2 Chronicles 31

¹ When all this was over, all the Israelites who were there went out to the towns of Judah. They broke the sacred pillars, cut down the Asherah poles, and tore down the high places and altars throughout Judah, Benjamin, Ephraim, and Manasseh, until they had destroyed them all. Then all the Israelites returned, each to his own property and his own town.

² Hezekiah organized the priests and Levites into their divisions, each assigned to his service—priests and Levites alike—for burnt offerings and fellowship offerings, to serve, give thanks, and praise at the gates of the LORD’s camp.

³ The king set aside a portion of his own possessions for the burnt offerings: the morning and evening burnt offerings, and the burnt offerings for Sabbaths, New Moons, and festivals, as written in the Law of the LORD.

⁴ He told the people living in Jerusalem to give the priests and Levites their portion, so they could devote themselves to the Law of the LORD.

⁵ As soon as the order went out, the Israelites brought in abundance the firstfruits of grain, new wine, oil, honey, and all the produce of the fields. They also brought a great quantity of the tithe of everything.

⁶ The Israelites and the people of Judah living in the towns of Judah also brought a tithe of their cattle and sheep, and a tithe of the sacred things dedicated to the LORD their God. They piled them up in heaps.

⁷ They began piling up the heaps in the third month and finished in the seventh month.

⁸ Hezekiah and the officials came and saw the heaps. They blessed the LORD and his people Israel.

⁹ Hezekiah asked the priests and Levites about the heaps.

¹⁰ Azariah, the chief priest from the house of Zadok, replied, “Since the people began bringing the offerings to the house of the LORD, we have eaten and had enough, with plenty left over, because the LORD has blessed his people. This great amount is what remains.”

¹¹ Hezekiah ordered rooms to be prepared in the house of the LORD, and they prepared them.

¹² They faithfully brought in the offerings, the tithes, and the dedicated things. The Levite Conaniah was in charge of them, and his brother Shimei was his deputy.

¹³ Jehiel, Azaziah, Nahath, Asahel, Jerimoth, Jozabad, Eliel, Ismachiah, Mahath, and Benaiah served as supervisors under Conaniah and his brother Shimei, by appointment of King Hezekiah; Azariah was in charge of the house of God.

¹⁴ Kore son of Imnah, the Levite who guarded the east gate, was responsible for the freewill offerings to God, distributing the offerings to the LORD and the most holy things.

¹⁵ Under his direction were Eden, Miniamin, Jeshua, Shemaiah, Amariah, and Shecaniah, in the priests’ towns. They faithfully distributed portions to their fellow priests by divisions, to the great and the small alike.

¹⁶ This was in addition to the genealogical register of males three years old and above—all who came to the house of the LORD for their daily duties and service, according to their responsibilities and divisions.

¹⁷ The priests were listed by their families, and the Levites twenty years old and above were listed according to their responsibilities and divisions.

¹⁸ Their whole community was included in the genealogical register, along with all their little ones, wives, sons, and daughters, because they faithfully consecrated themselves as holy.

¹⁹ For the descendants of Aaron, the priests, there were men in each town appointed by name in the pastures surrounding their towns. They distributed portions to every male among the priests and to everyone listed in the genealogical register of the Levites.

²⁰ Hezekiah did this throughout all Judah. He did what was good, right, and faithful before the LORD his God.

²¹ In every undertaking he began in the service of the house of God, in the Law and the commandment, and in seeking his God, he acted wholeheartedly and prospered.

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