The Lord humiliated ¹  Judah because of King Ahaz of Israel, ²  for he encouraged Judah to sin and was very ³  unfaithful to the Lord.

Ahaz gathered riches ¹  from the Lord’s temple, the royal palace, and the officials and gave them to the king of Assyria, but that did not help.

In every city throughout Judah he set up high places to offer sacrifices to other gods. He angered the Lord God of his ancestors.

He said to them: “Listen to me, you Levites! Now consecrate yourselves, so you can consecrate the temple of the Lord God of your ancestors! ¹  Remove from the sanctuary what is ceremonially unclean!

The Lord was angry at Judah and Jerusalem and made them an appalling object of horror at which people hiss out their scorn, ¹  as you can see with your own eyes.

My sons, do not be negligent now, for the Lord has chosen you to serve in his presence and offer sacrifices.” ¹ 

We have prepared and consecrated all the items that King Ahaz removed during his reign when he acted unfaithfully. They are in front of the altar of the Lord.”

Hezekiah ordered the burnt sacrifice to be offered on the altar. As they began to offer the sacrifice, they also began to sing to the Lord, accompanied by the trumpets and the musical instruments of King David of Israel.

In Judah God moved the people to unite and carry out the edict the king and the officers had issued at the Lord’s command. ¹ 

They slaughtered the Passover lamb on the fourteenth day of the second month. The priests and Levites were ashamed, so they consecrated themselves and brought burnt sacrifices to the Lord’s temple.

The king contributed ¹  some of what he owned for burnt sacrifices, including the morning and evening burnt sacrifices and the burnt sacrifices made on Sabbaths, new moon festivals, and at other appointed times prescribed ²  in the law of the Lord.

Kore son of Imnah, a Levite and the guard on the east side, was in charge of the voluntary offerings made to God and disbursed the contributions made to the Lord and the consecrated items.

They made disbursements to all the males three years old and up who were listed in the genealogical records – to all who would enter the Lord’s temple to serve on a daily basis and fulfill their duties as assigned to their divisions. ¹ 

He has with him mere human strength, ¹  but the Lord our God is with us to help us and fight our battles!” The army ²  was encouraged by the words of King Hezekiah of Judah.

Hezekiah says, “The Lord our God will rescue us from the power ¹  of the king of Assyria.” But he is misleading you and you will die of hunger and thirst! ² 

The Lord delivered Hezekiah and the residents of Jerusalem from the power of King Sennacherib of Assyria and from all the other nations. ¹  He made them secure on every side. ² 

In those days Hezekiah was stricken with a terminal illness. ¹  He prayed to the Lord, who answered him and gave him a sign confirming that he would be healed. ² 

But then Hezekiah and the residents of Jerusalem humbled themselves and abandoned their pride, and the Lord was not angry with them for the rest of Hezekiah’s reign. ¹ 

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.

So the Lord brought against them the commanders of the army of the king of Assyria. They seized Manasseh, put hooks in his nose, ¹  bound him with bronze chains, and carried him away to Babylon.