2 Chronicles 29:1–31

Hezekiah Reigns in Judah

29^jHezekiah began to reign when he was twenty-five years old, and he reigned twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Abijah¹ the daughter of ^kZechariah. ²And he did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, according to all that David his father had done.

Hezekiah Cleanses the Temple

³In the first year of his reign, in the first month, he ^lopened the doors of the house of the Lord and repaired them. ⁴He brought in the priests and the Levites and assembled them in the square on the east ⁵and said to them, “Hear me, Levites! Now ^mconsecrate yourselves, and consecrate the house of the Lord, the God of your fathers, and carry out the filth² from the Holy Place. ⁶For our fathers have been unfaithful and have done what was evil in the sight of the Lord our God. They have forsaken him and ⁿhave turned away their faces from the habitation of the Lord and turned their backs. ⁷They also ^oshut the doors of the vestibule and put out the lamps and have not burned incense or offered burnt offerings in the Holy Place to the God of Israel. ⁸Therefore ^pthe wrath of the Lord came on Judah and Jerusalem, and he has made them ^qan object of horror, of astonishment, ^rand of hissing, as you see with your own eyes. ⁹For behold, ^sour fathers have fallen by the sword, and our sons and our daughters and our wives are in captivity for this. ¹⁰Now ^tit is in my heart ^uto make a covenant with the Lord, the God of Israel, in order that his fierce anger may turn away from us. ¹¹My sons, do not now be negligent, ^vfor the Lord has chosen you to stand in his presence, to minister to him and to be his ministers and make offerings to him.”

¹²Then the Levites arose, ^wMahath the son of Amasai, and Joel the son of Azariah, of the sons of ^xthe Kohathites; and of the sons of ^xMerari, Kish the son of Abdi, and Azariah the son of Jehallelel; and of the ^xGershonites, Joah the son of Zimmah, and Eden the son of Joah; ¹³and of the sons of ^yElizaphan, Shimri and Jeuel; and of the sons of ^zAsaph, Zechariah and Mattaniah; ¹⁴and of the sons of ^aHeman, Jehuel and Shimei; and of the sons of ^bJeduthun, Shemaiah and Uzziel. ¹⁵They gathered their brothers and ^cconsecrated themselves and went in as the king had commanded, ^dby the words of the Lord, ^eto cleanse the house of the Lord. ¹⁶The priests went into the inner part of the house of the Lord to cleanse it, and they brought out all the uncleanness that they found in the temple of the Lord into the court of the house of the Lord. And the Levites took it and carried it out to ^fthe brook Kidron. ¹⁷They began to consecrate ^gon the first day of the first month, and on the eighth day of the month they came to the vestibule of the Lord. Then for eight days they consecrated the house of the Lord, and on the sixteenth day of the first month they finished. ¹⁸Then they went in to Hezekiah the king and said, “We have cleansed all the house of the Lord, the altar of burnt offering and all its utensils, and the table for the showbread and all its utensils. ¹⁹All the utensils ^hthat King Ahaz discarded in his reign when he was faithless, we have made ready and consecrated, and behold, they are before the altar of the Lord.”

Hezekiah Restores Temple Worship

²⁰Then Hezekiah the king rose early and gathered the officials of the city and went up to the house of the Lord. ²¹And they brought seven bulls, seven rams, seven lambs, and seven male goats ⁱfor a sin offering for the kingdom and for the sanctuary and for Judah. And he commanded the priests, the sons of Aaron, to offer them on the altar of the Lord. ²²So they slaughtered the bulls, and the priests received the blood ^jand threw it against the altar. And they slaughtered the rams, and their blood was thrown against the altar. And they slaughtered the lambs, and their blood was thrown against the altar. ²³Then the goats for the sin offering were brought to the king and the assembly, ^kand they laid their hands on them, ²⁴and the priests slaughtered them and made a sin offering with their blood on the altar, ^lto make atonement for all Israel. For the king commanded that the burnt offering and the sin offering should be made for all Israel.

^25mAnd he stationed the Levites in the house of the Lord with cymbals, harps, and lyres, ⁿaccording to the commandment of David and of Gad ^othe king’s seer and of ^pNathan the prophet, for the commandment was from the Lord through his prophets. ²⁶The Levites stood with ^qthe instruments of David, ^rand the priests with the trumpets. ²⁷Then Hezekiah commanded that the burnt offering be offered on the altar. And when the burnt offering began, ^sthe song to the Lord began also, and the trumpets, accompanied by the instruments of David king of Israel. ²⁸The whole assembly worshiped, and the singers sang, and the trumpeters sounded. All this continued until the burnt offering was finished. ²⁹When the offering was finished, ^tthe king and all who were present with him bowed themselves and worshiped. ³⁰And Hezekiah the king and the officials commanded the Levites to sing praises to the Lord with the words of David and of Asaph the seer. And they sang praises with gladness, and they bowed down and worshiped.

³¹Then Hezekiah said, ^u“You have now consecrated yourselves to³ the Lord. Come near; bring sacrifices and thank offerings to the house of the Lord.” And the assembly brought sacrifices and thank offerings, and all who were ^vof a willing heart brought burnt offerings.