Provifion for the priests. II. Chronicles. images in pieces, & cut down the groves, and threw down the high places, and the altars out of all Judah and Benjamin, in Ephraim alfo and Manaffeh, until they had utterly deftroyed them all. Then all the children of Ifrael returned every man to his poffeffion into their own cities 2 And Hezekiah appointed the courfes of the pricfts and the Levites after their courfes, every man according to his fervice, the priests and Levites for burnt-offerings, and for peace-offerings, to minifter and to give thanks, and to praife in the gates of the tents of the LORD. 3 He appointed alfo the kings portion of his fubftance, for the burnt-offerings, to wit, for the morning and evening burnt-offerings, and the burnt-offerings for the fabbaths, and for the new-moons, and for the fet feafts, as it is written in the law of the LORD. 4 Moreover, he commanded the people that dwelt in Jerufalem, to give the portion of the priests, and the Levites, that they might be encouraged in the law of the LORD. Officers for the tribes. the tithes, and the dedicate things faith fully: over which Cononiah the Levite was ruler, and Shimei his brother was the next. 13 And Jehiel, and Azaziah, and Na hath, and Afahel, and Jerimoth, and Jozabad, and Eliel, and Ifmachiah, and Mahath, and Benaiah, were overfeers under the hand of Cononiah and Shimei his brother, at the commandment of He zekiah the king, and Azariah the ruler of the house of God. 14 And Kore the fon of Imnah the Levite, the porter toward the eaft was over the free-will-offerings of God, to deftribute the oblations of the LORD, and the moft holy things. 15 And next him were Eden, and Miniamin, and Jefhua, 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. 16 Befide their genealogy of males, from three years old and upward, even unto every one that entreth into the houfe of the LORD, his daily portion. 5 And as foon as the command- for their service in their charges, accor ment came abroad, the children of If-ding to their courses : rael brought in abundance the firftfruits of corn, wine, and oyl, and hony, and of all the increase of the field, and the tithe of all things brought they in abundantly. 6 And concerning the children of ICrael and Judah,that dwelt in the cities of Judah, they alfo brought in the tithe of oxen and fheep, and the tithe of holy things, which were confecrated unto the LORD their God, and laid them by heaps. 7 In the third month they began to Jay the foundation of the heaps, and finifhed them in the feventh month. 8 And when Hezekiah and the princes came and faw the heaps, they bleffed the LORD and his people Ifrael. 9 Then Hezekiah questioned with the priefts and the Levites concerning the heaps. 10 And Azariah the chief priest of the houfe of Zadok, answered him, and faid, Since the people began to bring the offerings into the houfe of the LORD, we have had enough to eat, and have left plenty for the LORD hath bleffed puts peoples and abas which is test, # this great ftore. 11 Then Hezekiah commanded to prepare chambers in the house of the LORD; and they prepared them, 12 And brought in the offerings and 17 Both to the genealogy of the priefts by the houfe of their fathers, and the Levites, from twenty years old and upward, in their charges by their courfes: 18 And to the genealogy of all their little ones, their wives, and their fons, and their daughters, through all the congregation: for in their fet office they fantified themfelves in holiness. 19 Alfo of the fons of Aaron the priefts, which were in the fields of the fuburbs of their cities, in every several city, the men that were expreffed by name, to give portions to all the males among the priests, and to all that were reckoned by genealogies among the Levites. 20 And thus did Hezekiah throughout all Judah, and wrought that which was good and right and truth before the LORD his God. 21 And in every work that he began in the service of the houfe of God, and in the law and in the commandments to! feek his God, he did it with all his heart, and prospered. CHA P. XXXII. 21. An 24 He 32 He After Sennacherib invadeth Fudah. A Fter these things and the establish- of thofe lands any ways able to delive ment thereof, Sennacherib king of their lands out of mine hand? Affyria came, and entred into Judah, 14 Who was there among all the gods and encamped against the fenced cities, of thofe nations, that my fathers utterand thought to win them for himself. ly deftroyed, that could deliver his peo2 And when Hezekiah faw that Sen-ple out of mine hand, that nacherib was come, and that he was purpofed to fight against Jerufalem; He took counfel with his princes, and his mighty men, to ftop the waters of the fountains which were without the city and they did help him. 4 So there was gathered much people together, who ftopt all the fountains, and the brook that ran through the midft of the land, faying, Why fhould the kings of Affyria come, and find much water? 5 Alfo he ftrengthned himself, and built up all the wall that was broken, and raised it up to the towers, and another wall without, and repaired Millo in the city of David, and made darts and fhields in abundance. 6 And he fet captains of war over the people, and gathered them together to him in the ftreet of the gate of the city, and spake comfortably to them, faying, 7 Be ftrong and couragious, be not afraid nor difmayed for the king of Affyria, nor for all the multitude that is with him: for there be more with us, than with him. your God thould be able to deliver you out of mine hand? 15 Now therefore let not Hezekiah deceive you, nor perfwade you on this manner, neither yet believe him: for no god of any nation or kingdom was able to deliver his people out of mine hand, and out of the hand of my fathers: how much lefs fhall your God deliver you out of mine hand? 16 And his fervants fpake yet more against the LORD God, and against his fervant Hezekiah. 17 He wrote alfo letters to raile on the LORD God of Ifrael, and to fpeak againft him, faying, As the gods of the nations of other lands have not delivered their people out of mine hand, fo fhall not the God of Hezekiah deliver his people out of mine hand. 18 Then they cried with a loud voice in the Jews fpeech unto the people of Jerufalem that were on the wall, to affright them, and to trouble them, that they might take the city. 19 And they fpake against the God of Jerufalem, as againft the gods of the people of the earth which were the work of the hands of man. 8 With him is an arm of flesh, but with us is the LORD our God,to help us, 20 And for this caufe Hezekiah the and to fight our battles. And the peo-king, and the prophet Ifaiah the fon of ple refted themfelves upon the words of Amoz, prayed and cried to heaven. Hezekiah king of Judah. 9 After this did Sennacherib king of Affyria fend his fervants to Jerufalem (but he himself laid siege againft Lachith, and all his power with him) unto He zekiah king of Judah, and unto all Judah, that were at Jerufalem, faying, 10 Thus faith Sennacherib king of Affyria, Whereon do ye truft, that ye abide in the fiege in Jerufalem? 11 Doth not Hezekiah perfwade you to give over your felves to die by famine and by thirft, faying, The LORD our God fhall deliver us out of the hand of the king of Affyria? 12 Hath not the fame Hezekiah taken away his high places, and his altars, and commanded Judah and Jerufalem, faying, Ye fhall worship before one altar, and burn incenfe upon it? 13 Know ye not what I and my fathers have done unto all the people of ether lands were the gods of the nations 21 And the LORD fent an angel which cut off all the mighty men of valour, and the leaders and captains in the camp of the king of Affyria: fo he re turned with fhame of face to his own land. And when he was come into the houfe of his god, they that came forth of his own bowels, flew him there with the fword. 22 Thus the LORD faved Hezekiah, and the inhabitants of Jerufalem from the hand of Sennacherib the king of Affyria, and from the hand of all other, and guided them on every fide. 23 And many brought gifts unto the LORD to Jerufalem, and prefents to Hezekiah king of Judah: fo that he was magnified in the fight of all nations, from thenceforth. 24 In thofe days Hezekiah was fick to the death, and prayed unto the LORD and he spake unto him, and he gav him a fign. TS Hezekiahs fickness and recovery. II. Chronicles. Manaffehs wicked reign: 25 But Hezekiah rendred not again, which Hezekiah his father had broken according to the benefit done unto him: down, and he reared up altars for Baafor his heart was lifted up; therefore lim, and made groves, and worshipped there was wrath upon him, and upon all the hoft of heaven, and ferved them. Judah and Jerufalem. 26 Notwithstanding, Hezekiah humbed himf lf for the pride of his heart (both he and the inhabitants of Jerufalem) fo that the wrath of the LORD came not upon them in the days of Hezekiah. 27 And Hezekiah had exceeding much riches and honour and he made himself treafuries for filver, and for gold, and for precious ftones, and for fpices, and for fhields, and for all manner of pleafant jewels; 28 Store-houfes alfo for the increase of corn, and wine, and oyl; and ftalls for all manner of beafts,and cotes for flocks. 29 Moreover, he provided him cities, and poffeffions of flocks, and herds in abundance: for God had given him fubftance very much. 30 This fame Hezekiah alfo ftopped the upper water-courfe of Gihon, and brought it ftraight down to the weft-fide of the city of David, and Hezekiah profpered in all his works. 31 Howbeit, in the business of the ambaffadors of the princes of Babylon, who fent unto him to enquire of the wonder that was done in the land, God left him to try him, that he might know all that was in his heart. 32 Now the reft of the acts of Hezekiah, and his goodness, behold, they are written in the vifion of ifaiah the propher, the fon of Amoz, and in the book of the kings of Judah and Ifrael. 33 And Hezekiah flap with his fathers, and they buried him in the chiefeft of the fepulchres of the fons of David and all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerufalem did him honour at his death and Manaffeh his fon reigned in his ftead. CHAP. XXXIII. Manalleh his wicked reign: 11 He is 4 Alfo he built altars in the house of the LORD, whereof the LORD had faid, In Jerufalem fhall my name be for ever. 5 And he built altars for all the hoft of heaven, in the two courts of the houfe of the LORD. 6 And he caufed his children to pass through the fire in the valley of the fon of Hinnom: alfo he obferved times, and ufed inchantments, and ufed witchcraft, and dealt with a familiar ípirit, and with wizards: he wrought much evil in the fight of the LORD, to provoke him to anger. 7 And he fet a carved image (the idol which he had made) in the house of God, of which God had said to David, and to Solomon his fon, In this houfe, and in Jerufalem, which I have chofen before all the tribes of Ifrael,will I put my name for ever. 8 Neither will I any more remove the foot of Ifrael from out of the land which I have appointed for your fathers; fo that they will take heed to do all that I have commanded them, according to the whole law, and the ftatutes, and the ordinances by the hand of Mofes. 9 So Manaffeh made Judah and the inhabitants of Jerufalem to err, and to do worse than the heathen, whom the LORD had deftroyed before the children of Ifrael. 10 And the LORD fpake to Manaffeh, and to his people; but they would not hearken. 11 Wherefore the LORD brought upon them the captains of the host of the king of Affyria, which took Manaffeh among the thorns, and bound him with fetters, and carried him to Babylon. 12 And when he was in affliction, he befought the LORD his God, and bum carried into Babylon: 12 Upon his pray-bled himself greatly before the God of! ; er he is releafed. 20 Anon fucceedeth his fathers, him: 14 He being fin by his own fervants, 25 Jofiah fucceed th him. Anaffeh was twelve years old when ity and five years in Jerufalem:, 2 But did that which was evil in the fight of the LORD, like unto the abominations of the heathen, whom the LORD had cast out before the children Gael. For he built again the high places ? 13 And prayed unto him, and he was entreated of him, and heard his fupplication, and brought him again to Jeru knew that the LORD he was God. 14 Now after this, he built a wall without the city of David, on the weftfide of Gihon, in the valley, even to the entring in of the fish-gate, and compa fed about Ophel, and raifed it up a very great height, and put captains of war is Chap xxxiv. His reformation. in all the fenced cities of Judah. 15 And he took away the ftrange gods, and the idol out of the houfe of the LORD, and all the altars that he had built in the mount of the houfe of the LORD, and in Jerufalem, and caft them out of the city. 16 And he repaired the altar, of the LORD, and facrificed thereon peaceofferings, and thank-offerings, and commanded Judah to ferve the LORD God of Ifrael. 17 Nevertheless, the people did facrifice ftill in the high places, yet unto the LORD their God only. 18 Now the reft of the acts of Manaffeh, and his prayer unto his God, and the words of the feers that fpake to him in the name of the LORD God of Ifrael, behold, they are written in the book of the kings of Ifrael. 19 His prayer alfo, and how God was entreated of him, and all his fin, and his trefpafs, and the places wherein he built high places, and fet up groves and graven images before he was humbled: behold, they are written among the fayings of the feers. 20So Manaffeh flept with his fathers, and they buried him in his own houfe: and Amon his fon reigned in his ftead, 21 Amon was two and twenty years old when he began to reign, and reign ed two years in Jerufalem. 22 But he did that which was evil in the fight of the LORD, as did Manaffeh his father: for Amon facrificed unto all the carved images which Manaffeh his father had made, and ferved them; 23 And humbled not himself before the LORD, as Manasseh his father had humbled himself; but Amon trefpaffed more and more. 24 And his fervants confpired againft him, and flew him in his own house. 25 But the people of the land flew all them that had confpired againft king Amon, and the people of the land made Jofiah his fon king in his ftead. CHAP XXXIV. Fofiahs reign 3 He deftroyeth idolatry: 8 He repaireth the temple, 29 and caufing the law to be read, reneweth the covenant with God. [Ofiah was eight years old when he be Foliahs good reign. 3For in the eighth year of his reign, while he was yer young, he began to feek after the God of David his father: and in the twelfth year he began to purge Judah and Jerufalem from the high places, and the groves, and the carved images, and the molten images. 4 And they brake down the altars of Baalim in his prefence; and the images, that were on high above them, he cut down, and the groves, and the carved images, and the molten images he brake in pieces, and made duft of them, and ftrowed it upon the graves of them that had facrificed unto them. 5 And he burnt the bones of the priests upon their altars, and cleanfed Judahand Jerufalem. 6 And fo did he in the cities of Ma naffeh, and Ephraim, and Simeon, even unto Naphtali, with their mattocks, round about. 7 And when he had broken down the altars and the groves, and had beaten the graven images into powder, and cut down all the idols throughout all the land of Ifrael, he returned to Jerufalem. 8 Now in the eighteenth year of his reign, when he had purged the land, and the houfe, he fent Shaphan the fon of Azaliah, and Maafeiah the governor of the city, and Joah the fen of Joahaz the recorder, to repair the houfe of the LORD his God. 9 And when they came to Hilkiah the high prieft, they delivered the money that was brought into the house of God, which the Levites that kept the doors, had gathered of the hand of Manaffeh, and Ephraim, and of all the remnant of Ifrael, and of all Judah, and Benjamin, and they returned to Jerufalem 10 And they put it in the hand of the workmen, that had the overfight of the houfe of the LORD, and they gave it to the workmen that wrought in the houfe of the LORD, to repair and mend the house: 11 Even to the artificers and builders gave they it, to buy hewen ftone, and timber for couplings, and to floor the houfes, which the kings of Judah had deftroyed. 12 And the men did the work faithfully and the overfeers of them were rufalem one and thirty years. And he did that which was right in the fight of the LORD, and walked in the ways of David his father, and declined neither to the right hand nor to the left. the tons of Merari; and Zechariah, and Mefhullam, of the fons of the Kohathites, to fet it forward; and other the Levites, all that could skill of ftruments of mufick... The book of the lawi II. Chronicles. Huldahs prophecy of Ferusalem. 13 Alfo they were over the bearers of burdens, and were overfeers of all that wrought the work in any manner of fervice and of the Levites there were fcribes, and officers, and portors. 14 And when they brought out the money that was brought into the houfe of the LORD, Hilkiah the prieft found a book of the law of the LORD, given by Mofes. 15 And Hilkiah answered and faid to Shaphan the fcribe, I have found the book of the law in the houfe of the LORD. And Hilkiah delivered the book to Shaphan: 16 And Shaphan carried the book to the king, and brought the king word back again, faying, All that was committed to thy fervants, they do it. 17 And they have gathered together the money that was found in the houfe of the LORD, and have delivered it into the hand of the overfeers, and to the hand of the workmen. 18 Then Shaphan the fcribe told the king, faying, Hilkiah the prieft hath given me a book. And Shaphan read it before the king. 19 And it came to pafs when the king had heard the words of the law, that he rent his clothes. 20 And the king commanded Hilkiah, and Ahikam the fon of Shaphan, and Abdon the fon of Micah, and Shaphan the fcribe, and Afaiah a fervant of the kings, faying, 21 Go enquire of the LORD for me, and for them that are left in Ifrael, and in Judah, concerning the words of the book that is found: for great is the wrath of the LORD that is poured out upon us, because our fathers have not kept the word of the LORD, to do after all that is written in this book. 22 And Hilkiah, and they that the king had appointed, went to Huldah the prophetefs, the wife of Shallum the fon of Tikvath, the fon of Hafrah, keeper of the wardrobe; (now the dwelt in Jerufalem in the colledge) and they fpake to her to that effect. 23 And the answered them, Thus faith the LORD God of Ifrael, Tell ye the man that fent you to me, 24 Thus faith the LORD, Behold, I will bring evil upon this place, and upon the inhabitants thereof, even all the curfes that are written in the book which they have read before the king of Judah: that they might provoke me to anger with all the works of their hands; there fore my wrath fhall be poured out upon this place, and shall not be quenched. 26 And as for the king of Judah, who fent you to enquire of the LORD. fo fhall ye fay unto him, Thus faith the LORD God of Ifrael, concerning the words which thou haft heard, 27 Because thine heart was tender, and thou didst humble thy felf before God, when thou heardft his words a gamft this place, and against the inhabitants thereof, and humbledft thy felf before me, and didft rend thy clothes, and weep before me; I have even heard thee alfo, faith the LORD. 28 Behold, I will gather thee to thy fathers, and thou shalt be gathered to thy grave in peace, neither fhall thine eyes fee all the evil that I will bring upon this place, & upon the inhabitants of the fame. So they brought the king word again. 29 Then the king fent, and gathered together all the elders of Judah and Jerufalem. 30 And the king went up into the houfe of the LORD, and all the men of Judah, and the inhabitants of Jerufalem, and the priefts, and the Levites, and all the people great and small: and he read in their ears all the words of the book of the covenant that was found in the houfe of the LORD. 31 And the king ftood in his place, and made a covenant before the LORD, to walk after the LORD, and to keep his commandments, and his teftimonies, and his ftatutes, with all his heart and with all his foul, to perform the words of the Covenant which are written in this book. 32 And he caused all that were prefent in Jerufalem and Benjamin to ftand to it. And the inhabitants of Jerufalem did according to the covenant of God, the God of their fathers. 33 And Jofiah took away all the abo minations out of all the countries that pertained to the children of Ifrael, and made all that were prefent in Ifrael to ferve, even to ferve the LORD their God. And all his days they departed not from following the LORD, the God of their fathers. CHA P. XXXV. 1 Jofiah keepeth a folemn paffover: 20 He provoking Pharaoh-necho is flain at Megiddo: 25 Lamentations for him. Oreover, Jofiah kept a paffover unto the LORD in Jerufalem: burned incenfe unto other gods, and they killed the paffover on the 25 Because they have forfaken me, and M four |