Daily Text and Bible Reading: Tuesday, May 27 [Press play below]

31.1 As soon as they had finished all of this, all the Israelites who were present went out to the cities of Judah, and they smashed the sacred pillars, cut down the sacred poles, and tore down the high places and the altars throughout Judah and Benjamin, as well as in Ephraim and Manasseh, until they had destroyed them completely, after which all the Israelites returned to their cities, each one to his own possession.
31.2 Then Hezekiah appointed the priests in their divisions and the Levites in their divisions, each of the priests and Levites for their service, for the burnt offerings and the communion sacrifices, to minister and to give thanks and praise in the gates of the courtyards of Jehovah.
31.3 A portion of the king’s own goods was given for the burnt offerings, including the morning and evening offerings, as well as the burnt offerings for the Sabbaths, the new moons, and the festivals, according to what is written in the Law of Jehovah.
31.4 Furthermore, he commanded the people living in Jerusalem to give the portion due the priests and the Levites, so that they might adhere strictly to the law of Jehovah.
31.5 As soon as the order was issued, the Israelites gave in great quantities the firstfruits of the grain, new wine, oil, and honey, and of all the produce of the field; they brought in abundantly the tenth of everything.
31.6 And the people of Israel and of Judah living in the cities of Judah also brought in the tenth of cattle and sheep and the tenth of the holy things that were sanctified to Jehovah their God. They brought it in and put it in many heaps.
31.7 In the third month they began laying their contributions in heaps; and in the seventh month they finished.
31.8 When Hezekiah and the princes came and saw the heaps, they praised Jehovah and blessed his people Israel.
31.9 Hezekiah asked the priests and the Levites about the heaps,
31.10 and Azariah the chief priest of the house of Zadok said to him: “From the time they started bringing the contributions into the house of Jehovah, the people have been eating to satisfaction and there is still an abundant surplus, for Jehovah has blessed his people, and this great plenty is left over.”
31.11 At this Hezekiah told them to prepare storerooms in the house of Jehovah, so they prepared them.
31.12 They kept faithfully bringing in the contributions, the tenth parts, and the holy things; Conaniah the Levite was put in charge of all of this as supervisor, and his brother Shimei was second.
31.13 Jehiel, Azaziah, Nahath, Asahel, Jerimoth, Jozabad, Eliel, Ismachiah, Mahath, and Benaiah were commissioners assisting Conaniah and his brother Shimei, by the order of King Hezekiah, and Azariah was supervisor of the house of the true God.
31.14 And Kore the son of Imnah, the Levite gatekeeper on the east side, was in charge of the voluntary offerings of the true God, and he distributed the contribution made to Jehovah and the most holy things.
31.15 And under his direction were Eden, Miniamin, Jeshua, Shemaiah, Amariah, and Shecaniah, in the cities of the priests, in their office of trust, to distribute equally to their brothers in the divisions, to great and small alike.
31.16 This was in addition to the distribution made to the males from three years old and up who were listed in the genealogical enrollment, who came daily to serve in the house of Jehovah and to carry out the duties of their divisions.
31.17 The genealogical enrollment of the priests was by their paternal house, as was that of the Levites who were 20 years old and up, by the duties of their divisions.
31.18 The genealogical enrollment included all their children, their wives, their sons, and their daughters, their entire congregation—for they kept themselves sanctified for what was holy because of their office of trust—
31.19 as well as the descendants of Aaron, the priests who were living in the fields of the pastures surrounding their cities. In all the cities, men had been designated by name to give portions to every male among the priests and to everyone included in the genealogical enrollment of the Levites.
31.20 Hezekiah did this throughout Judah, and he continued to do what was good and right and faithful before Jehovah his God.
31.21 And every work that he undertook to search for his God, whether in connection with the service of the house of the true God or in the Law and the commandment, he did wholeheartedly, and he was successful.

32.1 After these things and these acts of faithfulness, King Sennacherib of Assyria came and invaded Judah. He besieged the fortified cities, intent on breaking through and capturing them.
32.2 When Hezekiah saw that Sennacherib had come and intended to wage war against Jerusalem,
32.3 he decided, after consulting with his princes and his warriors, to stop up the waters of the springs outside the city, and they gave him their support.
32.4 Many people were gathered together, and they stopped up all the springs and the stream that flowed through the land, saying: “Why should the kings of Assyria come and find plenty of water?”
32.5 Furthermore, with determination he rebuilt the entire broken-down wall and raised towers on it, and outside he made another wall. He also repaired the Mound of the City of David, and he made a large number of weapons and shields.
32.6 He then appointed military chiefs over the people and assembled them at the public square of the city gate and encouraged them, saying:
32.7 “Be courageous and strong. Do not be afraid or be terrified because of the king of Assyria and all the multitude with him, for there are more with us than there are with him.
32.8 With him is an arm of flesh, but with us is Jehovah our God to help us and to fight our battles.” And the people were strengthened by the words of King Hezekiah of Judah.
32.9 After this, while King Sennacherib of Assyria was at Lachish with all his imperial might, he sent his servants to Jerusalem, to King Hezekiah of Judah and to all the Judeans in Jerusalem, saying:
32.10 “This is what King Sennacherib of Assyria says, ‘In what are you trusting that you remain in Jerusalem while it is besieged?
32.11 Is not Hezekiah misleading you and handing you over to die by famine and thirst, saying: “Jehovah our God will rescue us from the hand of the king of Assyria”?
32.12 Is this not the same Hezekiah who removed your God’s high places and His altars and then said to Judah and Jerusalem: “You should bow down before one altar and on it you should make your sacrifices smoke”?
32.13 Do you not know what I and my forefathers did to all the peoples of the lands? Were the gods of the nations of the lands able to rescue their land from my hand?
32.14 Who among all the gods of these nations that my forefathers devoted to destruction was able to rescue his people from my hand, so that your God should be able to rescue you from my hand?
32.15 Now do not let Hezekiah deceive you or mislead you like this! Do not put faith in him, for no god of any nation or kingdom was able to rescue his people from my hand and from the hand of my forefathers. How much less, then, will your own God rescue you from my hand!’”
32.16 His servants said even more against Jehovah the true God and against Hezekiah his servant.
32.17 He also wrote letters to insult Jehovah the God of Israel and to speak against him, saying: “Like the gods of the nations of the lands who could not rescue their people from my hand, so the God of Hezekiah will not rescue his people from my hand.”
32.18 They kept calling loudly in the language of the Jews to the people of Jerusalem who were on the wall, to make them afraid and to terrify them, in order to capture the city.
32.19 They spoke against the God of Jerusalem the same way as against the gods of the peoples of the earth, which are the work of man’s hands.
32.20 But King Hezekiah and the prophet Isaiah the son of Amoz kept praying about this and crying out to the heavens for help.
32.21 Then Jehovah sent an angel and wiped out every mighty warrior, leader, and chief in the camp of the king of Assyria, so that he went back to his own land in disgrace. He later entered the house of his god, and there some of his own sons struck him down with the sword.
32.22 So Jehovah saved Hezekiah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem from the hand of King Sennacherib of Assyria and from the hand of all others and gave them rest on every side.
32.23 And many brought gifts to Jehovah at Jerusalem and choice things to King Hezekiah of Judah, and he was greatly respected by all the nations after that.
32.24 In those days Hezekiah became sick and was at the point of death, and he prayed to Jehovah, who answered him and gave him a sign.
32.25 But Hezekiah did not respond appreciatively to the good done to him, for his heart became haughty, bringing indignation against him and against Judah and Jerusalem.
32.26 However, Hezekiah humbled himself for the haughtiness of his heart, he and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and Jehovah’s indignation did not come upon them in the days of Hezekiah.
32.27 And Hezekiah came to have vast riches and glory; and he made storehouses for himself for silver, gold, precious stones, balsam oil, shields, and for all the desirable articles.
32.28 He also made storage places for the produce of grain and new wine and oil, as well as stalls for all the different kinds of livestock and stalls for the flocks.
32.29 He also acquired cities for himself, and an abundance of livestock, flocks, and herds, for God gave him very many possessions.
32.30 It was Hezekiah who stopped up the upper source of the waters of Gihon and directed them straight down to the west to the City of David, and Hezekiah was successful in every work of his.
32.31 However, when the spokesmen of the princes of Babylon were sent to ask him about the sign that had occurred in the land, the true God left him alone to put him to the test, to get to know all that was in his heart.
32.32 As for the rest of the history of Hezekiah and his acts of loyal love, they are written in the vision of Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz, in the Book of the Kings of Judah and of Israel.
32.33 Then Hezekiah was laid to rest with his forefathers, and they buried him in the ascent to the burial places of the sons of David; and all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem honored him at his death. And his son Manasseh became king in his place.

33.1 Manasseh was 12 years old when he became king, and he reigned for 55 years in Jerusalem.
33.2 He did what was bad in Jehovah’s eyes, following the detestable practices of the nations that Jehovah had driven out from before the people of Israel.
33.3 He rebuilt the high places that his father Hezekiah had torn down, he set up altars to the Baals and made sacred poles, and he bowed down to all the army of the heavens and served them.
33.4 He also built altars in the house of Jehovah, about which Jehovah had said: “In Jerusalem my name will be forever.”
33.5 And he built altars to all the army of the heavens in two courtyards of the house of Jehovah.
33.6 And he made his own sons pass through the fire in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom; he practiced magic, used divination, practiced sorcery, and appointed spirit mediums and fortune-tellers. He did on a grand scale what was bad in Jehovah’s eyes, to offend him.
33.7 He put the carved image that he made into the house of the true God about which God had said to David and to his son Solomon: “In this house and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, I will permanently put my name.
33.8 And I will never again remove the feet of Israel from the land that I assigned to their forefathers, provided they carefully observe all that I have commanded them, the entire Law, the regulations and the judicial decisions given through Moses.”
33.9 Manasseh kept leading Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem astray, causing them to do worse than the nations that Jehovah had annihilated from before the Israelites.
33.10 Jehovah kept speaking to Manasseh and his people, but they paid no attention.
33.11 So Jehovah brought against them the army chiefs of the king of Assyria, and they captured Manasseh with hooks and bound him with two copper fetters and took him to Babylon.
33.12 In his distress, he begged Jehovah his God for favor and kept humbling himself greatly before the God of his forefathers.
33.13 He kept praying to Him, and He was moved by his entreaty and heard his request for favor, and He restored him to Jerusalem to his kingship. Then Manasseh came to know that Jehovah is the true God.
33.14 After this he built an outer wall for the City of David west of Gihon in the valley and as far as the Fish Gate, and he continued it around to Ophel, and he made it very high. Further, he appointed army chiefs in all the fortified cities in Judah.
33.15 He then removed the foreign gods and the idol image from the house of Jehovah and all the altars that he had built in the mountain of the house of Jehovah and in Jerusalem, and he had them thrown outside the city.
33.16 He also prepared the altar of Jehovah and began to offer up communion sacrifices and thanksgiving sacrifices on it, and he told Judah to serve Jehovah the God of Israel.
33.17 Nevertheless, the people were still sacrificing on the high places, although only to Jehovah their God.
33.18 As for the rest of the history of Manasseh, his prayer to his God, and the words of the visionaries who spoke to him in the name of Jehovah the God of Israel, they are recorded in the history of the kings of Israel.
33.19 Also his prayer and how his entreaty was granted him, all his sins and his unfaithfulness, the locations where he built high places and set up the sacred poles and the graven images before he humbled himself, they are written among the words of his visionaries.
33.20 Then Manasseh was laid to rest with his forefathers, and they buried him at his house; and his son Amon became king in his place.
33.21 Amon was 22 years old when he became king, and he reigned for two years in Jerusalem.
33.22 And he continued to do what was bad in Jehovah’s eyes, just as his father Manasseh had done; and Amon sacrificed to all the graven images that his father Manasseh had made, and he kept serving them.
33.23 But he did not humble himself before Jehovah as Manasseh his father had humbled himself; instead, Amon greatly increased his guilt.
33.24 Eventually his servants conspired against him and put him to death in his own house.
33.25 But the people of the land struck down all those who conspired against King Amon, and they made his son Josiah king in his place.