But the high places were not eliminated; the people continued to offer sacrifices and burn incense on the high places. He built the Upper Gate to the Lord’s temple.

But each of these nations made its own gods and put them in the shrines on the high places that the people of Samaria had made. Each nation did this in the cities where they lived.

At the same time they worshiped the Lord. They appointed some of their own people to serve as priests in the shrines on the high places.

They summoned the king, so Eliakim son of Hilkiah, the palace supervisor, accompanied by Shebna the scribe and Joah son of Asaph, the secretary, went out to meet them.

He sent Eliakim the palace supervisor, Shebna the scribe, and the leading priests, clothed in sackcloth, with this message to the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz:

Hezekiah took the letter from the messengers and read it. Then Hezekiah went up to the Lord’s temple and spread it out before the Lord.

Hezekiah had said to Isaiah, “What is the confirming sign that the Lord will heal me and that I will go up to the Lord’s temple the day after tomorrow?”

Manasseh passed away and was buried in his palace garden, the garden of Uzzah, and his son Amon replaced him as king.

In the eighteenth year of King Josiah’s reign, the king sent the scribe Shaphan son of Azaliah, son of Meshullam, to the Lord’s temple with these orders:

“Go up to Hilkiah the high priest and have him melt down the silver that has been brought by the people to the Lord’s temple and has been collected by the guards at the door.

The bronze of the items that King Solomon made for the Lord’s temple – including the two pillars, the big bronze basin called “The Sea,” the twelve bronze bulls under “The Sea,” and the movable stands – was too heavy to be weighed.

and the clans of the scribes who lived in Jabez: the Tirathites, Shimeathites, and Sucathites. These are the Kenites who descended from Hammath, the father of Beth-Rechab.

Johanan was the father of Azariah, who served as a priest in the temple Solomon built in Jerusalem.

According to the genealogical records of their families, they had 36,000 warriors available for battle, for they had numerous wives and sons.

He had sexual relations with his wife; she became pregnant and gave birth to a son. Ephraim named him Beriah because tragedy had come to his family.

Their relatives, listed in their genealogical records, numbered 956. All these men were leaders of their families.

Azariah son of Hilkiah, son of Meshullam, son of Zadok, son of Meraioth, son of Ahitub the leader in God’s temple;

The four head gatekeepers, who were Levites, were assigned to guard the storerooms and treasuries in God’s sanctuary.

From Benjamin, Saul’s tribe, there were 3,000, most of whom, up to that time, had been loyal to Saul.

From Ephraim there were 20,800 warriors, who had brought fame to their families.