2 Chronicles 31
31
Hezekiah’s Religious Reforms
1When the festival ended, the Israelites who attended went to all the towns of Judah, Benjamin, Ephraim, and Manasseh, and they smashed all the sacred pillars, cut down the Asherah poles, and removed the pagan shrines and altars. After this, the Israelites returned to their own towns and homes.
2Hezekiah then organized the priests and Levites into divisions to offer the burnt offerings and peace offerings, and to worship and give thanks and praise to the Lord at the gates of the Temple. 3The king also made a personal contribution of animals for the daily morning and evening burnt offerings, the weekly Sabbath festivals, the monthly new moon festivals, and the annual festivals as prescribed in the Law of the Lord. 4In addition, he required the people in Jerusalem to bring a portion of their goods to the priests and Levites, so they could devote themselves fully to the Law of the Lord.
5When the people of Israel heard these requirements, they responded generously by bringing the first share of their grain, new wine, olive oil, honey, and all the produce of their fields. They brought a large quantity—a tithe of all they produced. 6The people who had moved to Judah from Israel, and the people of Judah themselves, brought in the tithes of their cattle, sheep, and goats and a tithe of the things that had been dedicated to the Lord their God, and they piled them up in great heaps. 7They began piling them up in late spring, and the heaps continued to grow until early autumn.#31:7 Hebrew in the third month . . . until the seventh month. The third month of the ancient Hebrew lunar calendar usually occurs within the months of May and June; the seventh month usually occurs within September and October. 8When Hezekiah and his officials came and saw these huge piles, they thanked the Lord and his people Israel!
9“Where did all this come from?” Hezekiah asked the priests and Levites.
10And Azariah the high priest, from the family of Zadok, replied, “Since the people began bringing their gifts to the Lord’s Temple, we have had enough to eat and plenty to spare. The Lord has blessed his people, and all this is left over.”
11Hezekiah ordered that storerooms be prepared in the Temple of the Lord. When this was done, 12the people faithfully brought all the gifts, tithes, and other items dedicated for use in the Temple. Conaniah the Levite was put in charge, assisted by his brother Shimei. 13The supervisors under them were Jehiel, Azaziah, Nahath, Asahel, Jerimoth, Jozabad, Eliel, Ismakiah, Mahath, and Benaiah. These appointments were made by King Hezekiah and Azariah, the chief official in the Temple of God.
14Kore son of Imnah the Levite, who was the gatekeeper at the East Gate, was put in charge of distributing the voluntary offerings given to God, the gifts, and the things that had been dedicated to the Lord. 15His faithful assistants were Eden, Miniamin, Jeshua, Shemaiah, Amariah, and Shecaniah. They distributed the gifts among the families of priests in their towns by their divisions, dividing the gifts fairly among old and young alike. 16They distributed the gifts to all males three years old or older, regardless of their place in the genealogical records. The distribution went to all who would come to the Lord’s Temple to perform their daily duties according to their divisions. 17They distributed gifts to the priests who were listed by their families in the genealogical records, and to the Levites twenty years old or older who were listed according to their jobs and their divisions. 18Food allotments were also given to the families of all those listed in the genealogical records, including their little babies, wives, sons, and daughters. For they had all been faithful in purifying themselves.
19As for the priests, the descendants of Aaron, who were living in the open villages around the towns, men were appointed by name to distribute portions to every male among the priests and to all the Levites listed in the genealogical records.
20In this way, King Hezekiah handled the distribution throughout all Judah, doing what was pleasing and good in the sight of the Lord his God. 21In all that he did in the service of the Temple of God and in his efforts to follow God’s laws and commands, Hezekiah sought his God wholeheartedly. As a result, he was very successful.
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2 Chronicles 31: NLT
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Holy Bible, New Living Translation copyright 1996, 2004, 2007, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation.
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2 Chronicles 31
31
1 And when these things had been celebrated according to ritual, all of Israel who had been found in the cities of Judah went forth, and they broke apart the idols and cut down the sacred groves. They demolished the high places and destroyed the altars, not only out of all Judah and Benjamin, but also out of Ephraim as well as Manasseh, until they utterly destroyed them. And all the sons of Israel returned to their possessions and cities.
2 Then Hezekiah appointed the companies of the priests and Levites by their divisions, each man in his proper office, certainly as much for the priests as for the Levites, for the sake of holocausts and peace offerings, so that they might minister and confess and sing, at the gates of the camp of the Lord.
3 Now the portion of the king, from his own substance, was such that they could offer a holocaust always, in morning and in evening, also on the Sabbaths, and the new moons, and the other solemnities, just as it was written in the law of Moses.
4 And now he instructed the people living in Jerusalem that they were to give portions to the priests and Levites, so that they would be able to attend to the law of the Lord.
5 And when this had reached the ears of the multitude, the sons of Israel brought an abundance of first-fruits of grain, wine, and oil, and also honey. And they offered a tenth part of all that the soil brings forth.
6 Then too, the sons of Israel and Judah, who were living in the cities of Judah, brought tithes of oxen and sheep, and tithes of the holy things that they had vowed to the Lord their God. And carrying all these things, they made many stacks.
7 In the third month, they began to lay out the foundations of the stacks. And in the seventh month, they finished them.
8 And when Hezekiah and his rulers had entered, they saw the stacks, and they blessed the Lord and the people of Israel.
9 And Hezekiah questioned the priests and Levites, as to why the stacks were laid out in this way.
10 Azariah, the high priest from the stock of Zadok, answered him, saying: "Since the first-fruits began to be offered in the house of the Lord, we have eaten and been satisfied, and much remains. For the Lord has blessed his people. Then what was left over is this great abundance, which you see."
11 And so Hezekiah instructed that they should prepare storage places for the house of the Lord. And when they had done so,
12 they faithfully brought in the first-fruits, as well as the tithes and all that they had vowed. Now the overseer of these things was Conaniah, a Levite; and his brother, Shimei, was second.
13 And after him, there was Jehiel, and Azariah, and Nahath, and Asaahel, and Jerimoth, and also Jozabad, and Eliel, and Ismachiah, and Mahath, and Benaiah, who were overseers under the hands of Conaniah, and his brother, Shimei, by the authority of Hezekiah, the king, and Azariah, the high priest of the house of God, to whom all these things belonged.
14 Yet truly, Kore, the son of Imnah, a Levite and the porter of the eastern gate, was the overseer of the things that were being offered freely to the Lord, and of the first-fruits, and of the things consecrated for the Holy of Holies.
15 And under his charge were Eden, and Benjamin, Jeshua, and Shemaiah, and also Amariah, and Shecaniah, in the cities of the priests, so that they would distribute faithfully to their brothers, the small as well as the great, their portions
16 (except for the males from three years old and upward) for all who were entering the temple of the Lord, and for whatever was needed for the ministry, throughout each day, as well as for the observances according to their divisions.
17 And so, for the priests, by their families, and for the Levites, from the twentieth year and upward, by their orders and companies,
18 and for the entire multitude, as much for the wives as for their children of both sexes, provisions were offered faithfully from whatever had been sanctified.
19 Then too, men were appointed of the sons of Aaron, throughout the fields and the suburbs of each city, who would distribute portions to all the males among the priests and Levites.
20 Therefore, Hezekiah did all these things (which we have said) in all of Judah. And he worked what is good and upright and true before the Lord his God,
21 for the whole service of the ministry of the house of the Lord, in accord with the law and the ceremonies, desiring to seek his God with his whole heart. And he did so, and he prospered.
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