-Isaiah-

"Now therefore be…not mockers, lest your bands be made strong: for I have heard from the Lord GOD of hosts a complete destruction, even determined upon the whole earth. Give…ear, and hear my voice; listen, and hear my speech. This also comes forth from the LORD of hosts, who is wonderful in counsel, and excellent in working.

"Surely your turning of things upside down shall be esteemed as the potter's clay: for shall the work say of him that made it, ‘He made me not?’ Or shall the thing framed say of him that framed it, ‘He had no understanding?’

" And the book is delivered to him that is not learned, saying, ‘Read this, I pray you.’ And in that day shall the deaf hear the words of the book, and the eyes of the blind shall see out of obscurity, and out of darkness. The meek also shall increase their joy in the LORD, and the poor among men shall rejoice in the Holy One of Israel. For the terrible one is brought to nothing, and the scorner is consumed, and all that watch for iniquity are cut off…."

And Ahaz slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the city, even in Jerusalem: but they brought him not into the tombs of the kings of Israel: and Hezekiah his son reigned in his place. And Hezekiah did that which was right in the sight of the LORD, according to all that David his father had done.

Hezekiah, 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, you Levites, consecrate now yourselves, and consecrate the house of the LORD God of your fathers, and carry…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.

"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. Therefore the anger of the LORD was upon Judah and Jerusalem, and he has delivered them to trouble, to astonishment, and to hissing, as you 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 my heart to make a covenant with the LORD God of Israel, that his fierce anger may turn away from us."

And the priests and the Levites gathered their brethren, and consecrated themselves, and came, according to the commandment of the king, by the words of the LORD, to cleanse the house of the LORD. 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 utensils…and the bread of the Presence table, with all the utensils there. Furthermore all the vessels, which king Ahaz in his reign did throw away in his transgression, have we prepared and consecrated, and, look, they are before the altar of the LORD." Then Hezekiah the king rose early, and gathered the rulers of the city, and went up to the house of the LORD.

And Hezekiah commanded to offer the burnt offering upon the altar. And when the burnt offering began, the song of the LORD began also with the trumpets, and with the instruments ordained by David king of Israel. And all the congregation worshipped, and the singers sang, and the trumpeters sounded: and all this continued until the burnt offering was finished. And when they had made an end of offering, the king and all that were present with him bowed themselves, and worshipped.

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. 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.

Now when all this was finished, all Israel that were present went out to the cities of Judah, and broke 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 this did Hezekiah throughout all Judah, and did that which was good and right and truth before the LORD his God. And in every work that he began in the service of the house of God, and in the law, and in the commandments, to seek his God, he did it with all his heart, and prospered.

After these things, and the establishment of it, Sennacherib king of Assyria came, and entered into Judah, and camped against the fenced cities, and thought to win them for himself.

REFERENCES

Isaiah 28:22-23, 29; Isaiah 29:16; Isaiah 29:12, 18-20; 2 Chronicles 28:27; 2 Chronicles 29:2-10, 15, 18-20, 27-29; 2 Chronicles 30:1, 21; 2 Chronicles 31:1, 20-21; 2 Chronicles 32:1.

CHAPTER 45