Moab’s Destruction

¹Send the tribute lambsto the ruler of the land,from Sela in the desertto the mount of Daughter Zion.

²Like fluttering birdspushed out of the nest,so are the daughters of Moabat the fords of the Arnon:

³“Give us counsel;render a decision.Shelter us at noondaywith shade as dark as night.Hide the refugees;do not betray the one who flees.

⁴Let my fugitives stay with you;be a refuge for Moab from the destroyer.”When the oppressor has gone, destruction has ceased,and the oppressors have vanished from the land,

⁵in loving devotiona throne will be establishedin the tent of David.A judge seeking justice and hastening righteousnesswill sit on it in faithfulness.

⁶We have heard of Moab’s pomposity,his exceeding pride and conceit,his overflowing arrogance.But his boasting is empty.

⁷Therefore let Moab wail;let them wail together for Moab.Moan for the raisin cakes of Kir-hareseth,you who are utterly stricken.

⁸For the fields of Heshbon have withered,along with the grapevines of Sibmah.The rulers of the nationshave trampled its choicest vines,which had reached as far as Jazerand spread toward the desert.Their shoots had spread outand passed over the sea.

⁹So I weep with Jazerfor the vines of Sibmah;I drench Heshbon and Elealehwith my tears.Triumphant shouts have fallen silentover your summer fruit and your harvest.

¹⁰Joy and gladness are removed from the orchard;no one sings or shouts in the vineyards.No one tramples the grapes in the winepresses;I have put an end to the cheering.

¹¹Therefore my heart laments for Moab like a harp,my inmost being for Kir-heres.

¹²When Moab appears on the high place,when he wearies himselfand enters his sanctuary to pray,it will do him no good.

¹³This is the message that the LORD spoke earlier concerning Moab.

¹⁴And now the LORD says, “In three years, as a hired worker counts the years, Moab’s splendor will become an object of contempt, with all her many people. And those who are left will be few and feeble.”

Hezekiah Cleanses the Temple

¹Hezekiah was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem twenty-nine years. His mother’s name was Abijah,the daughter of Zechariah.

²And he did what was right in the eyes of the LORD, just as his father David had done.

³In the first month of the first year of his reign, Hezekiah opened and repaired the doors of the house of the LORD.

⁴Then he brought in the priests and Levites and gathered them in the square on the east side.

⁵“Listen to me, O Levites,” he said. “Consecrate yourselves now and consecrate the house of the LORD, the God of your fathers. Remove from the Holy Place every impurity.

⁶For our fathers were unfaithful and did evil in the sight of the LORD our God. They abandoned Him, turned their faces away from the dwelling place of the LORD, and turned their backs on Him.

⁷They also shut the doors of the portico and extinguished the lamps. They did not burn incense or present burnt offerings in the Holy Place of the God of Israel.

⁸Therefore, the wrath of the LORD has fallen upon Judah and Jerusalem, and He has made them an object of terror, horror, and scorn, as you can see with your own eyes.

⁹For behold, this is why our fathers have fallen by the sword, and our sons and daughters and wives are in captivity.

¹⁰Now it is in my heart to make a covenant with the LORD, the God of Israel, so that His fierce anger will turn away from us.

¹¹Now, my sons, do not be negligent, for the LORD has chosen you to stand before Him, to serve Him, to minister before Him, and to burn incense.”

¹²Then the Levites set to work:Mahath son of Amasai and Joel son of Azariah from the Kohathites;Kish son of Abdi and Azariah son of Jehallelel from the Merarites;Joah son of Zimmah and Eden son of Joah from the Gershonites;

¹³Shimri and Jeuel from the Elizaphanites;Zechariah and Mattaniah from the Asaphites;

¹⁴Jehiel and Shimei from the Hemanites;and Shemaiah and Uzziel from the Jeduthunites.

¹⁵When they had assembled their brothers and consecrated themselves, they went in to cleanse the house of the LORD, according to the command of the king by the words of the LORD.

¹⁶So the priests went inside the house of the LORD to cleanse it, and they brought out to the courtyard all the unclean things that they found in the temple of the LORD. Then the Levites took these things and carried them out to the Kidron Valley.

¹⁷They began the consecration on the first day of the first month, and on the eighth day of the month they reached the portico of the LORD. For eight more days they consecrated the house of the LORD itself, finishing on the sixteenth day of the first month.

¹⁸Then they went in to King Hezekiah and reported, “We have cleansed the entire house of the LORD, the altar of burnt offering with all its utensils, and the table of the showbread with all its utensils.

¹⁹Moreover, we have prepared and consecrated all the articles that King Ahaz in his unfaithfulness cast aside during his reign. They are now in front of the altar of the LORD.”

Hezekiah Restores Temple Worship

²⁰Early the next morning King Hezekiah gathered the city officials and went up to the house of the LORD.

²¹They brought seven bulls, seven rams, seven lambs, and seven male goats as a sin offering for the kingdom, for the sanctuary, and for Judah. And the king commanded the priests, the descendants of Aaron, to offer them on the altar of the LORD.

²²So they slaughtered the bulls, and the priests took the blood and splattered it on the altar. They slaughtered the rams and splattered the blood on the altar. And they slaughtered the lambs and splattered the blood on the altar.

²³Then they brought the goats for the sin offering before the king and the assembly, who laid their hands on them.

²⁴And the priests slaughtered the goats and put their blood on the altar for a sin offering, to make atonement for all Israel, because the king had ordered the burnt offering and the sin offering for all Israel.

²⁵Hezekiah stationed the Levites in the house of the LORD with cymbals, harps, and lyres according to the command of David, of Gad the king’s seer, and of Nathan the prophet. For the command had come from the LORD through His prophets.

²⁶The Levites stood with the instruments of David, and the priests with the trumpets.

²⁷And Hezekiah ordered that the burnt offering be sacrificed on the altar. When the burnt offering began, the song of the LORD and the trumpets began as well, accompanied by the instruments of David king of Israel.

²⁸The whole assembly was worshiping, the singers were singing, and the trumpeters were playing. All this continued until the burnt offering was completed.

²⁹When the offerings were completed, the king and all those present with him bowed down and worshiped.

³⁰Then King Hezekiah and his officials ordered the Levites to sing praises to the LORD in the words of David and of Asaph the seer. So they sang praises with gladness and bowed down and worshiped.

³¹Then Hezekiah said, “Now that you have consecrated yourselves to the LORD,come near and bring sacrifices and thank offerings to the house of the LORD.”So the assembly brought sacrifices and thank offerings, and all whose hearts were willing brought burnt offerings.

³²The number of burnt offerings the assembly brought was seventy bulls, a hundred rams, and two hundred lambs; all these were for a burnt offering to the LORD.

³³And the consecrated offerings were six hundred bulls and three thousand sheep.

³⁴However, since there were not enough priests to skin all the burnt offerings, their Levite brothers helped them until the work was finished and until the priests had consecrated themselves. For the Levites had been more diligent in consecrating themselves than the priests had been.

³⁵Furthermore, the burnt offerings were abundant, along with the fat of the peace offerings and the drink offerings for the burnt offerings. So the service of the house of the LORD was established.

³⁶Then Hezekiah and all the people rejoiced at what God had prepared for the people, because everything had been accomplished so quickly.

Joseph Reveals His Identity

¹Then Joseph could no longer control himself before all his attendants, and he cried out, “Send everyone away from me!”So none of them were with Joseph when he made himself known to his brothers.

²But he wept so loudly that the Egyptians heard him, and Pharaoh’s household soon heard of it.

³Joseph said to his brothers, “I am Joseph! Is my father still alive?”But they were unable to answer him, because they were terrified in his presence.

⁴Then Joseph said to his brothers, “Please come near me.” And they did so.“I am Joseph, your brother,” he said, “the one you sold into Egypt!

⁵And now, do not be distressed or angry with yourselves that you sold me into this place, because it was to save lives that God sent me before you.

⁶For the famine has covered the land these two years, and there will be five more years without plowing or harvesting.

⁷God sent me before you to preserve you as a remnant on the earth and to save your lives by a great deliverance.

⁸Therefore it was not you who sent me here, but God, who has made me a father to Pharaoh—lord of all his household and ruler over all the land of Egypt.

Joseph Sends for His Father

⁹Now return quickly to my father and tell him, ‘This is what your son Joseph says: God has made me lord of all Egypt. Come down to me without delay.

¹⁰You shall settle in the land of Goshen and be near me—you and your children and grandchildren, your flocks and herds, and everything you own.

¹¹And there I will provide for you, because there will be five more years of famine. Otherwise, you and your household and everything you own will come to destitution.’

¹²Behold! You and my brother Benjamin can see that I, Joseph, am the one speaking with you.

¹³Tell my father about all my splendor in Egypt and everything you have seen. And bring my father down here quickly.”

¹⁴Then Joseph threw his arms around his brother Benjamin and wept, and Benjamin wept as they embraced.

¹⁵Joseph kissed each of his brothers as he wept over them. And afterward his brothers talked with him.

Pharaoh Invites Jacob to Egypt

¹⁶When the news reached Pharaoh’s house that Joseph’s brothers had come, Pharaoh and his servants were pleased.

¹⁷Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Tell your brothers, ‘Do as follows: Load your animals and return to the land of Canaan.

¹⁸Then bring your father and your families and return to me. I will give you the best of the land of Egypt, and you shall eat from the fat of the land.’

¹⁹You are also directed to tell them: ‘Take wagons from the land of Egypt for your young children and your wives, and bring your father and come back.

²⁰But pay no regard to your belongings, for the best of all the land of Egypt is yours.’”

²¹So the sons of Israel did as they were told. Joseph gave them wagons as Pharaoh had instructed, and he also gave them provisions for their journey.

²²He gave new garments to each of them, but to Benjamin he gave three hundred shekels of silverand five sets of clothes.

²³And he sent to his father the following: ten donkeys loaded with the best of Egypt, and ten female donkeys loaded with grain and bread and provisions for his father’s journey.

²⁴Then Joseph sent his brothers on their way, and as they were leaving, he said to them, “Do not quarrel on the way!”

The Revival of Jacob

²⁵So the brothers went up out of Egypt and came to their father Jacob in the land of Canaan.

²⁶“Joseph is still alive,” they said, “and he is ruler over all the land of Egypt!”But Jacob was stunned, for he did not believe them.

²⁷However, when they relayed all that Joseph had told them, and when he saw the wagons that Joseph had sent to carry him back, the spirit of their father Jacob was revived.

²⁸“Enough!” declared Israel. “My son Joseph is still alive! I will go to see him before I die.”

Pray for the Peace of Jerusalem

¹I was glad when they said to me,“Let us go to the house of the LORD.”

²Our feet are standing in your gates,O Jerusalem.

³Jerusalem is built upas a city united together,

⁴where the tribes go up,the tribes of the LORD,as a testimony for Israel,to give thanks to the name of the LORD.

⁵For there the thrones of judgment stand,the thrones of the house of David.

⁶Pray for the peace of Jerusalem:“May those who love you prosper.

⁷May there be peace within your walls,and prosperityinside your fortresses.”

⁸For the sake of my brothers and friends,I will say, “Peace be within you.”

⁹For the sake of the house of the LORD our God,I will seek your prosperity.