The Destruction of Idols
And when all this was finished, all Israel who were present went out to the cities of Judah, and shattered the standing stones, and cut down the Asherah poles, and tore down the high places and the altars — out of all Judah and Benjamin, and in Ephraim and Manasseh — until finishing them. And all the sons of Israel returned, each man to his possession, to their cities.
And Hezekiah set standing the divisions of the priests and the Levites, by their divisions, each man according to his service — the priests and the Levites — for burnt offering and for peace offerings, to minister, and to give thanks, and to praise, in the gates of the camps of the LORD.
Contributions for Worship
And the portion of the king, from his property, was for the burnt offerings: for the burnt offerings of the morning and the evening, and the burnt offerings for the sabbaths, and for the new moons, and for the appointed feasts — as written in the instruction of the LORD.
And he said to the people, the inhabitants of Jerusalem, to give the portion of the priests and the Levites, so that they might hold strong in the instruction of the LORD.
And as the word spread, the sons of Israel brought in abundance the firstfruits of grain, new wine, and oil, and honey, and all the produce of the field; and the tithe of everything they brought in abundance.
And the sons of Israel and Judah who lived in the cities of Judah — they too brought the tithe of oxen and sheep, and the tithe of the holy things consecrated to the LORD their God; and they gave them, heaps upon heaps.
In the third month they began to found the heaps, and in the seventh month they finished.
And Hezekiah and the officials came and saw the heaps; and they blessed the LORD and his people Israel.
And Hezekiah inquired of the priests and the Levites concerning the heaps.
And Azariah the head priest, of the house of Zadok, said to him: “Since the contribution began to be brought to the house of the LORD, there has been eating and being satisfied — and leaving over in abundance; for the LORD has blessed his people, and what is left over is this great store.”
Hezekiah Organizes the Priests
And Hezekiah said to prepare chambers in the house of the LORD; and they prepared them.
And they brought in the contribution, and the tithe, and the holy things, in faithfulness; and over them, as leader, was Conaniah the Levite, and Shimei his brother second.
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 Conaniah and Shimei his brother, by the appointment of Hezekiah the king and Azariah, the leader of the house of God.
And Kore the son of Imnah the Levite, the gatekeeper on the east, was over the freewill offerings of God, to give out the contribution of the LORD and the most holy things.
And under his hand were Eden, and Miniamin, and Jeshua, and Shemaiah, Amariah, and Shecaniah, in the cities of the priests, in trust, to give to their brothers by divisions, great and small alike —
besides their enrollment in the genealogy, to the males from three years old and upward — to everyone entering the house of the LORD, each day’s portion in its day — for their service, in their watches, by their divisions;
and the enrollment of the priests was by the houses of their fathers, and the Levites, from twenty years old and upward, in their watches, by their divisions;
and the enrollment of all their little ones, their wives, and their sons, and their daughters, for all the assembly — for in their trust they consecrated themselves in holiness.
And for the sons of Aaron, the priests, in the fields of the pastureland of their cities — in each and every city — there were men designated by name, to give portions to every male among the priests, and to everyone enrolled in the genealogy among the Levites.
And Hezekiah did thus in all Judah; and he did the good, and the upright, and the true before the LORD his God.
And in every work that he began — in the service of the house of God, and in the instruction, and in the commandment, to seek his God — he acted with all his heart, and succeeded.