Through the Bible – Day 161

_1-4Passover wasn't celebrated in the first month, which was the usual time, because many of the priests were still unclean and unacceptable to serve, and because not everyone in Judah had come to Jerusalem for the festival. So Hezekiah, his officials, and the people agreed to celebrate Passover in the second month.

Hezekiah sent a message to everyone in Israel and Judah, including those in the territories of Ephraim and West Manasseh, inviting them to the temple in Jerusalem for the celebration of Passover in honour of the LORD God of Israel. ₅Everyone from Beersheba in the south to Dan in the north was invited. This was the largest crowd of people that had ever celebrated Passover, according to the official records.

₆Hezekiah's messengers went everywhere in Israel and Judah with the following letter:

₁₀The messengers went to every town in Ephraim and West Manasseh as far north as the territory of Zebulun, but everyone laughed and insulted them. ₁₁Only a few people from the tribes of Asher, West Manasseh, and Zebulun were humble and went to Jerusalem. ₁₂God also made everyone in Judah eager to do what Hezekiah and his officials had commanded.

₁₃In the second month, a large crowd of people gathered in Jerusalem to celebrate the Festival of Thin Bread. ₁₄They took all the foreign altars and incense altars in Jerusalem and threw them into Kidron Valley.

_15-17Then, on the fourteenth day of that same month, the Levites began killing the lambs for Passover, because many of the worshippers were unclean and were not allowed to kill their own lambs. Meanwhile, some of the priests and Levites felt ashamed because they had not gone through the ceremony to make themselves clean. They immediately went through that ceremony and went to the temple, where they offered sacrifices to please the LORD. Then the priests and Levites took their positions, according to the Law of Moses, the servant of God.

As the Levites killed the lambs, they handed some of the blood to the priests, who splattered it on the altar.

_18-19Most of the people who came from Ephraim, West Manasseh, Issachar, and Zebulun had not made themselves clean, but they ignored God's Law and ate the Passover lambs anyway. Hezekiah found out what they had done and prayed, “LORD God, these people are unclean according to the laws of holiness. But they are worshipping you, just as their ancestors did. So, please be kind and forgive them.” ₂₀The LORD answered Hezekiah's prayer and did not punish them.

₂₁The worshippers in Jerusalem were very happy and celebrated the Festival for seven days. The Levites and priests sang praises to the LORD every day and played their instruments. ₂₂Hezekiah thanked the Levites for doing such a good job, leading the celebration.

The worshippers celebrated for seven days by offering sacrifices, by eating the sacred meals, and by praising the LORD God of their ancestors. ₂₃Everyone was so excited that they agreed to celebrate seven more days.

₂₄So Hezekiah gave the people one thousand bulls and seven thousand sheep to be offered as sacrifices and to be used as food for the sacred meals. His officials gave one thousand bulls and ten thousand sheep, and many more priests agreed to go through the ceremony to make themselves clean. ₂₅Everyone was very happy, including those from Judah and Israel, the priests and Levites, and the foreigners living in Judah and Israel. ₂₆It was the biggest celebration in Jerusalem since the days of King Solomon, the son of David. ₂₇The priests and Levites asked God to bless the people, and from his home in heaven, he did.

₁After the Festival, the people went to every town in Judah and smashed the stone images of foreign gods and cut down the sacred poles for worshipping the goddess Asherah. They destroyed all the local shrines and foreign altars in Judah, as well as those in the territories of Benjamin, Ephraim, and West Manasseh. Then everyone went home.

₂Hezekiah divided the priests and Levites into groups, according to their duties. Then he assigned them the responsibilities of offering sacrifices to please the LORD and sacrifices to ask his blessing. He also appointed people to serve at the temple and to sing praises at the temple gates. ₃Hezekiah provided animals from his own herds and flocks to use for the morning and evening sacrifices, as well as for the sacrifices during the Sabbath celebrations, the New Moon Festivals, and the other religious feasts required by the Law of the LORD.

₄He told the people of Jerusalem to bring the offerings that were to be given to the priests and Levites, so that they would have time to serve the LORD with their work. ₅As soon as the people heard what the king wanted, they brought a tenth of everything they owned, including their best grain, wine, olive oil, honey, and other crops. ₆The people from the other towns of Judah brought a tenth of their herds and flocks, as well as a tenth of anything they had dedicated to the LORD. ₇The people started bringing their offerings to Jerusalem in the third month, and the last ones arrived four months later. ₈When Hezekiah and his officials saw these offerings, they thanked the LORD and the people.

₉Hezekiah asked the priests and Levites about the large amount of offerings. ₁₀The high priest at the time was Azariah, a descendant of Zadok, and he replied, “Ever since the people have been bringing us their offerings, we have had more than enough food and supplies. The LORD has certainly blessed his people. Look at how much is left over!”

₁₁So the king gave orders for storerooms to be built in the temple, and when they were completed, _12-13all the extra offerings were taken there. Hezekiah and Azariah then appointed Conaniah the Levite to be in charge of these storerooms. His brother Shimei was his assistant, and the following Levites worked with them: Jehiel, Azaziah, Nahath, Asahel, Jerimoth, Jozabad, Eliel, Ismachiah, Mahath, and Benaiah. ₁₄Kore son of Imnah was assigned to guard the East Gate, and he was put in charge of receiving the offerings voluntarily given to God and of dividing them among the priests and Levites. _15-16He had six assistants who were responsible for seeing that all the priests in the other towns of Judah also got their share of these offerings. They were Eden, Miniamin, Jeshua, Shemaiah, Amariah, and Shecaniah.

Every priest and every Levite over thirty years old who worked daily in the temple received part of these offerings, according to their duties. ₁₇The priests were listed in the official records by clans, and the Levites twenty years old and older were listed by their duties. ₁₈The official records also included their wives and children, because they had also been faithful in keeping themselves clean and acceptable to serve the LORD.

₁₉Hezekiah also appointed other men to take food and supplies to the priests and Levites whose homes were in the pasture land around the towns of Judah. But the priests had to be descendants of Aaron, and the Levites had to be listed in the official records.

_20-21Everything Hezekiah did while he was king of Judah, including what he did for the temple in Jerusalem, was right and good. He was a successful king, because he obeyed the LORD God with all his heart.

₁After King Hezekiah had faithfully obeyed the LORD's instructions by doing these things, King Sennacherib of Assyria invaded Judah. He attacked the fortified cities and thought he would capture every one of them.

₂As soon as Hezekiah learnt that Sennacherib was planning to attack Jerusalem, _3-4he and his officials worked out a plan to cut off the supply of water outside the city, so that the Assyrians would have no water when they came to attack. The officials got together a large work force that stopped up the springs and streams near Jerusalem.

₅Hezekiah's workers also repaired the broken sections of the city wall. Then they built defence towers and an outer wall to help protect the one already there. The landfill on the east side of David's City was also strengthened.

He gave orders to make a large supply of weapons and shields, ₆and he appointed army commanders over the troops. Then he gathered the troops together in the open area in front of the city gate and said to them:

These words encouraged the army of Judah.

₉When Sennacherib and his troops were camped at the town of Lachish, he sent a message to Hezekiah and the people in Jerusalem. It said:

₁₆The Assyrian officials said terrible things about the LORD God and his servant Hezekiah. ₁₇Sennacherib's letter even made fun of the LORD. It said, “The gods of other nations could not save their people from Assyria's army, and neither will the God that Hezekiah worships.” ₁₈The officials said all these things in Hebrew, so that everyone listening from the city wall would understand and be terrified and surrender. ₁₉The officials talked about the LORD God as if he were nothing but an ordinary god or an idol that someone had made.

₂₀Hezekiah and the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz asked the LORD for help, ₂₁and he sent an angel who killed every soldier and commander in the Assyrian camp.

Sennacherib returned to Assyria, completely disgraced. Then one day he went into the temple of his god where some of his sons killed him.

₂₂The LORD rescued Hezekiah and the people of Jerusalem from Sennacherib and also protected them from other enemies. ₂₃People brought offerings to Jerusalem for the LORD and expensive gifts for Hezekiah, and from that day on, every nation on earth respected Hezekiah.

₁₇and he carried his cross to a place known as “The Skull”. In Aramaic this place is called “Golgotha”. ₁₈There Jesus was nailed to the cross, and on each side of him a man was also nailed to a cross.

₁₉Pilate ordered the charge against Jesus to be written on a board and put above the cross. It read, “Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews.” ₂₀The words were written in Hebrew, Latin, and Greek.

The place where Jesus was taken wasn't far from the city, and many of the Jewish people read the charge against him. ₂₁So the chief priests went to Pilate and said, “Why did you write that he is King of the Jews? You should have written, ‘He claimed to be King of the Jews.’ ”

₂₂But Pilate told them, “What is written will not be changed!”

₂₃After the soldiers had nailed Jesus to the cross, they divided up his clothes into four parts, one for each of them. But his outer garment was made from a single piece of cloth, and it did not have any seams. ₂₄The soldiers said to each other, “Let's not rip it apart. We will gamble to see who gets it.” This happened so that the Scriptures would come true, which say,

₂₅Jesus' mother stood beside his cross with her sister and Mary the wife of Clopas. Mary Magdalene was standing there too. ₂₆When Jesus saw his mother and his favourite disciple with her, he said to his mother, “This man is now your son.” ₂₇Then he said to the disciple, “She is now your mother.” From then on, that disciple took her into his own home.

₂₈Jesus knew that he had now finished his work. And in order to make the Scriptures come true, he said, “I am thirsty!” ₂₉A jar of cheap wine was there. Someone then soaked a sponge with the wine and held it up to Jesus' mouth on the stem of a hyssop plant. ₃₀After Jesus drank the wine, he said, “Everything is done!” He bowed his head and died.

₃₁The next day would be both a Sabbath and the Passover. It was a special day for the Jewish people, and they did not want the bodies to stay on the crosses during that day. So they asked Pilate to break the men's legs and take their bodies down. ₃₂The soldiers first broke the legs of the other two men who were nailed there. ₃₃But when they came to Jesus, they saw that he was already dead, and they did not break his legs.

₃₄One of the soldiers stuck his spear into Jesus' side, and blood and water came out. ₃₅We know this is true, because it was told by someone who saw it happen. Now you can have faith too. ₃₆All this happened so that the Scriptures would come true, which say, “No bone of his body will be broken” ₃₇and, “They will see the one in whose side they stuck a spear.”