LEB(i)
1 Ahaz was twenty years old when he became king, and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem. And he did not do what is right in the eyes of Yahweh like David his ancestor.*
2 But he walked in the ways of the kings of Israel and also made molten idols for the Baals.
3 And he himself burned incense in the valley of Ben-Hinnom and burned his sons in the fire, according to the detestable practices of the nations whom Yahweh drove out before the Israelites.
4 And he sacrificed and burned incense at the high places, on the hilltops, and under every flourishing tree.
5 Then Yahweh his God gave him into the hand of the king of Aram* who defeated him and captured many captives from him and brought them to Damascus. Moreover, he was also given into the hand of the king of Israel, and he defeated him by a great attack.
6 And Pekah, the son of Remaliah, killed in one day one hundred and twenty thousand in Judah, all men of strength, because they forsook Yahweh the God of their ancestors.*
7 And Zikri, a mighty warrior of Ephraim, killed Maaseiah the son of the king, Azrikam the commander of the house, and Elkanah the second to the king.
8 And the Israelites captured two hundred thousand of their brothers, women, sons, and daughters. And they also plundered much booty from them and brought the booty to Samaria.
9 Now a prophet of Yahweh was there; Oded was his name. And he went out before the army that was coming to Samaria and said to them, "Look, it is on account of the anger of Yahweh, the God of your ancestors,* against Judah that he gave them into your hands, and you killed them in a rage reaching to the heavens.
10 So now, you yourselves plan to subdue people of Judah and Jerusalem as slaves and female servants for yourselves. ⌊Is there not also guilt on your part⌋* against Yahweh your God?
11 So now, listen to me and return the captives of your brothers whom you have taken captive, for the fierce anger of Yahweh is against you."
12 Then men from the heads of Ephraim—Azariah the son of Jehohanan, Berekiah the son of Meshillemoth, Hezekiah the son of Shallum, and Amasa the son of Hadlai—stood against those returning from the fight.
13 And they said to them, "You shall not bring the captives here, for it is as guilt against Yahweh upon us. You yourselves plan to add to our sins and to our guilt, but our guilt is very great, and there is great anger against Israel."
14 So the soldiers left the captives and the plunder before the commanders and all the assembly.
15 Then the men designated by name arose and took the captives and from the plunder clothed all their nakedness. So they clothed them, gave them sandals, gave them food to eat, gave them water to drink, anointed them, and guided them with the donkeys provided for all those who stumbled, and brought them to Jericho, the city of the palm trees, next to their brothers. Then they returned to Samaria.
16 At that time King Ahaz sent to the king of Assyria to help him,
17 since again the Edomites came and struck against Judah and took captives.
18 And the Philistines sent raids into the cities of the Shephelah and the Negeb of Judah. And they captured Beth-Shemesh, Aijalon, Gederoth, Socoh with its villages, Timnah with its villages, and Gimzo with its villages. And they settled there.
19 For Yahweh subdued Judah for the sake of Ahaz, king of Israel, for he created disorder in Judah and acted unfaithfully against Yahweh.
20 Then Tiglath-Pileser* the king of Assyria came against him and brought trouble for him, ⌊instead of helping him⌋,*
21 for Ahaz took a portion from the house of Yahweh and the house of the king and the princes, and he gave it to the king of Assyria, but it was no help to him.
22 And in the time of his distress, King Ahaz continued to act unfaithfully against Yahweh.
23 He sacrificed to the gods of Damascus that had defeated him and said, "Because the gods of the king of Aram* helped them, I will sacrifice to them so that they will help me." But they were ⌊a disaster⌋* to him and to all Israel.
24 Then Ahaz gathered the objects of the house of God, and he cut the objects of the house of God to pieces. And he shut the doors of the house of Yahweh and made for himself altars in every corner of Jerusalem.
25 And ⌊in every city⌋* of Judah he made high places to burn incense to other gods, and he provoked Yahweh, the God of his ancestors,* to anger.
26 Now the remainder of his words and all his ways, from the first to the last, behold, they are written upon the scroll of the kings of Judah and Israel.
27 And Ahaz slept with his ancestors,* and they buried him in the city, in Jerusalem, for they did not bring him to the burial site of the kings of Israel. And Hezekiah his son became king in his place.
29 1 Hezekiah became king when he was twenty-five years old, and he reigned twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. And the name of his mother was Abijah the daughter of Zechariah.
2 And he did that which was right in the eyes of Yahweh, according to all that David his father had done.
3 In the first year of his kingship, in the first month, he opened the doors of the house of Yahweh and strengthened them.
4 And he brought in the priests and the Levites, and he gathered them into the eastern square.
5 And he said to them, "Hear me, O Levites! Sanctify yourselves now, and sanctify the house of Yahweh, the God of your ancestors,* and bring out the defilement from the sanctuary.
6 For our ancestors* acted unfaithfully and did evil in the sight of Yahweh our God, and have forsaken him and turned away their faces from the dwelling place of Yahweh. ⌊They have turned their backs⌋* on it.
7 They also shut the doors of the portico and extinguished the lamps. And they did not burn incense or offer burnt offerings in the sanctuary to the God of Israel.
8 And the wrath of Yahweh was upon Judah and Jerusalem. And he made them as an abhorrence, as a desolation and an object of scorn, as you see with your own eyes.
9 Now behold, our fathers have fallen by the sword, and our sons and our daughters and our wives are in captivity on account of this.
10 Now ⌊it is in my heart⌋* to ⌊make⌋* a covenant with Yahweh, the God of Israel, so that his fierce anger might turn away from him.
11 Now, my sons, do not be negligent, for Yahweh has chosen you to stand before him to serve him and to be his servants and incense burners."
12 Then the Levites arose—Mahath the son of Amasai and Joel the son of Azariah, from the Kohathites; and Kish the son of Abdi and Azariah the son of Jehallelel from the Merarites; and Joah son of Zimmah and Eden son of Joah, from the Gershonites.
13 And from the descendants* of Elizaphan: Shimri and Jeiel; and from the descendants* of Asaph: Zechariah and Mattaniah;
14 and from the descendants* of Heman: Jeiel and Shimei; and from the descendants* of Jeduthun: Shemaiah and Uzziel—
15 and they gathered their brothers and sanctified themselves, and they went in according to the command of the king because of the words of Yahweh, to purify the house of Yahweh.
16 And the priests went into the inner part of the house of Yahweh to purify it. And they brought out all the impurity that they found in the temple of Yahweh out to the courtyard of the house of Yahweh. And the Levites took them to bring them outside to the Wadi* Kidron.
17 And they began to sanctify themselves on the first day of the first month. And on the eighth day of the month they came to the portico of Yahweh. And they sanctified the house of Yahweh for eight days, and on the sixteenth day of the first month they finished.
18 And they went into the inner part to King Hezekiah and said, "We have cleansed all the house of Yahweh: the altar of burnt offering, all its objects, the table of the rows of bread and all its objects,
19 and all the objects that King Ahaz discarded in his reign when he sinned, we have prepared and sanctified. Look, they are before the altar of Yahweh."
20 Then King Hezekiah rose early and gathered the officials of the city, and he went up to the house of Yahweh.
21 And they brought seven bulls, seven rams, seven lambs, and seven male goats as a purification offering for the kingdom, for the sanctuary, and for Judah. And he commanded the descendants* of Aaron, the priests, to offer them on the altar of Yahweh.
22 And they slaughtered the cattle, and the priests received the blood and threw it toward the altar. Then they slaughtered the rams and threw the blood toward the altar, and then they slaughtered the lambs and threw the blood toward the altar.
23 Then they brought the goats of the sin offering before the king and the assembly, and they laid hands upon them.
24 And the priest killed them and offered their blood against the altar to make atonement for all Israel, for the king had commanded the burnt offering and the sin offering for all Israel.
25 And he stood the Levites in the house of Yahweh with cymbals, harps, and lyres, according to the command of David and Gad, the seer of the king, and Nathan the prophet, for the command was by the hand of Yahweh by the hand of his prophets.
26 When the Levites stood with the objects of David and the priests with the trumpets,
27 Hezekiah commanded to offer the burnt offering upon the altar. And at the time the burnt offering began, the song of Yahweh began, and also the trumpets, at the hands of the instruments of David king of Israel.
28 Then all the assembly bowed down, and the song was sung, and the trumpeters trumpeted—all together until the end of the burnt offering.
29 And when the offering was finished, the king and all who were found with him knelt down and bowed themselves.
30 Then King Hezekiah and the princes commanded the Levites to praise Yahweh with the words of David and Asaph the seer. So they offered praise with joy, and they bowed down and worshiped.
31 Then Hezekiah answered and said, "Now ⌊you have consecrated yourselves⌋* to Yahweh. Come near and bring sacrifices and thank offerings to the house of Yahweh!" And the assembly brought sacrifices and thank offerings, and all who were willing in heart brought burnt offerings.
32 And the number of burnt offerings that the assembly brought was seventy cattle, one hundred rams, two hundred lambs—all these were to offer to Yahweh.