2 Chronicles Chapter 31

At a Glance

  • Chapter 31 records a thorough and organized reordering of worship and worship-related sustenance under Hezekiah.
  • Historical & Literary Context.
  • This chapter sits within Chronicles’ arc of reform, documenting the practical outworking of religious renewal.
  • - Worship as organized community life: structured priestly service and liturgical cycles.
  • - Sacrificial economy: the tithe and offerings sustain temple ministry.

Chapter Overview

Chapter 31 records a thorough and organized reordering of worship and worship-related sustenance under Hezekiah. After Passover reforms, Hezekiah reinforces the sanctification of priests and Levites, reorganizes their duties, and enacts a system of offerings and tithes to sustain the temple service. He appoints the priests and Levites to their respective orders, ensures the king’s portion is allocated for daily offerings, and commands the people to provide for the priests. The result is a surge of generosity: abundant firstfruits, crops, wine, oil, honey, and the tithe—oxen and sheep—laid by heaps. The text notes that the people’s giving enabled continued worship and instruction. The leaders examine the heaps, confirming that the offerings meet the temple’s needs, and this concrete provision becomes a visible sign of renewed faithfulness. It’s a chapter about the social and economic dimension of worship—the ways in which devotion translates into tangible support for the priesthood and the law’s observance. The narrative closes with the people’s comprehensive commitment to the law of the LORD and the expanded capacity for sustained worship.

Historical & Literary Context

This chapter sits within Chronicles’ arc of reform, documenting the practical outworking of religious renewal. The text highlights the synergy between liturgical fidelity and communal economy: worship and sustenance go hand in hand. The genre remains historical-narrative with a strong emphasis on priestly order, temple administration, and the material realities that enable worship. The chapter also reflects Chronicles’ preference for positive outcomes of reform and communal cooperation, reinforcing that obedience to the Law yields tangible blessings and stability for the people.

Key Themes

- Worship as organized community life: structured priestly service and liturgical cycles.

- Sacrificial economy: the tithe and offerings sustain temple ministry.

- Leadership stewardship: kings and priests coordinate resources for worship.

- Communal gratitude and blessing: the heaps are blessed and seen as divine provision.

- The law as life: obedience to God’s statutes manifests in concrete arrangements and generosity.

Modern Application

Contemporary faith communities can draw a clear line from worship to practical care for ministry. This chapter models how healthy churches align governance, finances, and worship to sustain spiritual formation. It calls believers to cultivate disciplined generosity, recognizing that stewardship of resources supports teaching, worship, and service. It also underscores the importance of transparency and accountability in leadership—having elders, priests, and people working together to meet needs and preserve the integrity of worship. The emphasis on the “heaps” as evidence of faithfulness invites today’s communities to consider what kinds of visible outcomes mark true devotion: ministries funded, pastors equipped, and spaces prepared for ongoing encounter with God. It also reminds readers that renewal is not merely personal piety but communal vibrancy expressed in generous living.

Cross-References: 2 Chronicles 29-30; Malachi 3; Exodus 35-36

Recommended Personas: Jesus (compassion and community), Moses (organization and purity), Paul (community generosity and order)

Chapter Text

1

Now when all this was finished, all Israel that were present went out to the cities of Judah, and brake the images in pieces, and cut down the groves, 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 courses of the priests and the Levites after 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 that 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, that 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 by 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.

9

Then Hezekiah questioned with the priests and the Levites concerning the heaps.

10

And Azariah the chief priest of the house of Zadok answered him, and said, Since the people began to bring the offerings into the house of the LORD, we have had enough to eat, and have left plenty: for the LORD hath blessed his people; and that which is left is this great store.

11

Then Hezekiah commanded to prepare chambers in the house of the LORD; and they prepared them,

12

And brought in the offerings and the tithes and the dedicated things faithfully: over which Cononiah the Levite was ruler, and Shimei his brother was the next.

13

And Jehiel, and Azaziah, and Nahath, and Asahel, and Jerimoth, and Jozabad, and Eliel, and Ismachiah, and Mahath, and Benaiah, were overseers under the hand of Cononiah and Shimei his brother, at the commandment of Hezekiah the king, and Azariah the ruler of the house of God.

14

And Kore the son of Imnah the Levite, the porter toward the east, was over the freewill offerings of God, to distribute the oblations of the LORD, and the most holy things.

15

And next him were Eden, and Miniamin, and Jeshua, and Shemaiah, Amariah, and Shecaniah, in the cities of the priests, in their set office, to give to their brethren by courses, as well to the great as to the small:

16

Beside their genealogy of males, from three years old and upward, even unto every one that entereth into the house of the LORD, his daily portion for their service in their charges according to their courses;

17

Both to the genealogy of the priests by the house of their fathers, and the Levites from twenty years old and upward, in their charges by their courses;

18

And to the genealogy of all their little ones, their wives, and their sons, and their daughters, through all the congregation: for in their set office they sanctified themselves in holiness:

19

Also of the sons of Aaron the priests, which were in the fields of the suburbs of their cities, in every several city, the men that were expressed by name, to give portions to all the males among the priests, and to all that were reckoned by genealogies among the Levites.

20

And thus did Hezekiah throughout all Judah, and wrought that which was good and right and truth before the LORD his God.

21

And in every work that he began in the service of the house of God, and in the law, and in the commandments, to seek his God, he did it with all his heart, and prospered.

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