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Speaker 1: Life Audio. For more resources to help you in your

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Speaker 1: walk with Christ, please visit us at Bible Study Headquarters

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Speaker 1: dot com. You're listening to the Chapter a Day Audio Bible.

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Speaker 1: I'm John Stangi, and today we're in Second Chronicles, chapter

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Speaker 1: thirty one, and we'll be reading from the New Living Translation.

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Speaker 1: When the festival ended, the Israelites who attended went to

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Speaker 1: all the towns of Judah, Benjamin, Ephrium, and Manassa, and

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Speaker 1: they smashed all the sacred pillars, cut down the ashira polls,

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Speaker 1: and removed the pagan shrines and altars. After this, the

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Speaker 1: Israelites returned to their own towns and homes. Hezekiah then

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Speaker 1: organized the priests and levites into divisions to offer the

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Speaker 1: burnt offerings and peace offerings, and to worship and give

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Speaker 1: thanks and praise to the Lord at the gates of

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Speaker 1: the Temple. The king also made a personal contribution of

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Speaker 1: animals for the daily morning and evening burnt offerings, the

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Speaker 1: weekly Sabbath festivals, the monthly New Moon festivals, and the

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Speaker 1: annual festivals as prescribed in the Law of the Lord.

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Speaker 1: In addition, he required the people in Jerusalem to bring

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Speaker 1: a portion of their goods to the priests and levites

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Speaker 1: so they could devote themselves fully to the law of

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Speaker 1: the Lord. When the people of Israel heard these requirements,

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Speaker 1: they responded generously by bringing the first share of their grain,

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Speaker 1: new wine, olive, oil, honey, and all the produce of

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Speaker 1: their fields. They brought a large quantity a tithe of

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Speaker 1: all they produced the people who had moved to Judah

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Speaker 1: from Israel, and the people of Judah themselves brought in

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Speaker 1: the tithes of their cattle, sheep, and goats, and a

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Speaker 1: tithe of the things that had been dedicated to the Lord,

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Speaker 1: their God, and they piled them up in great heaps.

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Speaker 1: They began piling them up in late spring, and the

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Speaker 1: heaps continued to grow until early autumn. When Hezekiah and

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Speaker 1: his officials came and saw these huge piles. They thanked

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Speaker 1: the Lord and his people Israel. Where did all this

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Speaker 1: come from? Hezekiah asked the priests and levites, and Azariah,

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Speaker 1: the high priest from the family of Zadok, replied, since

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Speaker 1: the people began bringing their gifts to the Lord's temple,

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Speaker 1: we have had enough to eat and plenty to spare.

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Speaker 1: The Lord has blessed his people, and all this is

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Speaker 1: left over. Hezekiah ordered that storerooms be prepared in the

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Speaker 1: Temple of the Lord. When this was done, the people

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Speaker 1: faithfully brought all the gifts, tithes, and other items dedicated

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Speaker 1: for use in the temple. Conan Aiah the Levite was

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Speaker 1: put in charge, assisted by his brother Shimai. The supervisors

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Speaker 1: under them were Jaheel, Azaziah, nay Hath, Azahel, Jeremath, josephad Eliel, Ismakiah, Mayhath,

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Speaker 1: and Benaiah. These appointments were made by King Hezekiah and Azariah.

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Speaker 1: The chief official in the Temple of God, Kor son

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Speaker 1: of Imna, the Levite, who was the gatekeeper at the

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Speaker 1: east gate, was put in charge of distributing the voluntary

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Speaker 1: offerings given to God, the gifts and the things that

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Speaker 1: had been dedicated to the Lord. His faithful assistants were

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Speaker 1: eden Minniemin Jeshua, Shamaiah, Amariyah, and Shechaniah. They distributed the

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Speaker 1: gifts among the families of priests in their towns by

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Speaker 1: their divisions, dividing the gifts fairly among old and young alike.

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Speaker 1: They distributed the gifts to all males three years old

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Speaker 1: or older, regardless of their place in the genealogical records.

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Speaker 1: The distribution went to all who would come to the

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Speaker 1: Lord's temple to perform their daily duties according to their divisions.

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Speaker 1: They distributed gifts to the priests who were listed by

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Speaker 1: their families in the genealogical records, and to the levites

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Speaker 1: twenty years old or older, who were listed according to

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Speaker 1: their jobs and their divisions. Food allotments were also given

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Speaker 1: to the families of all those listed in the genealogical records,

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Speaker 1: including their little babies, wives, sons, and daughters, for they

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Speaker 1: had all been faithful in purifying themselves. As for the priests,

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Speaker 1: the descendants of Erin who were living in the open

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Speaker 1: villages around the towns, men were appointed by name to

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Speaker 1: distribute portions to every male among the priests and to

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Speaker 1: all the levites listed in the genealogical records. In this way,

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Speaker 1: King Hezekiah handled the distribution throughout all Judah, doing what

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Speaker 1: was pleasing and good in the sight of the Lord

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Speaker 1: his God. In all that he did in the service

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Speaker 1: of the Temple of God, and in his efforts to

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Speaker 1: follow God's laws and commands, Kiah sought his God wholeheartedly.

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Speaker 1: As a result, he was very successful. Let's pray. Lord,

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Speaker 1: we thank you for your word, and we thank you

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Speaker 1: for the privilege of being able to look at it

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Speaker 1: together today. And we thank you, Lord for the testimony

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Speaker 1: of Hezekiah's life, how he was intent on doing what

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Speaker 1: was pleasing and good in your sight, how he made

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Speaker 1: certain that the needs of the temple were met, and

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Speaker 1: how he sought to follow your laws and your commands

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Speaker 1: wholeheartedly as one who genuinely believed in you. And Lord,

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Speaker 1: we pray that that would be the kind of mindset

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Speaker 1: and attitude you would foster within us as well. Lord.

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Speaker 1: We're grateful that you have revealed to us our need

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Speaker 1: to trust in your son, Jesus Christ, and it's our desire, Lord,

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Speaker 1: to follow you wholeheartedly. But we know that the temptations

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Speaker 1: and the tugs of this world can have a very

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Speaker 1: strong influence on our heart. So we pray Lord, you

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Speaker 1: would keep us strong, that we would focus on you,

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Speaker 1: and that with our entire hearts we would worship you,

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Speaker 1: We would value what you value, and we would put

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Speaker 1: you first. Thank you, Lord for your presence with us today.

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Speaker 1: We commit this day to your care, and we pray

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Speaker 1: this all in Jesus' name. Amen.