1
Now when all this was finished, all Israel who were present went out to the cities of Judah, and broke the images in pieces, and cut down the Asherah poles, and threw down the high places and the altars out of all Judah and Benjamin, in Ephraim also and Manasseh, until they had utterly destroyed them all. Then all the children of Israel returned, every man to his possession, into their own cities.
2
And Hezekiah appointed the watches of the priests and the Levites according to their courses, every man according to his service, the priests and Levites for burnt offerings and for peace offerings, to minister and to give thanks and to praise in the gates of the tents of the LORD.
3
He appointed also the king's portion of his substance for the burnt offerings, to wit: for the morning and evening burnt offerings, and the burnt offerings for the Sabbaths and for the new moons and for the set feasts, as it is written in the law of the LORD.
4
Moreover he commanded the people who dwelt in Jerusalem to give the portion of the priests and the Levites, that they might be encouraged in the law of the LORD.
5
And as soon as the commandment came abroad, the children of Israel brought in abundance the firstfruits of corn, wine, and oil, and honey, and of all the increase of the field; and the tithe of all things brought they in abundantly.
6
And concerning the children of Israel and Judah, who dwelt in the cities of Judah, they also brought in the tithe of oxen and sheep, and the tithe of holy things which were consecrated unto the LORD their God, and laid them in heaps.
7
In the third month they began to lay the foundation of the heaps, and finished them in the seventh month.
8
And when Hezekiah and the princes came and saw the heaps, they blessed the LORD and His people Israel.