2 Chronicles 29:1–32:33

Judah’s King Hezekiah

29Hezekiah was 25 years old ^vwhen he became king and reigned 29 years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Abijah ^wdaughter of Zechariah. ²He did what was right in the Lord’s sight ^xjust as his ancestor David had done.

³In the first year of his reign, in the first month, he opened the doors of the Lord’s temple and repaired them. ^y4Then he brought in the priests and Levites and gathered them in the eastern public square. ^z5He said to them, “Hear me, Levites. Consecrate yourselves ^anow and consecrate the temple of Yahweh, the God of your ancestors. Remove everything impure from the holy place. ⁶For our fathers were unfaithful and did what is evil in the sight of the Lord our God. They abandoned Him, turned their faces away from the Lord’s tabernacle, and turned their backs on Him. ^bc7They also closed the doors of the portico, extinguished the lamps, did not burn incense, and did not offer burnt offerings in the holy place of the God of Israel. ⁸Therefore, the wrath of the Lord was on Judah and Jerusalem, and He made them an object of terror, horror, and mockery, ^deas you see with your own eyes. ⁹Our fathers fell by the sword, and our sons, our daughters, and our wives are in captivity because of this. ^f10It is in my heart now to make a covenant with Yahweh, the God of Israel ^gso that His burning anger may turn away from us. ¹¹My sons, don’t be negligent now, for the Lord has chosen you to stand in His presence, to serve Him, and to be His ministers and burners of incense.” ^h

Cleansing the Temple

¹²Then the Levites stood up:

Mahath ⁱson of Amasai and Joel son of Azariah from the Kohathites;

Kish son of Abdi and Azariah son of Jehallelel from the Merarites; ^j

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 ^kand Shimei from the Hemanites;

Shemaiah and Uzziel from the Jeduthunites.

¹⁵They gathered their brothers together, consecrated themselves, ^land went according to the king’s command by the words of the Lord ^mto cleanse the Lord’s temple. ⁿ

¹⁶The priests went to the entrance of the Lord’s temple to cleanse it. They took all the unclean things they found in the Lord’s sanctuary to the courtyard of the Lord’s temple. Then the Levites received them and took them outside to the Kidron Valley. ^o17They began the consecration on the first day of the first month, and on the eighth day of the month they came to the portico of the Lord’s temple. They consecrated the Lord’s temple for eight days, and on the sixteenth day of the first month they finished.

¹⁸Then they went inside to King Hezekiah and said, “We have cleansed the whole temple of the Lord, the altar of burnt offering and all its utensils, and the table for the rows of the bread of the Presence and all its utensils. ¹⁹We have set up and consecrated all the utensils that King Ahaz rejected during his reign ^pwhen he became unfaithful. They are in front of the altar of the Lord.”

Renewal of Temple Worship

²⁰King Hezekiah got up early, gathered the city officials, and went to the Lord’s temple. 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. Then he told the descendants of Aaron, the priests, to offer them on the altar of the Lord. ²²So they slaughtered the bulls, and the priests received the blood and sprinkled it on the altar. ^qThey slaughtered the rams and sprinkled the blood on the altar. They slaughtered the lambs and sprinkled the blood on the altar. ²³Then they brought the goats for the sin offering right into the presence of the king and the congregation, who laid their hands on them. ^r24The priests slaughtered the goats and put their blood on the altar for a sin offering, to make atonement for all Israel, ^sfor the king said that the burnt offering and sin offering were for all Israel.

²⁵Hezekiah stationed the Levites in the Lord’s temple with cymbals, harps, and lyres ^taccording to the command of David, ^uGad the king’s seer, ^vand Nathan the prophet. ^wFor the command was from the Lord through His prophets. ²⁶The Levites stood with the instruments of David, ^xand the priests with the trumpets. ^y

²⁷Then Hezekiah ordered that the burnt offering be offered on the altar. When the burnt offerings began, the song of the Lord and the trumpets began, accompanied by the instruments of David king of Israel. ²⁸The whole assembly was worshiping, singing the song, and blowing the trumpets—all of this continued until the burnt offering was completed. ²⁹When the burnt offerings were completed, the king and all those present with him bowed down and worshiped. ^z30Then King Hezekiah and the officials told the Levites to sing praise to the Lord in the words of David and of Asaph the seer. So they sang praises with rejoicing and bowed down and worshiped.

³¹Hezekiah concluded, “Now you are consecrated ^ato the Lord. Come near and bring sacrifices and thank offerings to the Lord’s temple.” So the congregation brought sacrifices and thank offerings, and all those with willing hearts ^bbrought burnt offerings. ³²The number of burnt offerings the congregation brought was 70 bulls, 100 rams, and 200 lambs; all these were for a burnt offering to the Lord. ³³Six hundred bulls and 3,000 sheep were consecrated.

³⁴However, since there were not enough priests, they weren’t able to skin all the burnt offerings, so their Levite brothers helped them ^cuntil the work was finished and until the priests consecrated themselves. For the Levites were more conscientious ^deto consecrate themselves than the priests were. ^f35Furthermore, the burnt offerings were abundant, along with the fat of the fellowship offerings ^gand with the drink offerings ^hfor the burnt offering.

So the service of the Lord’s temple was established. ³⁶Then Hezekiah and all the people rejoiced over how God had prepared the people, for it had come about suddenly.

Celebration of the Passover

30Then Hezekiah sent word throughout all Israel and Judah, and he also wrote letters to Ephraim and Manasseh to come to the Lord’s temple in Jerusalem to observe the Passover of Yahweh, the God of Israel. ⁱ²For the king and his officials and the entire congregation in Jerusalem decided to observe the Passover of the Lord in the second month, ^j3because they were not able to observe it at the appropriate time. Not enough of the priests had consecrated themselves ^kand the people hadn’t been gathered together in Jerusalem. ⁴The proposal pleased the king and the congregation, ⁵so they affirmed the proposal and spread the message throughout all Israel, from Beer-sheba to Dan, ^lto come to observe the Passover of Yahweh, the God of Israel in Jerusalem, for they hadn’t observed it often, ^mas prescribed. ⁿ

⁶So the couriers ^owent throughout Israel and Judah with letters from the hand of the king and his officials, and according to the king’s command, saying, “Israelites, return to Yahweh, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel so that He may return to those of you who remain, who have escaped from the grasp of the kings of Assyria. ^p7Don’t be like your fathers and your brothers who were unfaithful to Yahweh, the God of their ancestors ^qso that He made them an object of horror ^ras you yourselves see. ⁸Don’t become obstinate ^stnow like your fathers did. Give your allegiance ^uto Yahweh, and come to His sanctuary that He has consecrated forever. Serve the Lord your God so that He may turn His burning anger away from you, ^v9for when you return to Yahweh, your brothers and your sons will receive mercy in the presence of their captors and will return to this land. ^wFor Yahweh your God is gracious and merciful; ^xHe will not turn His face away from you if you return to Him.”

¹⁰The couriers traveled from city to city in the land of Ephraim and Manasseh as far as Zebulun, but the inhabitants ^ylaughed at them and mocked them. ^z11But some from Asher, Manasseh, and Zebulun humbled themselves and came to Jerusalem. ^a12Also, the power of God was at work in Judah to unite them ^bto carry out the command of the king and his officials by the word of the Lord.

¹³A very large assembly of people was gathered in Jerusalem to observe the Festival of Unleavened Bread in the second month. ¹⁴They proceeded to take away the altars that were in Jerusalem, ^cand they took away the incense altars and threw them into the Kidron Valley. ^d15They slaughtered the Passover lamb ^eon the fourteenth day of the second month. The priests and Levites were ashamed, and they consecrated themselves and brought burnt offerings to the Lord’s temple. ¹⁶They stood at their prescribed posts, ^faccording to the law of Moses, the man of God. The priests sprinkled the blood received from the hand of the Levites, ¹⁷for there were many in the assembly who had not consecrated themselves, and so the Levites were in charge of slaughtering the Passover lambs for every unclean person to consecrate the lambs to the Lord. ^g18A large number of the people—many from Ephraim, Manasseh, Issachar, and Zebulun—were ritually unclean, yet they had eaten the Passover ^hcontrary to what was written. ⁱBut Hezekiah had interceded for them, saying, “May the good Lord provide atonement on behalf of ¹⁹whoever sets his whole heart on seeking God, ^jYahweh, the God of his ancestors, even though not according to the purification rules of the sanctuary.” ²⁰So the Lord heard Hezekiah and healed the people. ^k21The Israelites who were present in Jerusalem observed the Festival of Unleavened Bread seven days with great joy, ^land the Levites and the priests praised the Lord day after day with loud instruments. ²²Then Hezekiah encouraged ^mnall the Levites who performed skillfully before the Lord. They ate at the appointed festival for seven days, sacrificing fellowship offerings and giving thanks to Yahweh, the God of their ancestors. ^o

²³The whole congregation decided to observe ^p…