31:1 Now when all this was finished, all Israel who were present went out to the cities of Judah, broke the memorial stones in pieces, cut down the ①Asherim and pulled down the high places and the altars throughout Judah and Benjamin, as well as in Ephraim and Manasseh, until ②they had destroyed them all. Then all the sons of Israel returned to their cities, each to his possession.
▷ ①I.e., wooden symbols of a female deity (Asherah) ②Lit to completion
31:2 And Hezekiah appointed the divisions of the priests and the Levites by their divisions, each according to his service, both the priests and the Levites, for burnt offerings and for peace offerings, to serve and to give thanks and to praise in the gates of the camp of the LORD.
31:3 He also appointed the king’s portion of his property for the burnt offerings, namely, for the morning and evening burnt offerings, and the burnt offerings for the Sabbaths and for the new moons and for the appointed festivals, as it is written in the Law of the LORD.
31:4 Also he told the people who lived in Jerusalem to give the portion due to the priests and the Levites, so that they might devote themselves to the Law of the LORD.
31:5 As soon as the ①order spread, the sons of Israel abundantly provided the first fruits of grain, new wine, oil, honey, and of all the produce of the field; and they brought in abundantly the tithe of everything.
▷ ①Lit word
31:6 The sons of Israel and Judah who lived in the cities of Judah also brought in the tithe of oxen and sheep, and the tithe of ①sacred gifts which were consecrated to the LORD their God, and placed them in heaps.
▷ ①Lit consecrated things
31:7 In the third month they began to ①make the heaps, and they finished them by the seventh month.
▷ ①Lit lay
31:8 When Hezekiah and the rulers came and saw the heaps, they blessed the LORD and His people Israel.
31:9 Then Hezekiah questioned the priests and the Levites concerning the heaps.
31:10 Azariah, the chief priest of the house of Zadok, said to ①him, “Since the contributions started coming into the house of the LORD, we have had enough to eat with plenty left over, for the LORD has blessed His people, and this great quantity is left over.”
▷ ①Lit him, and he said
31:11 Then Hezekiah commanded them to prepare rooms in the house of the LORD, and they prepared them.
31:12 They faithfully brought in the contributions, the tithes, and the consecrated things; and Conaniah the Levite was the officer in charge of them, and his brother Shimei was second.
31:13 Jehiel, Azaziah, Nahath, Asahel, Jerimoth, Jozabad, Eliel, Ismachiah, Mahath, and Benaiah were overseers ①under the authority of Conaniah and his brother Shimei by the appointment of King Hezekiah, and Azariah was the chief officer of the house of God.
▷ ①Lit from the hand of
31:14 Kore the son of Imnah the Levite, the keeper of the eastern gate, was in charge of the ①voluntary offerings for God, to distribute the contributions for the LORD and the most holy things.
▷ ①Or freewill offerings
31:15 ①Under his authority were Eden, Miniamin, Jeshua, Shemaiah, Amariah, and Shecaniah, in the cities of the priests, to distribute their portions faithfully to their brothers by divisions, whether great or small,
▷ ①Lit On his hand
31:16 without regard to their genealogical enrollment, to the males from ①thirty years old and upward—everyone who entered the house of the LORD for his daily obligations—for their work in their duties according to their divisions;
▷ ①Heb three
31:17 as well as the priests who were enrolled genealogically according to their fathers’ households, and the Levites from twenty years old and upward, by their duties and their divisions.
31:18 The genealogical enrollment included ①all their little children, their wives, their sons, and their daughters, for the whole assembly, for they consecrated themselves ②faithfully in holiness.
▷ ①Lit with all ②Lit in their faithfulness
31:19 Also for the sons of Aaron, the priests, who were in the pasture lands of their cities, or in each and every city, there were men who were designated by name to distribute portions to every male among the priests and to everyone genealogically enrolled among the Levites.
31:20 Hezekiah did this throughout Judah; and he did what was good, right, and true before the LORD his God.
31:21 Every work which he began in the service of the house of God in the Law and in the commandment, seeking his God, he did with all his heart and prospered.