CHAPTER XIII. Reign of Hezekiah, 29 Years-from 726 to 698 36, SECTION I. Character of Hezekiah, and Reformation of Worship. a 2 Chron. xxix. I. He is Matt. i.9. 2 KINGS XVIII. ver. 1-7. A.C. 726. 1 Now it came to pass in the third year of Hoshea son of Elah king of Israel, that • Hezekiah the son of Ahaz king of xxviii. 21:& Judah began to reign. called Ezekias, 36 The reign of Hezekiah may be considered more important than that of any other king of Judah. It comprises many remarkable events, miracles, and prophecies ; for the better comprehension of which, I insert the following table from the second volume of Prideaux's Connection. HEZEKIAH 29 YEARS, maketh war on Tyre, and besieges it 5 years. invades Judea-Hezekiah's sickness. zekiah is succeeded by Manasseh. 69 ga 2 Twenty and five years old was he when he began to A.C. 726. reign ; and he reigned twenty and nine years in Jerusalem. His mother's name also was Abi, the daughter of Zachariah 3 And he did that which was right in the sight of the Lord, according to all that David his father did. 4 He removed the high places, and brake the * images, Heb. staand cut down the groves, and brake in pieces the b brasen b Num. xxi, 9 serpent that Moses had made: for unto those days the children of Israel did burn incense to it: and he called it + Ne-t, That is, a . hushtan. 5 He trusted in the Lord God of Israel; so that after him was none like him among all the kings of Judah, nor any that were before him. 6 For he clave to the LORD, and departed not from Heb from following him, but kept his commandments, which the LORD commanded Moses. 2 CHRONICLES XXIX. VER. 3, TO THE END. 3 He in the first year of his reign, in the first month, opened the doors of the house of the Lord, and repaired them. 4 And he brought in the priests and the Levites, and thered them together into the east street, 5 And said unto them, Hear me, ye Levites, sanctify now yourselves, and sanctify the house of the LORD God of your fathers, and carry forth the filthiness out of the holy place. 6 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. 7 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. 8 Wherefore the wrath of the LORD was upon Judah and Jerusalem, and he hath delivered them to || trouble, to asto- || Heb. comnishment, and to hissing, as ye see with your eyes. 9 For, lo, our fathers have fallen by the sword, and our sons and our daughters and our wives are in captivity for this. 10 Now it is in mine heart to make a covenant with the LORD God of Israel, that his fierce wrath may turn away 11 My sons, * be not now negligent: for the Lord hath *Or, de not you to stand before him, to serve him, and that ye & Nui. 2,6 should minister unto him, and + burn incense. Heb, given the neck, motion, from us. now deceived chosen + Or, affer sap crifice, LORD. A.C. 726. 12 , Then the Levites arose, Mahath the son of Ama sai, and Joel the son of Azariah, of the sons of the Koha- 13 And of the sons of Elizaphan; Shimri, and Jeiel: and 14 And of the sons of Heman; Jehiel, and Shimei : and of the sons of Jeduthun; Shemaiah, and Uzziel. 15 And they gathered their brethren, and sanctified themselves, and came, according to the commandment of * Or, in the the king, * by the words of the LORD, to cleanse the house of the LORD. 16 And the priests went into the inner part of the house of the LORD, to cleanse it, and brought out all the uncleanness that they found in the temple of the Lord into the court of the house of the Lord. And the Levites took it, to carry it out abroad into the brook Kidron. 17 Now they began on the first day of the first month to sanctify, and on the eighth day of the month came they to the porch of the LORD : so they sanctified the house of the Lord in eight days; and in the sixteenth day of the first month they made an end. 18 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 vessels thereof, and the shewbread table, with all the vessels thereof. 19 Moreover all the vessels, which king Ahaz in his reign did cast away in his transgression, have we prepared and sanctified, and, behold, they are before the altar of the Lord. 20 Then Hezekiah the king rose early, and gathered the rulers of the city, and went up to the house of the LORD. 21 And they brought seven bullocks, and seven rams, a Lev, iv. 3, and seven lambs, and seven he goats, for a d sin offering for the kingdom, and for the sanctuary, and for Judah. And 22 So they killed the bullocks, and the priests received Lev. xiii. 14, the blood, and sprinkled it on the altar : likewise, when they had killed the rams, they sprinkled the blood upon the blood upon the altar. offering before the king and the congregation; and they f Lev, iv. 15. laid their hands upon them: 14. 15. Heb. ix. 21. xvi. 4. & xxv. hand 24 And the priests killed them, and they made reconci- A.C. 726. 25 & And he set the Levites in the house of the LORD 8 1 Chron. 26 And the Levites stood with the instruments of David, hand of. 27 And Hezekiah commanded to offer the burnt offering 28 And all the congregation worshipped, and the || singers ments: 29 And when they had made an end of offering, the king 30 Moreover Hezekiah the king and the princes com- time. Heb. hands of instru. 1 shipped. Your hand, offerings. 31 Then Hezekiah answered and said, Now ye have 32 And the number of the burnt offerings, which the 33 And the consecrated things were six hundred oxen 34 But the priests were too few, so that they could not 35 And also the burnt offerings were in abundance, with siped hen the strengthened priests. A.C. 720. every burnt offering. So the service of the house of the LORD was set in order. 36 And Hezekialı rejoiced, and all the people, that God had prepared the people : for the thing was done suddenly. 10, 11. • Heb. was 2 CHRONICLES XXX. rael. 13 The assembly, having destroyed the altars of idolatry, keep the feast 1 And Hezekiah sent to all Israel and Judah, and wrote 2 For the king had taken counsel, and his princes, and all the congregation in Jerusalem, to keep the passover in h Numb. ix. the second month. 3 For they could not keep it at that time, because the priests had not sanctified themselves sufficiently, neither had the people gathered themselves together to Jerusalem. 4'And the thing * pleased the king and all the congregaright in the eyes of the tion. king 5 So they established a decree to make proclamation throughout all Israel, from Beer-sheba even to Dan, that they should come to keep the passover unto the Lord God of Israel at Jerusalem : for they had not done it of a long time in such sort as it was written. his princes throughout all Israel and Judah, and according you, that are escaped out of the hand of the kings of Assyria. 7 And be not ye like your fathers, and like your brethren, gave up to desolation, as ye see. from you. lead them captive, so that they shall come again into this 1 Ex. xxxiv. 6. land : for the Lord your God is gracious and merciful, and will not turn away his face from you, if ye return unto the hand. Heb. harden not your necks. Heb, give the hand. the le |