1 Also, Hezekiah sent to all of Israel and Judah. And he wrote letters to Ephraim and Manasseh, so that they would come to the house of the Lord in Jerusalem, and so that they would keep the Passover to the Lord, the God of Israel.
2 Therefore, having taken counsel, the king and the rulers, and the entire assembly of Jerusalem, resolved that they would keep the Passover, in the second month.
3 For they had not been able to keep it at its proper time. For the priests, who were unable to suffice, had not been sanctified. And the people had not yet been gathered together in Jerusalem.
4 And the word was pleasing to the king, and to the entire multitude.
5 And they resolved that they would send messengers to all of Israel, from Beersheba even to Dan, so that they might come and keep the Passover to the Lord, the God of Israel, at Jerusalem. For many had not kept it, just as it was prescribed by the law.
6 And carriers traveled with the letters, by order of the king and his rulers, to all of Israel and Judah, proclaiming, in accord with what the king had ordered: “O sons of Israel, return to the Lord, the God of Abraham, and Isaac, and Israel. And he will return to the remnant who escaped from the hand of the king of the Assyrians.
7 Do not choose to be like your fathers and brothers, who withdrew from the Lord, the God of their fathers. And so he delivered them over to destruction, as you yourselves discern.
8 Do not choose to harden your necks, as your fathers did. Surrender to the hands of the Lord. And go to his Sanctuary, which he has sanctified unto eternity. Serve the Lord, the God of your fathers, and the fury of his wrath will be turned away from you.
9 For if you will return to the Lord, your brothers and sons will find mercy before their masters, who led them away as captives, and they will be returned to this land. For the Lord your God is compassionate and lenient, and he will not avert his face from you, if you will return to him.”
10 And so, the carriers were traveling quickly from city to city, throughout the land of Ephraim and Manasseh, as far as Zebulun, though they were ridiculing and mocking them.
11 Even so, certain men from Asher, and from Manasseh, and from Zebulun, acquiescing to this counsel, went to Jerusalem.
12 Truly, the hand of God was working in Judah, to give them one heart, so that they would accomplish the word of the Lord, according to the precept of the king and of the rulers.
13 And many people gathered together in Jerusalem, so that they could keep the solemnity of unleavened bread, in the second month.
14 And rising up, they destroyed the altars which were in Jerusalem, and all the things in which incense was burned to idols. Overturning these things, they cast them into the torrent Kidron.
15 Then they immolated the Passover on the fourteenth day of the second month. Also, the priests and Levites, at length having been sanctified, offered the holocausts in the house of the Lord.
16 And they stood in their order, according to the disposition and law of Moses, the man of God. Yet truly, the priests took up the blood, which was to be poured out, from the hands of the Levites,
17 because a great number were not sanctified. And therefore, the Levites immolated the Passover for those who had not been sanctified to the Lord in time.
18 And now a great portion of the people from Ephraim, and Manasseh, and Issachar, and Zebulun, who had not been sanctified, ate the Passover, which is not in accord with what was written. And Hezekiah prayed for them, saying: “The good Lord will be forgiving
19 to all who, with their whole heart, seek the Lord, the God of their fathers. And he will not impute it to them, though they have not been sanctified.”
20 And the Lord heeded him, and was reconciled to the people.
21 And the sons of Israel who were found at Jerusalem kept the solemnity of unleavened bread for seven days with great rejoicing, praising the Lord throughout each day, with the Levites and the priests, accompanied by the musical instruments corresponding to their office.
22 And Hezekiah spoke to the heart of all the Levites, who had a good understanding concerning the Lord. And they ate during the seven days of the solemnity, immolating victims of peace offerings, and praising the Lord, the God of their fathers.
23 And it pleased the entire multitude that they should celebrate, even for another seven days. And they did this with enormous gladness.
24 For Hezekiah, the king of Judah, had offered to the multitude one thousand bulls and seven thousand sheep. Truly, the rulers had given the people one thousand bulls and ten thousand sheep. Then a great mulititude of priests was sanctified.
25 And the whole multitude of Judah, as much the priests and Levites as the entire crowd that had arrived from Israel, and also the converts from the land of Israel, and those with a habitation in Judah, was overflowing with cheerfulness.
26 And there was a great celebration in Jerusalem, to such an extent as had not been in that city since the days of Solomon, the son of David, the king of Israel.
27 Then the priests and Levites rose up and blessed the people. And their voice was heeded. And their prayer reached the holy habitation of heaven.
1 And when these things had been celebrated according to ritual, all of Israel who had been found in the cities of Judah went forth, and they broke apart the idols and cut down the sacred groves. They demolished the high places and destroyed the altars, not only out of all Judah and Benjamin, but also out of Ephraim as well as Manasseh, until they utterly destroyed them. And all the sons of Israel returned to their possessions and cities.
2 Then Hezekiah appointed the companies of the priests and Levites by their divisions, each man in his proper office, certainly as much for the priests as for the Levites, for the sake of holocausts and peace offerings, so that they might minister and confess and sing, at the gates of the camp of the Lord.
3 Now the portion of the king, from his own substance, was such that they could offer a holocaust always, in morning and in evening, also on the Sabbaths, and the new moons, and the other solemnities, just as it was written in the law of Moses.
4 And now he instructed the people living in Jerusalem that they were to give portions to the priests and Levites, so that they would be able to attend to the law of the Lord.
5 And when this had reached the ears of the multitude, the sons of Israel brought an abundance of first-fruits of grain, wine, and oil, and also honey. And they offered a tenth part of all that the soil brings forth.
6 Then too, the sons of Israel and Judah, who were living in the cities of Judah, brought tithes of oxen and sheep, and tithes of the holy things that they had vowed to the Lord their God. And carrying all these things, they made many stacks.
7 In the third month, they began to lay out the foundations of the stacks. And in the seventh month, they finished them.
8 And when Hezekiah and his rulers had entered, they saw the stacks, and they blessed the Lord and the people of Israel.
9 And Hezekiah questioned the priests and Levites, as to why the stacks were laid out in this way.
10 Azariah, the high priest from the stock of Zadok, answered him, saying: “Since the first-fruits began to be offered in the house of the Lord, we have eaten and been satisfied, and much remains. For the Lord has blessed his people. Then what was left over is this great abundance, which you see.”
11 And so Hezekiah instructed that they should prepare storage places for the house of the Lord. And when they had done so,
12 they faithfully brought in the first-fruits, as well as the tithes and all that they had vowed. Now the overseer of these things was Conaniah, a Levite; and his brother, Shimei, was second.
13 And after him, there was Jehiel, and Azariah, and Nahath, and Asaahel, and Jerimoth, and also Jozabad, and Eliel, and Ismachiah, and Mahath, and Benaiah, who were overseers under the hands of Conaniah, and his brother, Shimei, by the authority of Hezekiah, the king, and Azariah, the high priest of the house of God, to whom all these things belonged.
14 Yet truly, Kore, the son of Imnah, a Levite and the porter of the eastern gate, was the overseer of the things that were being offered freely to the Lord, and of the first-fruits, and of the things consecrated for the Holy of Holies.
15 And under his charge were Eden, and Benjamin, Jeshua, and Shemaiah, and also Amariah, and Shecaniah, in the cities of the priests, so that they would distribute faithfully to their brothers, the small as well as the great, their portions
16 (except for the males from three years old and upward) for all who were entering the temple of the Lord, and for whatever was needed for the ministry, throughout each day, as well as for the observances according to their divisions.
17 And so, for the priests, by their families, and for the Levites, from the twentieth year and upward, by their orders and companies,
18 and for the entire multitude, as much for the wives as for their children of both sexes, provisions were offered faithfully from whatever had been sanctified.
19 Then too, men were appointed of the sons of Aaron, throughout the fields and the suburbs of each city, who would distribute portions to all the males among the priests and Levites.
20 Therefore, Hezekiah did all these things (which we have said) in all of Judah. And he worked what is good and upright and true before the Lord his God,
21 for the whole service of the ministry of the house of the Lord, in accord with the law and the ceremonies, desiring to seek his God with his whole heart. And he did so, and he prospered.
&
1 When I was willing to heal Israel, the iniquity of Ephraim was discovered, and the malice of Samaria, for they had been manufacturing lies. And the thief steals from inside, the robber from outside.
2 And, so that they may not say in their hearts that I am the one who has called to mind all of their wickedness: now their own inventions have encircled them. These things have happened in my presence.
3 The king has rejoiced at their wickedness, and the leaders have rejoiced in their lies.
4 They are all adulterers; like an oven heating up before baking, the city rested a little before the leaven was mixed in, until the whole was leavened.
5 On the day of our king, the leaders began to be mad with wine; he extended his hand with those who fabricate illusions.
6 For they have used their heart like an oven, while he laid snares for them; he slept through the night baking them, and by morning he himself was heated like a burning fire.
7 They have all become hot like an oven, and they have devoured their judges. All their kings have fallen. There is no one who calls to me among them.
8 Ephraim himself has been mingled with the nations. Ephraim has become like bread, baked under ashes, that has not been turned over.
9 Strangers have devoured his strength, and he did not know it. And grey hairs also have spread across him, and he is ignorant of it.
10 And the pride of Israel will be brought low before his face, for they have not returned to the Lord their God, nor have they sought him in all of this.
11 And Ephraim has become like a pigeon that has been led astray, not having a heart; for they called upon Egypt, they went to the Assyrians.
12 And when they will set out, I will spread my net over them. I will pull them down like the birds of the sky; I will cut them down in accordance with the reports of their meetings.
13 Woe to them, for they have withdrawn from me. They will waste away because they have been dishonest with me. And I redeemed them, and they have spoken lies against me.
14 And they have not cried out to me in their heart, but they howled on their beds. They have obsessed about wheat and wine; they have withdrawn from me.
15 And I have educated them, and I have reinforced their arms; and they have imagined evil against me.
16 They returned so that they might be without a yoke. They have become like a deceitful bow. Their leaders will fall by the sword because of the madness of their words. This is their derision in the land of Egypt.
1 Let there be a trumpet in your throat, like an eagle over the house of the Lord, on behalf of those who have transgressed my covenant and violated my law.
2 They will call on me: “O my God, we, Israel, know you.”
3 Israel has thrown away goodness; the enemy will overtake him.
4 They have reigned, but not by me. Leaders have emerged, and I did not recognize them. Their silver and their gold, they have made into idols for themselves, so that they might cross over.
5 Your calf, Samaria, has been rejected. My fury has been enraged against them. How long will they be incapable of being cleansed?
6 For it is itself also from Israel: a workman made it, and it is not God. For the calf of Samaria will be used for the webs of spiders.
7 For they will sow wind and reap a whirlwind. It does not have a firm stalk; the bud will yield no grain. But if it does yield, strangers will eat it.
8 Israel has been devoured. Now, among the nations, it has become like an unclean vessel.
9 For they have gone up to Assur, a wild ass alone by himself. Ephraim has given presents to his lovers.
10 But even when they will have brought the nations together for the sake of money, now I will assemble them. And they will rest for a little while from the burden of the king and the leaders.
11 For Ephraim multiplied altars to sin, and sanctuaries have become an offense for him.
12 I will write to him my intricate laws, which have been treated like strangers.
13 They will offer victims, they will immolate flesh and will eat, and the Lord will not accept them. For now he will remember their iniquity, and he will repay their sins: they will be turned back to Egypt.
14 And Israel has forgotten his Maker and has built shrines. And Judah has increased its fortified cities. And I will send fire upon his cities, and it will devour its structures.
1 For David himself. Bless the Lord, O my soul: O Lord my God, thou art exceedingly great. Thou hast put on praise and beauty:
2 And art clothed with light as with a garment. Who stretchest out the heaven like a pavilion:
3 Who coverest the higher rooms thereof with water. Who makest the clouds thy chariot: who walkest upon the wings of the winds.
4 Who makest thy angels spirits: and thy ministers a burning fire.
5 Who hast founded the earth upon its own bases: it shall not be moved for ever and ever.
6 The deep like a garment is its clothing: above the mountains shall the waters stand.
7 At thy rebuke they shall flee: at the voice of thy thunder they shall fear.
8 The mountains ascend, and the plains descend into the place which thou hast founded for them.
1 How is it that anyone of you, having a dispute against another, would dare to be judged before the iniquitous, and not before the saints?
2 Or do you not know that the saints from this age shall judge it? And if the world is to be judged by you, are you unworthy, then, to judge even the smallest matters?
3 Do you not know that we shall judge angels? How much more the things of this age?
4 Therefore, if you have matters to judge concerning this age, why not appoint those who are most contemptible in the Church to judge these things!
5 But I am speaking so as to shame you. Is there no one among you wise enough, so that he might be able to judge between his brothers?
6 Instead, brother contends against brother in court, and this before the unfaithful!
7 Now there is certainly an offense among you, beyond everything else, when you have court cases against one another. Should you not accept injury instead? Should you not endure being cheated instead?
8 But you are doing the injuring and the cheating, and this toward brothers!
9 Do you not know that the iniquitous will not possess the kingdom of God? Do not choose to wander astray. For neither fornicators, nor servants of idolatry, nor adulterers,
10 nor the effeminate, nor males who sleep with males, nor thieves, nor the avaricious, nor the inebriated, nor slanderers, nor the rapacious shall possess the kingdom of God.
11 And some of you were like this. But you have been absolved, but you have been sanctified, but you have been justified: all in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God.
12 All is lawful to me, but not all is expedient. All is lawful to me, but I will not be driven back by the authority of anyone.
13 Food is for the stomach, and the stomach is for food. But God shall destroy both the stomach and food. And the body is not for fornication, but rather for the Lord; and the Lord is for the body.
14 Truly, God has raised up the Lord, and he will raise us up by his power.
15 Do you not know that your bodies are a part of Christ? So then, should I take a part of Christ and make it a part of a harlot? Let it not be so!
16 And do you not know that whoever is joined to a harlot becomes one body? “For the two,” he said, “shall be as one flesh.”
17 But whoever is joined to the Lord is one spirit.
18 Flee from fornication. Every sin whatsoever that a man commits is outside of the body, but whoever fornicates, sins against his own body.
19 Or do you not know that your bodies are the Temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own?
20 For you have been bought at a great price. Glorify and carry God in your body.
