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Bible Reading for May 18

2 Chronicles Chapter 28

1 Ahaz was twenty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned
sixteen years in Jerusalem: but he did not that which was right in the
sight of the LORD, like David his father:

2 For he walked in the ways of the kings of Israel, and made also molten images for Baalim.

3 Moreover he burnt incense in the valley of the son of Hinnom, and
burnt his children in the fire, after the abominations of the heathen
whom the LORD had cast out before the children of Israel.

4 He sacrificed also and burnt incense in the high places, and on the
hills, and under every green tree.

5 Wherefore the LORD his God delivered him into the hand of the king of
Syria; and they smote him, and carried away a great multitude of them captives, and brought them to Damascus. And he was also delivered into
the hand of the king of Israel, who smote him with a great slaughter.

6 For Pekah the son of Remaliah slew in Judah an hundred and twenty
thousand in one day, which were all valiant men; because they had
forsaken the LORD God of their fathers.

7 And Zichri, a mighty man of Ephraim, slew Maaseiah the king's son, and Azrikam the governor of the house, and Elkanah that was next to the king.

8 And the children of Israel carried away captive of their brethren two hundred thousand, women, sons, and daughters, and took also away much
spoil from them, and brought the spoil to Samaria.

9 But a prophet of the LORD was there, whose name was Oded: and he went
out before the host that came to Samaria, and said unto them, Behold,
because the LORD God of your fathers was wroth with Judah, he hath
delivered them into your hand, and ye have slain them in a rage that
reacheth up unto heaven.

10 And now ye purpose to keep under the children of Judah and Jerusalem
for bondmen and bondwomen unto you: but are there not with you, even
with you, sins against the LORD your God?

11 Now hear me therefore, and deliver the captives again, which ye have
taken captive of your brethren: for the fierce wrath of the LORD is upon
you.

12 Then certain of the heads of the children of Ephraim, Azariah the son
of Johanan, Berechiah the son of Meshillemoth, and Jehizkiah the son of Shallum, and Amasa the son of Hadlai, stood up against them that came
from the war,

13 And said unto them, Ye shall not bring in the captives hither: for
whereas we have offended against the LORD already, ye intend to add more
to our sins and to our trespass: for our trespass is great, and there is fierce wrath against Israel.

14 So the armed men left the captives and the spoil before the princes
and all the congregation.

15 And the men which were expressed by name rose up, and took the
captives, and with the spoil clothed all that were naked among them, and arrayed them, and shod them, and gave them to eat and to drink, and
anointed them, and carried all the feeble of them upon asses, and
brought them to Jericho, the city of palm trees, to their brethren: then
they returned to Samaria.

16 At that time did king Ahaz send unto the kings of Assyria to help him.

17 For again the Edomites had come and smitten Judah, and carried away captives.

18 The Philistines also had invaded the cities of the low country, and
of the south of Judah, and had taken Bethshemesh, and Ajalon, and
Gederoth, and Shocho with the villages thereof, and Timnah with the
villages thereof, Gimzo also and the villages thereof: and they dwelt there.

19 For the LORD brought Judah low because of Ahaz king of Israel; for he
made Judah naked, and transgressed sore against the LORD.

20 And Tilgathpilneser king of Assyria came unto him, and distressed
him, but strengthened him not.

21 For Ahaz took away a portion out of the house of the LORD, and out of
the house of the king, and of the princes, and gave it unto the king of Assyria: but he helped him not.

22 And in the time of his distress did he trespass yet more against the
LORD: this is that king Ahaz.

23 For he sacrificed unto the gods of Damascus, which smote him: and he
said, Because the gods of the kings of Syria help them, therefore will I sacrifice to them, that they may help me. But they were the ruin of him,
and of all Israel.

24 And Ahaz gathered together the vessels of the house of God, and cut
in pieces the vessels of the house of God, and shut up the doors of the
house of the LORD, and he made him altars in every corner of Jerusalem.

25 And in every several city of Judah he made high places to burn
incense unto other gods, and provoked to anger the LORD God of his fathers.

26 Now the rest of his acts and of all his ways, first and last, behold,
they are written in the book of the kings of Judah and Israel.

27 And Ahaz slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the city,
even in Jerusalem: but they brought him not into the sepulchres of the
kings of Israel: and Hezekiah his son reigned in his stead.

2 Chronicles Chapter 29

1 Hezekiah began to reign when he was five and twenty years old, and he reigned nine and twenty years in Jerusalem. And his mother's name was
Abijah, the daughter of Zechariah.

2 And he did that which was right in the sight of the LORD, according to
all that David his father had done.

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 gathered 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 astonishment, 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 from us.

11 My sons, be not now negligent: for the LORD hath chosen you to stand
before him, to serve him, and that ye should minister unto him, and burn incense.

12 Then the Levites arose, Mahath the son of Amasai, and Joel the son of Azariah, of the sons of the Kohathites: and of the sons of Merari, Kish
the son of Abdi, and Azariah the son of Jehalelel: and of the
Gershonites; Joah the son of Zimmah, and Eden the son of Joah:

13 And of the sons of Elizaphan; Shimri, and Jeiel: and of the sons of
Asaph; Zechariah, and Mattaniah:

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 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, and seven lambs, and
seven he goats, for a sin offering for the kingdom, and for the
sanctuary, and for Judah. And he commanded the priests the sons of Aaron
to offer them on the altar of the LORD.

22 So they killed the bullocks, and the priests received the blood, and sprinkled it on the altar: likewise, when they had killed the rams, they sprinkled the blood upon the altar: they killed also the lambs, and they sprinkled the blood upon the altar.

23 And they brought forth the he goats for the sin offering before the
king and the congregation; and they laid their hands upon them:

24 And the priests killed them, and they made reconciliation with their
blood upon the altar, to make an atonement for all Israel: for the king commanded that the burnt offering and the sin offering should be made
for all Israel.

25 And he set the Levites in the house of the LORD with cymbals, with psalteries, and with harps, according to the commandment of David, and
of Gad the king's seer, and Nathan the prophet: for so was the
commandment of the LORD by his prophets.

26 And the Levites stood with the instruments of David, and the priests
with the trumpets.

27 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.

28 And all the congregation worshipped, and the singers sang, and the trumpeters sounded: and all this continued until the burnt offering was finished.

29 And when they had made an end of offering, the king and all that were present with him bowed themselves, and worshipped.

30 Moreover Hezekiah the king and the princes commanded the Levites to
sing praise unto the LORD with the words of David, and of Asaph the
seer. And they sang praises with gladness, and they bowed their heads
and worshipped.

31 Then Hezekiah answered and said, Now ye have consecrated yourselves
unto the LORD, come near and bring sacrifices and thank offerings into
the house of the LORD. And the congregation brought in sacrifices and
thank offerings; and as many as were of a free heart burnt offerings.

32 And the number of the burnt offerings, which the congregation
brought, was threescore and ten bullocks, an hundred rams, and two
hundred lambs: all these were for a burnt offering to the LORD.

33 And the consecrated things were six hundred oxen and three thousand
sheep.

34 But the priests were too few, so that they could not flay all the
burnt offerings: wherefore their brethren the Levites did help them,
till the work was ended, and until the other priests had sanctified themselves: for the Levites were more upright in heart to sanctify
themselves than the priests.

35 And also the burnt offerings were in abundance, with the fat of the
peace offerings, and the drink offerings for every burnt offering. So
the service of the house of the LORD was set in order.

36 And Hezekiah rejoiced, and all the people, that God had prepared the people: for the thing was done suddenly.

2 Chronicles Chapter 30

1 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.

2 For the king had taken counsel, and his princes, and all the
congregation in Jerusalem, to keep the passover in 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 congregation.

5 So they established a decree to make proclamation throughout all
Israel, from Beersheba 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.

6 So the posts went with the letters from the king and his princes
throughout all Israel and Judah, and according to the commandment of the
king, saying, Ye children of Israel, turn again unto the LORD God of
Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, and he will return to the remnant of 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, which
trespassed against the LORD God of their fathers, who therefore gave
them up to desolation, as ye see.

8 Now be ye not stiffnecked, as your fathers were, but yield yourselves
unto the LORD, and enter into his sanctuary, which he hath sanctified
for ever: and serve the LORD your God, that the fierceness of his wrath
may turn away from you.

9 For if ye turn again unto the LORD, your brethren and your children
shall find compassion before them that lead them captive, so that they
shall come again into this land: for the LORD your God is gracious and merciful, and will not turn away his face from you, if ye return unto him.

10 So the posts passed from city to city through the country of Ephraim
and Manasseh even unto Zebulun: but they laughed them to scorn, and
mocked them.

11 Nevertheless divers of Asher and Manasseh and of Zebulun humbled themselves, and came to Jerusalem.

12 Also in Judah the hand of God was to give them one heart to do the commandment of the king and of the princes, by the word of the LORD.

13 And there assembled at Jerusalem much people to keep the feast of unleavened bread in the second month, a very great congregation.

14 And they arose and took away the altars that were in Jerusalem, and
all the altars for incense took they away, and cast them into the brook Kidron.

15 Then they killed the passover on the fourteenth day of the second
month: and the priests and the Levites were ashamed, and sanctified themselves, and brought in the burnt offerings into the house of the LORD.

16 And they stood in their place after their manner, according to the
law of Moses the man of God: the priests sprinkled the blood, which they received of the hand of the Levites.

17 For there were many in the congregation that were not sanctified:
therefore the Levites had the charge of the killing of the passovers for
every one that was not clean, to sanctify them unto the LORD.

18 For a multitude of the people, even many of Ephraim, and Manasseh, Issachar, and Zebulun, had not cleansed themselves, yet did they eat the passover otherwise than it was written. But Hezekiah prayed for them,
saying, The good LORD pardon every one

19 That prepareth his heart to seek God, the LORD God of his fathers,
though he be not cleansed according to the purification of the sanctuary.

20 And the LORD hearkened to Hezekiah, and healed the people.

21 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.

22 And Hezekiah spake comfortably unto all the Levites that taught the
good knowledge of the LORD: and they did eat throughout the feast seven
days, offering peace offerings, and making confession to the LORD God of
their fathers.

23 And the whole assembly took counsel to keep other seven days: and
they kept other seven days with gladness.

24 For Hezekiah king of Judah did give to the congregation a thousand
bullocks and seven thousand sheep; and the princes gave to the
congregation a thousand bullocks and ten thousand sheep: and a great
number of priests sanctified themselves.

25 And all the congregation of Judah, with the priests and the Levites,
and all the congregation that came out of Israel, and the strangers that
came out of the land of Israel, and that dwelt in Judah, rejoiced.

26 So there was great joy in Jerusalem: for since the time of Solomon
the son of David king of Israel there was not the like in Jerusalem.

27 Then the priests the Levites arose and blessed the people: and their
voice was heard, and their prayer came up to his holy dwelling place,
even unto heaven.

2 Chronicles Chapter 31

1 Now when all this was finished, all Israel that were present went out
to the cities of Judah, and brake 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.

2 And Hezekiah appointed the courses of the priests and the Levites
after their courses, every man according to his service, the priests and Levites for burnt offerings and for peace offerings, to minister, and to
give thanks, and to praise in the gates of the tents of the LORD.

3 He appointed also the king's portion of his substance for the burnt offerings, to wit, for the morning and evening burnt offerings, and the
burnt offerings for the sabbaths, and for the new moons, and for the set feasts, as it is written in the law of the LORD.

4 Moreover he commanded the people that dwelt in Jerusalem to give the
portion of the priests and the Levites, that they might be encouraged in
the law of the LORD.

5 And as soon as the commandment came abroad, the children of Israel
brought in abundance the firstfruits of corn, wine, and oil, and honey,
and of all the increase of the field; and the tithe of all things
brought they in abundantly.

6 And concerning the children of Israel and Judah, that dwelt in the
cities of Judah, they also brought in the tithe of oxen and sheep, and
the tithe of holy things which were consecrated unto the LORD their God,
and laid them by heaps.

7 In the third month they began to lay the foundation of the heaps, and finished them in the seventh month.

8 And when Hezekiah and the princes came and saw the heaps, they blessed
the LORD, and his people Israel.

9 Then Hezekiah questioned with the priests and the Levites concerning
the heaps.

10 And Azariah the chief priest of the house of Zadok answered him, and
said, Since the people began to bring the offerings into the house of
the LORD, we have had enough to eat, and have left plenty: for the LORD
hath blessed his people; and that which is left is this great store.

11 Then Hezekiah commanded to prepare chambers in the house of the LORD;
and they prepared them,

12 And brought in the offerings and the tithes and the dedicated things faithfully: over which Cononiah the Levite was ruler, and Shimei his
brother was the next.

13 And Jehiel, and Azaziah, and Nahath, and Asahel, and Jerimoth, and
Jozabad, and Eliel, and Ismachiah, and Mahath, and Benaiah, were
overseers under the hand of Cononiah and Shimei his brother, at the commandment of Hezekiah the king, and Azariah the ruler of the house of God.

14 And Kore the son of Imnah the Levite, the porter toward the east, was
over the freewill offerings of God, to distribute the oblations of the
LORD, and the most holy things.

15 And next him were Eden, and Miniamin, and Jeshua, and Shemaiah,
Amariah, and Shecaniah, in the cities of the priests, in their set
office, to give to their brethren by courses, as well to the great as to
the small:

16 Beside their genealogy of males, from three years old and upward,
even unto every one that entereth into the house of the LORD, his daily portion for their service in their charges according to their courses;

17 Both to the genealogy of the priests by the house of their fathers,
and the Levites from twenty years old and upward, in their charges by
their courses;

18 And to the genealogy of all their little ones, their wives, and their
sons, and their daughters, through all the congregation: for in their
set office they sanctified themselves in holiness:

19 Also of the sons of Aaron the priests, which were in the fields of
the suburbs of their cities, in every several city, the men that were expressed by name, to give portions to all the males among the priests,
and to all that were reckoned by genealogies among the Levites.

20 And thus did Hezekiah throughout all Judah, and wrought that which
was good and right and truth before the LORD his God.

21 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.

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