Then the remnant of his brethren shall return unto the children of

Israel.

And he shall stand and feed in the strength of the LORD,

In the majesty of the name of the LORD his God;

And they shall abide :

For now shall he be great unto the ends of the earth.
And this man shall be the peace.

LESSON LXX.

HEZEKIAH CLEANSES THE TEMPLE.

B.C. 730-726.-2 KINCS xvii. 1, 2 ; xviii. 1-6; 2 CHRON. xxix. 3-11, 15-19.

In the twelfth year of Ahaz king of Judah began Hoshea the son of Elah to reign in Samaria over Israel nine years.

And he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD, but not as the kings of Israel that were before him.

Now it came to pass in the third year of Hoshea son of Elah king of Israel, that Hezekiah the son of Ahaz king of Judah began to reign.

Twenty and five years old was he when he began to reign; and he reigned twenty and nine years in Jerusalem. His mother's name also was Abi, the daughter of Zachariah.

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

He removed the high places, and brake the images, and cut down the groves, and brake in pieces the brasen serpent that Moses had made: for unto those days the children of Israel did burn incense to it: and he called it Nehushtan.*

He trusted in the LORD God of Israel; so that after him was none like him among all the kings of Judah, nor any that were before him.

For he clave to the LORD, and departed not from following him, but kept his commandments, which the LORD commanded Moses.

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

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

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.

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.

* A piece of brass.

LXXI.]

HEZEKIAH'S PASSOVER.

91

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

LESSON LXXI.

HEZEKIAH'S PASSOVER.

B.C. 730.-2 CHRON. XXX. (abridged.)

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.

So they established a decree to make proclamation throughout all Israel, from Beer-sheba 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.

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, * Consternation.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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

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.

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.

LXXII.]

THE CAPTIVITY OF THE ISRAELITES.

93

And all the congregation of Judah, with the priests and the Levites, an i 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.

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.

:

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.

B.C. 721.

LESSON LXXII.

THE CAPTIVITY OF THE ISRAELITES.

.—2 CHRON. Xxxi. 1; 2 KINGS xviii. 7, 8; xvii. 3-6; PSALM 1xxx.

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.

*

:

And the LORD was with Hezekiah; and he prospered whithersoever he went forth and he rebelled against the king of Assyria, and served him not. He smote the Philistines, even unto Gaza, and the borders thereof, from the tower of the watchmen to the fenced city.

Against Hoshea came up Shalmaneser king of Assyria; and Hoshea became his servant, and gave him presents.

And the king of Assyria found conspiracy in Hoshea: for he had sent messengers to So king of Egypt, and brought no present to the king of Assyria, as he had done year by year: therefore the king of Assyria shut him up, and bound him in prison.

Then the king of Assyria came up throughout all the land, and went up to Samaria, and besieged it three years.

In the ninth year of Hoshea the king of Assyria took Samaria, and carried Israel away into Assyria, and placed them in Halah and in Habor by the river of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes.

Thou that leadest Joseph like a flock;

*

Thou that dwellest between the cherubims, shine forth.

Before Ephraim and Benjamin and Manasseh

Stir up thy strength, and come and save us.

Turn us again, O God, and cause thy face to shine;
And we shall be saved.

O LORD God of hosts,

How long wilt thou be angry against the prayer of thy people? Thou feedest them with the bread of tears;

And givest them tears to drink in great measure.

Thou makest us a strife u to our neighbours :

And our enemies laugh among themselves.

Turn us again, O God of hosts, and cause thy face to shine;
And we shall be saved.

Thou hast brought a vine out of Egypt:

Thou hast cast out the heathen, and planted it.

Thou preparedst room before it,

And didst cause it to take deep root,

And it filled the land.

The hills were covered with the shadow of it,

And the boughs thereof were like the goodly cedars.
She sent out her boughs unto the sea,

And her branches unto the river.

Why hast thou then broken down her hedges,

So that all they which pass by the way do pluck her?

The boar out of the wood doth waste it,

And the wild beast of the field doth devour it.

Return, we beseech thee, O God of hosts :

Look down from heaven, and behold, and visit this vine;
And the vineyard which thy right hand hath planted,
And the branch that thou madest strong for thyself.

It is burned with fire, it is cut down :

They perish at the rebuke of thy countenance.

Let thy hand be upon the man of thy right hand :

Upon the son of man whom thou madest strong for thyself.
So will not we go back from thee:

Quicken us, and we will call upon thy name.

Turn us again, O LORD God of hosts, cause thy face to shine; And we shall be saved.

LESSON LXXIII.*

THE ROD OF JESSE.

ABOUT B.C. 716.-ISAIAH X. 24-34; xi. 1—12.

Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD of hosts,

O my people that dwellest in Zion,

Be not afraid of the Assyrian :

He shall smite thee with a rod,

And shall lift up his staff against thee, after the manner of Egypt.

* Not for the younger ones.