2 Chronicles 29

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.