven days. It helped them remember leaving Egypt in a hurry, with no time to wait for bread to rise.

14They got up and took away the altars in Jerusalem. They took away the altars for burning sweet-smelling incense too. They threw them all into the Kidron valley stream.

And they arose and took away the altars that were in Jerusalem, and all the altars for incense took they away, and cast them into the brook Kidron.

NoteAn altar is a stone table where gifts to a god were burned. These extra altars in Jerusalem were for other gods, not the LORD. Incense is a spice that makes sweet smoke when it burns. The Kidron was a dry stream bed just outside the city.

15On the fourteenth day of the second month they killed the Passover lambs. The priests and the Levites, the men who helped the priests, felt ashamed. So they made themselves ready for holy work. Then they brought burnt offerings into the LORD's house.

Then they killed the passover on the fourteenth day of the second month: and the priests and the Levites were ashamed, and sanctified themselves, and brought in the burnt offerings into the house of the LORD.

NoteA burnt offering was an animal given to God and burned on the altar. It was a gift, not a meal for people.

16They stood in their proper places, as the law of Moses, God's man, said. The Levites handed the blood to the priests. The priests sprinkled it.

And they stood in their place after their manner, according to the law of Moses the man of God: the priests sprinkled the blood, which they received of the hand of the Levites.

NoteMoses led Israel long before this and gave them God's laws. Sprinkling the blood of the animal was part of how the gift was given.

17Many people in the crowd had not made themselves ready for holy things. So the Levites killed the Passover lambs for each person who was not clean. They set the lambs apart for the LORD.

For there were many in the congregation that were not sanctified: therefore the Levites had the charge of the killing of the passovers for every one that was not clean, to sanctify them unto the LORD.

Note"Clean" here does not mean washed with soap. It means a person had followed the rules that let them come near holy things.

18Many of the people had not washed and made themselves clean. Many of them came from Ephraim, Manasseh, Issachar, and Zebulun. They ate the Passover anyway, which was not what the law said. But Hezekiah prayed for them. He said, "The LORD is good. May he forgive every person"

For a multitude of the people, even many of Ephraim, and Manasseh, Issachar, and Zebulun, had not cleansed themselves, yet did they eat the passover otherwise than it was written. But Hezekiah prayed for them, saying, The good LORD pardon every one

19"who has set his heart on looking for God, the LORD, the God of his fathers. May he forgive them even if they are not clean the way the holy rules say."

That prepareth his heart to seek God, the LORD God of his fathers, though he be not cleansed according to the purification of the sanctuary.

NoteThe holy rules were the steps God gave for getting ready to come to the temple.

20The LORD listened to Hezekiah and healed the people.

And the LORD hearkened to Hezekiah, and healed the people.

Note"Healed" here means more than making sick people well. It means God made things right between himself and the people.

21The people of Israel who were in Jerusalem kept the feast for seven days. They ate bread made without yeast, and they were very glad. Every day the Levites and the priests praised the LORD. They played loud instruments for him.

And the children of Israel that were present at Jerusalem kept the feast of unleavened bread seven days with great gladness: and the Levites and the priests praised the LORD day by day, singing with loud instruments unto the LORD.

NoteTheir loud instruments were things like trumpets, harps, and cymbals, which are metal plates clashed together.

22Hezekiah spoke kind words to all the Levites who taught the people well about the LORD. For seven days the people ate their share of the feast. They gave peace offerings, which are gifts shared as a meal. They told the LORD, the God of their fathers, what they had done wrong.

And Hezekiah spake comfortably unto all the Levites that taught the good knowledge of the LORD: and they did eat throughout the feast seven days, offering peace offerings, and making confession to the LORD God of their fathers.

NoteA peace offering was an animal given to God, then cooked and eaten together as a happy meal. Telling God what they had done wrong is called confessing.

23Then everyone agreed to keep the feast seven more days. So they kept seven more days with joy.

And the whole assembly took counsel to keep other seven days: and they kept other seven days with gladness.

24Hezekiah king of Judah gave the crowd a thousand bulls and seven thousand sheep. The leaders gave a thousand bulls and ten thousand sheep. And many priests made themselves ready for holy work.

For Hezekiah king of Judah did give to the congregation a thousand bullocks and seven thousand sheep; and the princes gave to the congregation a thousand bullocks and ten thousand sheep: and a great number of priests sanctified themselves.

NoteThat is a huge number of animals. They were needed to feed the enormous crowd during the feast.

25Everyone was glad. The people of Judah were glad, with the priests and the Levites. The people who came from Israel were glad too. So were the foreigners from Israel and those living in Judah.

And all the congregation of Judah, with the priests and the Levites, and all the congregation that came out of Israel, and the strangers that came out of the land of Israel, and that dwelt in Judah, rejoiced.

NoteForeigners were people born in other lands who had come to live among God's people.

26There was great joy in Jerusalem. Nothing like this had happened there since Solomon, son of David, was king of Israel.

So there was great joy in Jerusalem: for since the time of Solomon the son of David king of Israel there was not the like in Jerusalem.

NoteSolomon was a king long before Hezekiah, about 250 years earlier. He was the one who built the temple in Jerusalem.

27Then the priests and the Levites stood up and blessed the people. God heard their voice. Their prayer reached his holy home in heaven.

Then the priests the Levites arose and blessed the people: and their voice was heard, and their prayer came up to his holy dwelling place, even unto heaven.

1When all this was finished, the Israelites who were there went out to the towns of Judah. They smashed the stone pillars used to worship other gods. They cut down the wooden poles set up for the goddess Asherah. They tore down the altars and hilltop worship spots in Judah, Benjamin, Ephraim, and Manasseh. They kept going until every one was gone. Then all the Israelites went back home to their own towns and land.

Now when all this was finished, all Israel that were present went out to the cities of Judah, and brake the images in pieces, and cut down the groves, and threw down the high places and the altars out of all Judah and Benjamin, in Ephraim also and Manasseh, until they had utterly destroyed them all. Then all the children of Israel returned, every man to his possession, into their own cities.

NoteAn altar was a stone table. People burned gifts to God on it. These altars and hilltop spots were for other gods, so the people broke them. Judah, Benjamin, Ephraim, and Manasseh were parts of the land. Each part belonged to a different family group of Israel.

2Hezekiah set the priests and Levites back into their work groups. Priests offered the gifts at the altar. Levites helped them and led the singing. Each man had his own job. Some handled the burnt offerings and the peace offerings. Some served, gave thanks, and sang praise at the gates of the LORD's house.

And Hezekiah appointed the courses of the priests and the Levites after their courses, every man according to his service, the priests and Levites for burnt offerings and for peace offerings, to minister, and to give thanks, and to praise in the gates of the tents of the LORD.

NoteA priest was a man whose job was to lead people in worship. Levites came from one family group and helped the priests. There were too many of them to all work at once. So they took turns in groups, a few weeks at a time. A burnt offering was an animal gift burned up on the altar. A peace offering was a gift eaten as a happy meal together.

3The king gave part of his own goods for the burnt offerings. This paid for the morning and evening offerings every day. It also paid for the offerings on Sabbath days, new moon days, and the special feast days. The law of the LORD said to do it this way.

He appointed also the king’s portion of his substance for the burnt offerings, to wit, for the morning and evening burnt offerings, and the burnt offerings for the sabbaths, and for the new moons, and for the set feasts, as it is written in the law of the LORD.

NoteThe Sabbath was a rest day that came every week. A new moon day came when the moon began again each month. Feasts were special holidays when everyone came to worship. The law of the LORD was the rules God gave through Moses long ago.

4He also told the people living in Jerusalem to give a share to the priests and Levites. Then those men could spend their time on the law of the LORD.

Moreover he commanded the people that dwelt in Jerusalem to give the portion of the priests and the Levites, that they might be encouraged in the law of the LORD.

NotePriests and Levites had no farms of their own. Other people shared food with them so they could do their work.

5As soon as the order went out, the Israelites brought in a lot. They brought the first and best of their grain, new wine, oil, and honey. They brought the first of everything their fields grew. They also brought a tenth of all they had.

And as soon as the commandment came abroad, the children of Israel brought in abundance the firstfruits of corn, wine, and oil, and honey, and of all the increase of the field; and the tithe of all things brought they in abundantly.

NoteThe first and best part of a crop was given to God. A tenth means one out of every ten. If you had ten baskets of grain, one went to God. New wine was juice just squeezed from grapes.

6The people of Israel and Judah who lived in Judah's towns brought gifts too. They brought one out of every ten cattle and sheep. They brought a tenth of the holy gifts set apart for the LORD their God. They laid it all down in big piles.

And concerning the children of Israel and Judah, that dwelt in the cities of Judah, they also brought in the tithe of oxen and sheep, and the tithe of holy things which were consecrated unto the LORD their God, and laid them by heaps.

NoteSet apart means kept only for God and used for nothing else.

7They started building the piles in the third month. They finished in the seventh month.

In the third month they began to lay the foundation of the heaps, and finished them in the seventh month.

NoteTheir year started in the spring. The third month is about our May. The seventh month is about our September. So the piles grew for four months.

8Hezekiah and his leaders came and looked at the piles. They praised the LORD and asked good things for his people Israel.

And when Hezekiah and the princes came and saw the heaps, they blessed the LORD, and his people Israel.

9Then Hezekiah asked the priests and Levites about the piles.

Then Hezekiah questioned with the priests and the Levites concerning the heaps.

10Azariah, the chief priest from the family of Zadok, answered him. He said, "Since the people started bringing gifts to the LORD's house, we have had plenty to eat. There is still a lot left over. The LORD has blessed his people. All this extra is what is left."

And Azariah the chief priest of the house of Zadok answered him, and said, Since the people began to bring the offerings into the house of the LORD, we have had enough to eat, and have left plenty: for the LORD hath blessed his people; and that which is left is this great store.

NoteThe chief priest was the head priest, in charge of all the rest. Zadok was a priest long before, back in King David's time. His family kept that same job for hundreds of years.

11Then Hezekiah told them to get storerooms ready in the LORD's house. So they got them ready.

Then Hezekiah commanded to prepare chambers in the house of the LORD; and they prepared them,

NoteStorerooms are rooms for keeping food and gifts safe until they are needed.

12They carefully brought in the gifts, the tenths, and the things set apart for God. Cononiah the Levite was the man in charge of it all. His brother Shimei was his helper.

And brought in the offerings and the tithes and the dedicated things faithfully: over which Cononiah the Levite was ruler, and Shimei his brother was the next.

13Jehiel, Azaziah, Nahath, Asahel, Jerimoth, Jozabad, Eliel, Ismachiah, Mahath, and Benaiah were the watchers over the work. They worked under Cononiah and his brother Shimei. King Hezekiah and Azariah, the leader of God's house, had picked them.

And Jehiel, and Azaziah, and Nahath, and Asahel, and Jerimoth, and Jozabad, and Eliel, and Ismachiah, and Mahath, and Benaiah, were overseers under the hand of Cononiah and Shimei his brother, at the commandment of Hezekiah the king, and Azariah the ruler of the house of God.

14Kore son of Imnah, a Levite, was the guard at the east gate. He was in charge of the gifts people gave just because they wanted to. He handed out the offerings brought to the LORD and the most holy gifts.

And Kore the son of Imnah the Levite, the porter toward the east, was over the freewill offerings of God, to distribute the oblations of the LORD, and the most holy things.

NoteA gate guard watched a doorway of God's house. He decided who and what could go in. The most holy gifts were the ones only priests were allowed to eat.

15Eden, Miniamin, Jeshua, Shemaiah, Amariah, and Shecaniah worked under him. They lived in the towns where the priests lived. They gave out shares to the other priests, group by group. The oldest and the youngest all got a share.

And next him were Eden, and Miniamin, and Jeshua, and Shemaiah, Amariah, and Shecaniah, in the cities of the priests, in their set office, to give to their brethren by courses, as well to the great as to the small:

16They also gave a share to the males written in the family lists, from three years old and up. These were the ones who came to the LORD's house for their daily work with their own group.

Beside their genealogy of males, from three years old and upward, even unto every one that entereth into the house of the LORD, his daily portion for their service in their charges according to their courses;

NoteA family list wrote down every name in a family. It showed who belonged and who should get a share of food. Even little boys of three were written down, so they were fed too.

17The priests were written in the lists by their families. The Levites were written down from twenty years old and up, by their jobs and their groups.

Both to the genealogy of the priests by the house of their fathers, and the Levites from twenty years old and upward, in their charges by their courses;

NoteLevites began their work at God's house when they turned twenty.

18The lists also included all their little children, their wives, their sons, and their daughters. Everyone in the whole group was counted. They had faithfully kept themselves set apart for God.

And to the genealogy of all their little ones, their wives, and their sons, and their daughters, through all the congregation: for in their set office they sanctified themselves in holiness:

19Some priests from the family of Aaron lived on farmland outside their towns. In each town, men were picked by name for a job. They gave a share to every male among the priests. They gave a share to every Levite on the family lists.

Also of the sons of Aaron the priests, which were in the fields of the suburbs of their cities, in every several city, the men that were expressed by name, to give portions to all the males among the priests, and to all that were reckoned by genealogies among the Levites.

NoteAaron was Moses' brother. He was the very first priest. All the priests came from his family. They did not have a big land of their own. They lived in certain towns with farm fields around them.

20This is what Hezekiah did all through Judah. He did what was good and right and true before the LORD his God.

And thus did Hezekiah throughout all Judah, and wrought that which was good and right and truth before the LORD his God.

21He worked hard at everything he started. He worked on the service of God's house, and on the law and the commands. He was trying to follow his God with his whole heart. And things went well for him.

And in every work that he began in the service of the house of God, and in the law, and in the commandments, to seek his God, he did it with all his heart, and prospered.