2 Chronicles 29:1–32:33

Hezekiah Reigns over Judah

^1aHezekiah became king when he was twenty-five years old; and he reigned twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. And his mother’s name was Abijah, the daughter of Zechariah.

^2aAnd he did what was right in the sight of Yahweh, according to all that David his father had done.

³In the first year of his reign, in the first month, he ^aopened the doors of the house of Yahweh and repaired them.

⁴And he brought in the priests and the Levites and gathered them into the square on the east.

Hezekiah Sets the House of God as Holy

⁵Then he said to them, “Listen to me, O Levites. ^aSet yourselves apart now as holy, and set apart as holy the house of Yahweh, the God of your fathers, and bring out the impurity from the holy place.

⁶“For our fathers have been unfaithful and have done what is evil in the sight of Yahweh our God, and have forsaken Him and ^aturned their faces away from the dwelling place of Yahweh, and have ¹turned their backs.

⁷“They have also ^ashut the doors of the porch and put out the lamps, and have not burned incense or offered burnt offerings in the holy place to the God of Israel.

⁸“Therefore ^athe wrath of Yahweh was against Judah and Jerusalem, and He has made them an object of terror, of horror, and of ^bhissing, as you see with your own eyes.

⁹“And behold, ^aour fathers have fallen by the sword, and our sons and our daughters and our wives are in captivity for this.

¹⁰“Now it is in my heart ^ato cut a covenant with Yahweh, the God of Israel, that His burning anger may turn away from us.

¹¹“My sons, do not be at ease now, for ^aYahweh has chosen you to stand before Him, to minister to Him, and to be His ministers and offer offerings up in smoke.”

¹²Then the Levites arose: ^aMahath, the son of Amasai and Joel the son of Azariah, from the sons of ^bthe Kohathites; and from the sons of Merari, Kish the son of Abdi and Azariah the son of Jehallelel; and from the Gershonites, Joah the son of Zimmah and Eden the son of Joah;

¹³and from the sons of Elizaphan, Shimri and ¹Jeiel; and from the sons of Asaph, Zechariah and Mattaniah;

¹⁴and from the sons of Heman, ¹Jehiel and Shimei; and from the sons of Jeduthun, Shemaiah and Uzziel.

¹⁵And they gathered their brothers, ^aset themselves apart as holy, and went in ^bto cleanse the house of Yahweh, according to the commandment of the king ^cby the words of Yahweh.

¹⁶So the priests went in to the inner part of the house of Yahweh to cleanse it, and every unclean thing which they found in the temple of Yahweh they brought out to the court of the house of Yahweh. Then the Levites received it to bring out to ^athe Kidron ¹valley, to an outer area.

¹⁷Then they began ¹to set it apart as holy ^aon the first day of the first month, and on the eighth day of the month they entered the porch of Yahweh. Then they set apart the house of Yahweh as holy in eight days, and completed it on the sixteenth day of the first month.

¹⁸Then they went in to King Hezekiah and said, “We have cleansed the whole house of Yahweh, the altar of burnt offering with all of its utensils, and the table of showbread with all of its utensils.

¹⁹“Moreover, ^aall the utensils which King Ahaz had rejected during his reign in his unfaithfulness, we have prepared and set apart as holy; and behold, they are before the altar of Yahweh.”

Hezekiah Brings an Offering

²⁰Then King Hezekiah arose early and gathered the princes of the city and went up to the house of Yahweh.

²¹And they brought seven bulls, seven rams, seven lambs, and seven male goats ^afor a sin offering for the kingdom, the sanctuary, and Judah. And he ordered the priests, the sons of Aaron, to offer them on the altar of Yahweh.

²²So they slaughtered the bulls, and the priests took the blood and splashed it on the altar. They also slaughtered the rams and splashed the blood on the altar; they slaughtered the lambs also and ^asplashed the blood on the altar.

²³Then they had the male goats of the sin offering approach before the king and the assembly, and ^athey laid their hands on them.

²⁴And the priests slaughtered them and purged the altar with their blood ^ato atone for all Israel, for the king ordered the burnt offering and the sin offering for all Israel.

^25aHe then caused the Levites to stand in the house of Yahweh with cymbals, with harps, and with lyres, ^baccording to the command of David and of ^cGad the king’s seer, and of ^dNathan the prophet; for the command was from Yahweh by the hand of His prophets.

²⁶And the Levites stood with ^athe musical instruments of David, and ^bthe priests with the trumpets.

²⁷Then Hezekiah said to offer the burnt offering on the altar. When the burnt offering began, ^athe song to Yahweh also began with the trumpets, ¹accompanied by the instruments of David, king of Israel.

²⁸While the whole assembly worshiped, the singers also sang and the trumpets sounded; all this continued until the burnt offering was completed.

²⁹Now at the completion of the burnt offerings, ^athe king and all who were present with him bowed down and worshiped.

³⁰Moreover, King Hezekiah and the officials ordered the Levites to sing praises to Yahweh with the words of David and Asaph the seer. ^aSo they sang praises with gladness, and bowed down and worshiped.

³¹Then Hezekiah answered and said, “^aNow that you have ¹become ordained to Yahweh, approach and bring sacrifices and thank offerings to the house of Yahweh.” And the assembly brought sacrifices and thank offerings, and ^ball those who were willing of heart brought burnt offerings.

³²And the number of the burnt offerings which the assembly brought was 70 bulls, 100 rams, and 200 lambs; all these were for a burnt offering to Yahweh.

³³And the holy things were 600 bulls and 3,000 sheep.

³⁴But the priests were too few, so that they were unable to skin all the burnt offerings; ^atherefore their brothers the Levites helped them until the work was completed and until the other priests had set themselves apart as holy. For ^bthe Levites were more upright of heart to set themselves apart as holy than the priests.

³⁵There were also ^1amany burnt offerings with ^bthe fat of the peace offerings and with ^cthe drink offerings for the burnt offerings. Thus the service of the house of Yahweh was established again.

³⁶Then Hezekiah and all the people were glad over what God had prepared for the people, because the thing came about suddenly.

CHAPTER 30

Hezekiah Celebrates the Passover

¹And Hezekiah sent to all Israel and Judah and wrote letters also to Ephraim and Manasseh, that they should come to the house of Yahweh at Jerusalem to ¹celebrate the Passover to Yahweh, the God of Israel.

²And the king and his princes and all the assembly in Jerusalem had taken counsel ^ato celebrate the Passover in the second month,

³since they could not celebrate it ^aat that time, because the priests had not set themselves apart as holy in sufficient numbers, nor had the people been gathered to Jerusalem.

⁴Thus the thing was right in the eyes of the king and in the eyes of all the assembly.

⁵So they established a decree to make a ¹proclamation pass throughout all Israel ^afrom Beersheba even to Dan, that they should come to celebrate the Passover to Yahweh, the God of Israel, at Jerusalem. For they had not celebrated it in great numbers as it was written.

^6aAnd the ¹couriers went throughout all Israel and Judah with the letters from the hand of the king and his princes, even according to the commandment of the king, saying, “O sons of Israel, return to Yahweh, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, that He may return to those of you who escaped and remain from ^bthe ²hand of the kings of Assyria.

⁷“^aNow do not be like your fathers and your brothers, who were unfaithful to Yahweh, the God of their fathers, so that ^bHe made them an object of horror, as you see.

⁸“Now do not ^astiffen your neck like your fathers, but give your hand to Yahweh and enter His sanctuary which He has set apart as holy forever, and serve Yahweh your God, ^bthat His burning anger may turn away from you.

⁹“For ^awhen you return to Yahweh, your brothers and your sons will find compassion before those who led them captive and will return to this land. ^bFor Yahweh your God is gracious and compassionate, and will not turn His face away from you if you return to Him.”

¹⁰So the ¹couriers passed from city to city through the country of Ephraim and Manasseh, and as far as Zebulun, but ^athey were laughing at them to scorn and mocking them.

¹¹Nevertheless ^asome men of Asher, Manasseh and Zebulun humbled themselves and came to Jerusalem.

¹²The ^ahand of God was also on Judah to give them one heart to do what the king and the princes commanded by the word of Yahweh.

¹³Now many people were gathered at Jerusalem to celebrate the Feast of Unleavened Bread ^ain the second month, a very large assembly.

¹⁴And they arose and took away the altars which were in Jerusalem; they also ^atook away all the incense altars and ^bcast them into the brook Kidron.

¹⁵Then ^athey slaughtered the Passover lambs on the fourteenth of the second month. And ^bthe priests and Levites were ashamed of themselves, and set themselves apart as holy and brought burnt offerings to the house of Yahweh.

^16aAnd they stood at their stations according to the legal judgment for them, according to the law of Moses the man of God; the priests splashed the blood which they received from the hand of the Levites.

¹⁷For there were many in the assembly who had not set themselves apart as holy; therefore, ^athe Levites were over the slaughter of the Passover lambs for everyone who was unclean, in order to set them apart as holy to Yahweh.

¹⁸For a multitude of the people, ^aeven many from Ephraim and Manasseh, Issachar, and Zebulun, had not cleansed themselves, ^byet they ate the Passover ^cotherwise than what was written. For Hezekiah prayed for them, saying, “May Yahweh, who is good, atone

^19afor everyone who prepares his heart to seek God, Yahweh, the God of his fathers, though not according to the rules of cleansing of the…