He wholeheartedly and successfully reinstituted service in God’s temple and obedience to the law, in order to follow his God. ¹ 

After these faithful deeds were accomplished, King Sennacherib of Assyria invaded Judah. He besieged the fortified cities, intending to seize them. ¹ 

A large number of people gathered together and stopped up all the springs and the stream that flowed through the district. ¹  They reasoned, ²  “Why should the kings of Assyria come and find plenty of water?”

Hezekiah ¹  energetically rebuilt ²  every broken wall. He erected towers and an outer wall, ³  and fortified the terrace of the City of David. ⁴  He made many weapons and shields.

He appointed military officers over the army ¹  and assembled them in the square at the city gate. He encouraged them, ²  saying,

They talked about the God of Jerusalem as if he were one of the man-made gods of the nations of the earth.

Hezekiah dammed up the source of the waters of the Upper Gihon and directed them down to the west side of the City of David. ¹  Hezekiah succeeded in all that he did.

He passed his sons through the fire ¹  in the Valley of Ben-Hinnom and practiced divination, omen reading, and sorcery. He set up a ritual pit to conjure up underworld spirits and appointed magicians to supervise it. ²  He did a great amount of evil in the sight of the Lord and angered him. ³ 

But Manasseh misled the people of ¹  Judah and the residents of Jerusalem so that they sinned more than the nations whom the Lord had destroyed ahead of the Israelites.

The Lord confronted ¹  Manasseh and his people, but they paid no attention.

He erected the altar of the Lord and offered on it peace offerings and thank offerings. He told the people of ¹  Judah to serve the Lord God of Israel.

supervised the laborers and all the foremen on their various jobs. ¹  Some of the Levites were scribes, officials, and guards.

Shaphan brought the scroll to the king and reported, ¹  “Your servants are doing everything assigned to them.

They melted down the silver in the Lord’s temple ¹  and handed it over to the supervisors of the construction foremen.”

“This is what the Lord says: ‘I am about to bring disaster on this place and its residents, the details of which are recorded in the scroll which they read before the king of Judah.

This will happen because they have abandoned me and offered sacrifices ¹  to other gods, angering me with all the idols they have made. ²  My anger will ignite against this place and will not be extinguished!’”

‘Therefore I will allow you to die and be buried in peace. ¹  You will not have to witness all the disaster I will bring on this place and its residents.’”’” Then they reported back to the king.

The king summoned all the leaders of Judah and Jerusalem. ¹ 

The king stood by his pillar ¹  and renewed ²  the covenant before the Lord, agreeing to follow ³  the Lord and to obey his commandments, laws, and rules with all his heart and being, ⁴  by carrying out the terms ⁵  of this covenant recorded on this scroll.

He made all who were in Jerusalem and Benjamin agree to it. ¹  The residents of Jerusalem acted in accordance with the covenant of God, the God of their ancestors.