Hezekiah Sets Up Priests for Service

2And Hezekiah set up 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 minister and to give thanks and to praise in the gates of the camp of Yahweh. 3He also appointed the king’s portion of his goods 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 times, as it is written in the law of Yahweh. 4Also he said to the people who lived in Jerusalem to give the portion due to the priests and the Levites, that they might be strong in the law of Yahweh. 5As soon as the word spread forth, the sons of Israel provided in abundance 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 all. 6Now 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 the holy gifts which were made holy to Yahweh their God, and put them in heaps. 7In the third month they began to [†]make the heaps, and completed them by the seventh month. 8Then Hezekiah and the rulers came and saw the heaps, and they blessed Yahweh and His people Israel. 9Then Hezekiah inquired of the priests and the Levites concerning the heaps. 10And Azariah the chief priest of the house of Zadok said to [†]him, “Since the contributions began to be brought into the house of Yahweh, there has been much to eat and be satisfied with and have left over, for Yahweh has blessed His people, and this great quantity is left over.”

11Then Hezekiah ordered them to prepare rooms in the house of Yahweh, and they prepared them. 12And they faithfully brought in the contribution and the tithe and the holy things; and Conaniah the Levite was the officer over them and his brother Shimei was second. 13Now Jehiel, Azaziah, Nahath, Asahel, Jerimoth, Jozabad, Eliel, Ismachiah, Mahath, and Benaiah were overseers [†]assisting at the hand of Conaniah and Shimei his brother by the appointment of King Hezekiah, and Azariah was the chief officer of the house of God. 14And Kore the son of Imnah the Levite, the keeper of the eastern gate, was over the freewill offerings of God, to distribute the contributions for Yahweh and the most holy things. 15Now assisting [†]by his hand were Eden, Miniamin, Jeshua, Shemaiah, Amariah, and Shecaniah in the cities of the priests, to distribute faithfully their portions to their brothers by divisions, whether great or small, 16without regard to their genealogical record, to the males from [†]thirty years old and upward—everyone who entered the house of Yahweh for his daily obligations—for their service in their responsibilities according to their divisions; 17as well as the priests who were recorded genealogically according to their fathers’ households, and the Levites from twenty years old and upwards, by their responsibilities and their divisions. 18The genealogical record included [†]all their little ones, their wives, their sons, and their daughters, for the whole assembly, for they set themselves apart [†]faithfully in holiness. 19Also 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 recorded among the Levites.

20Thus Hezekiah did throughout all Judah; and he did what was good, right, and true before Yahweh his God. 21And every work which he began in the service of the house of God in law and in commandment—to seek his God—he did with all his heart and succeeded.