King Hezekiah of Judah sent this message to the king of Assyria, who was at Lachish, “I have violated our treaty. ¹  If you leave, I will do whatever you demand.” ²  So the king of Assyria demanded that King Hezekiah of Judah pay three hundred talents ³  of silver and thirty talents of gold.

He observed the daily requirements for sacrifices that Moses had specified for Sabbaths, new moon festivals, and the three annual celebrations – the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the Feast of Weeks, and the Feast of Temporary Shelters. ¹ 

Whatever is needed – whether oxen or rams or lambs or burnt offerings for the God of heaven or wheat or salt or wine or oil, as required by ¹  the priests who are in Jerusalem – must be given to them daily without any neglect,

Every day one ox, six select sheep, and some birds were prepared for me, and every ten days all kinds of wine in abundance. Despite all this I did not require the food allotted to the governor, for the work was demanding on this people.

Ezra ¹  read in the book of the law of God day by day, from the first day to the last. ²  They observed the festival for seven days, and on the eighth day they held an assembly ³  as was required. ⁴ 

When it became the turn of Esther daughter of Abihail the uncle of Mordecai (who had raised her as if she were his own daughter ¹ ) to go to the king, she did not request anything except what Hegai the king’s eunuch, who was overseer of the women, had recommended. Yet Esther met with the approval of all who saw her.

They made their lives bitter ¹  by ²  hard service with mortar and bricks and by all kinds of service ³  in the fields. Every kind of service the Israelites were required to give was rigorous. ⁴ 

The Israelite foremen saw ¹  that they ²  were in trouble when they were told, ³  “You must not reduce the daily quota of your bricks.”

Moses took the bones of Joseph with him, for Joseph ¹  had made the Israelites solemnly swear, ²  “God will surely attend ³  to you, and you will carry ⁴  my bones up from this place with you.”

The one hundred talents of silver were used for casting the bases of the sanctuary and the bases of the special curtain – one hundred bases for one hundred talents, one talent per base.

Anyone who touches anything that was under him ¹  will be unclean until evening, and the one who carries those items ²  must wash his clothes, bathe in water, and be unclean until evening.

Anyone whom the man with the discharge touches without having rinsed his hands in water ¹  must wash his clothes, bathe in water, and be unclean until evening.

“‘These are the appointed times of the Lord that you must proclaim as holy assemblies to present a gift to the Lord – burnt offering, grain offering, sacrifice, and drink offerings, ¹  each day according to its regulation, ² 

This is what they are responsible to carry as their entire service in the tent of meeting: the frames ¹  of the tabernacle, its crossbars, its posts, its sockets,

and this water that causes the curse will go ¹  into your stomach, and make your abdomen swell and your thigh rot.” ²  Then the woman must say, “Amen, amen.” ³ 

Elijah told them, “Seize the prophets of Baal! Don’t let even one of them escape!” So they seized them, and Elijah led them down to the Kishon Valley and executed ¹  them there.

They also took care of ¹  the bread that is displayed, the flour for offerings, the unleavened wafers, the round cakes, the mixing, and all the measuring. ² 

He ordered ¹  the people living in Jerusalem ²  to contribute the portion prescribed for the priests and Levites so they might be obedient ³  to the law of the Lord.

He made all who were in Jerusalem and Benjamin agree to it. ¹  The residents of Jerusalem acted in accordance with the covenant of God, the God of their ancestors.

Afterward they offered the continual burnt offerings and those for the new moons and those for all the holy assemblies of the Lord and all those that were being voluntarily offered to the Lord.