Day 159 – June 8, 2022

2 Chronicles 30-32

​¹ Hezekiah sent word to all Israel and Judah and wrote letters to Ephraim and Manasseh, telling them to come to the house of the Lord at Jerusalem and keep the Passover to the Lord God of Israel. ² For the king and his leaders and all the assembly in Jerusalem had agreed to keep the Passover in the second month. ³ For they could not keep it at the regular time, because a sufficient number of priests had not consecrated themselves and the people had not gathered in Jerusalem. ⁴ And the matter pleased the king and the assembly. ⁵ So they resolved to make a proclamation throughout all Israel from Beersheba to Dan that they should come to keep the Passover to the Lord God of Israel at Jerusalem, since they had not done it in the prescribed manner for a long time.
⁶ Then the runners went throughout all Israel and Judah with the letters from the king and his leaders, and spoke according to the command of the king, “Sons of Israel, return to the Lord God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel. Then He will return to the remnant of you who escaped from the hand of the king of Assyria. ⁷ Do not be like your fathers and your brethren who rebelled against the Lord God of their fathers; so He gave them up to desolation as you see. ⁸ Do not be stiff-necked as your fathers were. Give glory to the Lord God and enter His sanctuary, which He sanctified forever. Serve the Lord your God, so that He turns the fierceness of His wrath away from you. ⁹ For if you return to the Lord, your brethren and your children will be treated with compassion by those who led them captive, so they may come back to this land. For the Lord your God is gracious and merciful, and He will not turn His face from us if we return to Him.”
  ¹⁰ So the runners passed from city to city, through Mount Ephraim and Manasseh, and as far as Zebulun. But the people laughed at them and mocked them. ¹¹ Nevertheless some from Asher, Manasseh, and Zebulun were ashamed and came to Jerusalem. ¹² At the word of the Lord, the hand of God was on Judah to give them singleness of heart to obey the command of the king and the leaders.
¹³ Now many people, a very great assembly, gathered at Jerusalem to keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread in the second month. ¹⁴ They arose and took away the altars in Jerusalem. And they took away all the altars on which they burned incense to the false gods and cast them into the Brook Kidron. ¹⁵ Then they slaughtered the Passover lambs on the fourteenth day of the second month. The priests and the Levites were ashamed and sanctified themselves, and they brought the burnt offerings to the house of the Lord. ¹⁶ They stood in their place according to their custom, according to the Law of Moses, the man of God. The priests received the blood from the hand of the Levites. ¹⁷ For there were many in the assembly who had not sanctified themselves. Therefore the Levites had charge of the slaughter of the Passover lambs for all those who were not able to sanctify themselves to the Lord. ¹⁸ Most of the people from Ephraim, Manasseh, Issachar, and Zebulun had not cleansed themselves, but they ate the Passover contrary to what was written.
But Hezekiah prayed for them, saying, “May the good Lord provide atonement for everyone ¹⁹ who prepares his heart to seek God, the Lord God of his fathers, even though he is not cleansed according to the purification of the sanctuary.” ²⁰ And the Lord listened to Hezekiah and healed the people. ²¹ So the sons of Israel who were present at Jerusalem kept the Feast of Unleavened Bread for seven days with great gladness. And the Levites and the priests praised the Lord every day, singing to the Lord with instruments.
²² And Hezekiah encouraged all the Levites who knew the good knowledge of the Lord. And they completed the feast in seven days, offering peace offerings and making confession to the Lord God of their fathers. ²³ And the whole assembly agreed to keep the feast for another seven days, and so they kept it another seven days with great joy. ²⁴ For King Hezekiah began the sacrifice for the assembly of Judah with a thousand calves and seven thousand sheep. And the leaders began the sacrifice for the assembly with a thousand calves and ten thousand sheep, and there was an abundance of holy things for the priests.
²⁵ The whole assembly rejoiced along with the priests and Levites, all the assembly of Judah and those who came from Israel, the sojourners who came from the land of Israel, and those who dwelt in Judah. ²⁶ So there was great joy in Jerusalem, for since the time of Solomon the son of David king of Israel there had been no feast like this 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 in heaven.
Priests and People Are Renewed
​¹ Now when all was completed, all Israel who were present went out to the cities of Judah and broke the sacred pillars in pieces, cut down the groves, and cast down the high places and the altars—from all Judah, Benjamin, Ephraim, and Manasseh—until they utterly destroyed them all. Then all the sons of Israel returned to their own possessions and their own cities.
  ² And Hezekiah appointed the divisions of the priests and the Levites according to their divisions, each man according to his service: the priests and Levites for burnt offerings and peace offerings, to praise, to give thanks, and to serve in the gates and the courts of the house of the Lord. ³ The king also appointed a portion of his possessions for the burnt offerings, for the morning and evening burnt offerings, the burnt offerings for the Sabbaths and the New Moons, and the feasts prescribed in the Law of the Lord.
⁴ Moreover, he commanded the people who dwelt in Jerusalem to contribute a portion for the priests and the Levites so that they might devote themselves to the service of the house of the Lord. ⁵ As soon as the commandment was circulated, the sons of Israel brought in abundance the firstfruits of grain and wine, olive oil and honey, and of all the produce of the field. And they brought in abundantly the tithe of everything. ⁶ And the sons of Israel and Judah who dwelt in the cities of Judah brought the tithe of calves and sheep and the tithe of goats and consecrated them to the Lord their God, and they brought in offerings and laid them in heaps. ⁷ In the third month the heaps began to accumulate, and in the seventh month they were finished. ⁸ And when Hezekiah and the leaders came and saw the heaps, they blessed the Lord and His people Israel. ⁹ Then Hezekiah questioned the priests and the Levites about the heaps. ¹⁰ And Azariah, the chief priest from 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 drink and have plenty left, for the Lord blessed His people. What is left is this great abundance.”
¹¹ Now Hezekiah commanded them to prepare rooms in the house of the Lord, and they prepared them. ¹² Then they faithfully brought in the offerings and tithes. Cononiah the Levite had charge of them, and Shimei his brother was his helper. ¹³ Jehiel, Azaziah, Nahath, Asahel, Jerimoth, Jozabad, Eliel, Ismachiah, 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 Kore, the son of Imnah the Levite, the keeper of the East Gate, was over the freewill offerings to God, to distribute the offerings of the Lord and the most holy things. ¹⁵ Under him were Eden, Miniamin, Jeshua, Shemaiah, Amariah, and Shecaniah, his faithful assistants among the priests, to distribute to their brethren by divisions, great and small. ¹⁶ Apart from those, males from three years old and up were listed in the book of days, for daily service by division. ¹⁷ This was the register of the priests by their father’s house, and the Levites from twenty years old and up according to their daily duties by divisions; ¹⁸ and in the register of all their sons and daughters, their whole company, for in their faithfulness they sanctified the holy place. ¹⁹ Also for the sons of Aaron the priests, who were from their cities and in every single city, there were men designated by name to distribute portions to all the males among the priests and to all who were listed by genealogies among the Levites.
²⁰ Thus Hezekiah did throughout all Judah, and he did what was good and right before the Lord his God. ²¹ And in every task he undertook in the service of the house of God, he sought his God in the law and in the commandment with all his heart. So he prospered.

​¹ After these things and this faithfulness, Sennacherib king of Assyria came to Judah and encamped against the fortified cities, thinking to capture them. ² And when Hezekiah saw that Sennacherib came, and that his purpose was to make war against Jerusalem, ³ he consulted with his leaders and commanders to stop the water from the springs outside the city, and they helped him. ⁴ And he gathered many people, and they stopped the waters of the springs and the river that ran through the city, saying, “Let not the king of Assyria come and find a lot of water and prevail.” ⁵ And Hezekiah strengthened himself and built up all the wall that was broken, raised it up to the towers, and built another wall outside. He also repaired the fortress of the City of David and made many weapons. ⁶ Then he set military captains over the people, gathered them to him in the open square of the Valley Gate, and encouraged them, saying, ⁷ “Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid of the king of Assyria, nor before all the nation with him, for there are more with us than with him. ⁸ With him are arms of flesh, but with us is the Lord our God, to save us and to fight our battles.” And the people were strengthened by the words of Hezekiah king of Judah.
⁹ Sennacherib king of Assyria sent his servants to Jerusalem, while he and all the forces with him laid siege against Lachish, to Hezekiah king of Judah and to all Judah who were in Jerusalem, saying, ¹⁰ “Thus says Sennacherib king of Assyria: ‘In what do you trust, that you continue under siege in Jerusalem? ¹¹ Does not Hezekiah deceive you to give yourselves over to die by famine and by thirst, saying, “The Lord our God will deliver us from the hand of the king of Assyria”? ¹² Did not the same Hezekiah take away the altars and the high places and command Judah and Jerusalem, saying, “You shall worship before one altar and burn incense on it”? ¹³ Do you not know what my fathers and I did to all the peoples of other lands? Were the gods of the nations of those lands able to deliver their lands from my hand? ¹⁴ Who among all the gods of those nations my fathers utterly destroyed could deliver his people from my hand, that your God will be able to deliver you from my hand? ¹⁵ Now therefore, do not let Hezekiah deceive you or persuade you like this. Do not believe him. For no god of any nation or kingdom was able to deliver his people from my hand or the hand of my fathers. How much less will your God deliver you from my hand?’ ”
¹⁶ Furthermore, Sennacherib’s servants spoke against the Lord God and His servant Hezekiah. ¹⁷ He also wrote a letter to revile the Lord God of Israel and spoke against Him, saying, “As the gods of the nations of other lands did not deliver their people from my hand, so the God of Hezekiah will not deliver His people from my hand.” ¹⁸ And they called out with a loud voice in Hebrew to the people of Jerusalem on the wall, to frighten them and trouble them so that they might take the city. ¹⁹ And they spoke against the God of Jerusalem, as against the gods of the people of the earth, the work of men’s hands.
Assyria’s Defeat
²⁰ And King Hezekiah and the prophet Isaiah, the son of Amoz, prayed about this and cried out to heaven. ²¹ And the Lord sent an angel, who cut down every mighty man of valor and leader and captain in the camp of the king of Assyria. So he returned shamefaced to his land. And he went into the temple of his god, where some of his own offspring struck him down with the sword. ²² Thus the Lord saved Hezekiah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem from the hand of Sennacherib the king of Assyria and from the hand of all others. He gave them rest on every side. ²³ And many brought gifts to the Lord in Jerusalem and presents to Hezekiah king of Judah, so afterwards he was exalted in the sight of all nations.
Hezekiah Humbled and Honored at His Death
²⁴ In those days Hezekiah was sick and near death, and he prayed to the Lord, and the Lord heard him and gave him a sign. ²⁵ But Hezekiah did not repay the favor shown him, but exalted his own heart, and His anger came upon him, and upon Judah and Jerusalem. ²⁶ Hezekiah was humbled because of his exalted heart, he and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, but the wrath of the Lord did not come upon them in the days of Hezekiah.
  ²⁷ Hezekiah had very great riches and honor. And he made himself treasuries for silver, for gold, for precious stones, for spices, for shields, and for all kinds of desirable items, ²⁸ and cities for the harvest of grain, olive oil, and wine, and stalls for all kinds of livestock, and folds for flocks. ²⁹ And he built cities for himself, and he possessed flocks and herds in abundance, for God had given him a great deal of property. ³⁰ This same Hezekiah also stopped the water outlet of Upper Gihon and brought the water by a tunnel to the west side of the City of David. Hezekiah prospered in all his works. ³¹ However, regarding the ambassadors of the princes of Babylon, whom Babylon sent to him to inquire about the wonder done in the land, God withdrew from Hezekiah in order to test him and know what was in his heart.
³² Now the rest of the acts of Hezekiah and his mercy, indeed they are written in the prophecy of Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz and in the Book of the Kings of Judah and Israel. ³³ So Hezekiah rested with his fathers, and they buried him in the upper tombs of the sons of David. And all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem honored him at his death. Then Manasseh his son reigned in his place.
Psalm 125

​¹ An ode of ascents.

When the Lord returned the captives of Zion,

We became like those who are comforted.

² Then our mouth was filled with joy,

And our tongue with exceeding joy.

Then they shall say among the Gentiles,

“The Lord did great things with them.”

³ The Lord has done great things with us;

We were glad.

⁴ Return, O Lord, our captivity

Like streams in the south.

⁵ Those who sow with tears

Shall reap with exceeding joy.

⁶ They went forth and wept,

Carrying their seeds with them;

But they shall return with exceeding joy,

Carrying their sheaves.

Psalm 126

​¹ An ode of ascents; for Solomon.

Unless the Lord builds the house,

Those who build it labor in vain;

Unless the Lord guard the city,

Those who guard it stay awake in vain.

² It is in vain for you to rise early,

To awaken from your rest,

You who eat the bread of grief,

When He gives His beloved ones sleep.

³ Behold, children are the Lord’s inheritance;

The fruit of the womb His reward.

⁴ Like arrows in the hand of a mighty one,

So are the children of those who were outcasts.

⁵ Blessed is the man who shall fulfill his desire with them;

They shall not be ashamed, when they speak to their enemies at the gate.

Proverbs 28:1–5

​¹ An ungodly man flees when no one is pursuing,

But a righteous man is confident as a lion.

² Condemnations arise because of the sins of the ungodly,

But an astute man quenches them.

³ A bold man harasses the poor with ungodliness.

As a driving and unprofitable rain,

⁴ So those who forsake the law praise ungodliness,

But those who love the law surround themselves with a wall.

⁵ Evil men do not understand judgment,

But those who seek the Lord shall understand it in everything.

John 17

​¹ Jesus spoke these words, lifted up His eyes to heaven, and said: “Father, the hour has come. Glorify Your Son, that Your Son also may glorify You,
² “as You have given Him authority over all flesh, that He should give eternal life to as many as You have given Him.
³ “And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.
⁴ “I have glorified You on the earth. I have finished the work which You have given Me to do.
⁵ “And now, O Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was.
Jesus Prays for His Disciples
⁶ “I have manifested Your name to the men whom You have given Me out of the world. They were Yours, You gave them to Me, and they have kept Your word.
⁷ “Now they have known that all things which You have given Me are from You.
⁸ “For I have given to them the words which You have given Me; and they have received them, and have known surely that I came forth from You; and they have believed that You sent Me.
  ⁹ “I pray for them. I do not pray for the world but for those whom You have given Me, for they are Yours.
¹⁰ “And all Mine are Yours, and Yours are Mine, and I am glorified in them.
¹¹ “Now I am no longer in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to You. Holy Father, keep through Your name those whom You have given Me, that they may be one as We are.
¹² “While I was with them in the world, I kept them in Your name. Those whom You gave Me I have kept; and none of them is lost except the son of perdition, that the Scripture might be fulfilled.
¹³ “But now I come to You, and these things I speak in the world, that they may have My joy fulfilled in themselves.
¹⁴ “I have given them Your word; and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.
¹⁵ “I do not pray that You should take them out of the world, but that You should keep them from the evil one.
¹⁶ “They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.
¹⁷ “Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth.
¹⁸ “As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world.
¹⁹ “And for their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they also may be sanctified by the truth.
Jesus Prays for All Believers
²⁰ “I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word;
²¹ “that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me.
²² “And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one:
²³ “I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me.
²⁴ “Father, I desire that they also whom You gave Me may be with Me where I am, that they may behold My glory which You have given Me; for You loved Me before the foundation of the world.
²⁵ “O righteous Father! The world has not known You, but I have known You; and these have known that You sent Me.
²⁶ “And I have declared to them Your name, and will declare it, that the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them.”