2 Chronicles 29–32

Hezekiah Purifies the Temple

29:1-2^pp — 2Ki 18:2–3

Hezekiah^a was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem twenty-nine years. His mother’s name was Abijah daughter of Zechariah. He did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, just as his father David^b had done.

In the first month of the first year of his reign, he opened the doors of the temple of the Lord and repaired^c them. He brought in the priests and the Levites, assembled them in the square on the east side and said: “Listen to me, Levites! Consecrate^d yourselves now and consecrate the temple of the Lord, the God of your ancestors. Remove all defilement from the sanctuary. Our ancestors^e were unfaithful;^f they did evil in the eyes of the Lord our God and forsook him. They turned their faces away from the Lord’s dwelling place and turned their backs on him. They also shut the doors of the portico and put out the lamps. They did not burn incense^g or present any burnt offerings at the sanctuary to the God of Israel. Therefore, the anger of the Lord has fallen on Judah and Jerusalem; he has made them an object of dread and horror^h and scorn,ⁱ as you can see with your own eyes. This is why our ancestors have fallen by the sword and why our sons and daughters and our wives are in captivity.^j Now I intend to make a covenant^k with the Lord, the God of Israel, so that his fierce anger^l will turn away from us. My sons, do not be negligent now, for the Lord has chosen you to stand before him and serve him,^m to ministerⁿ before him and to burn incense.”

Then these Levites^o set to work:

from the Kohathites,

Mahath son of Amasai and Joel son of Azariah;

from the Merarites,

Kish son of Abdi and Azariah son of Jehallelel;

from the Gershonites,

Joah son of Zimmah and Eden^p son of Joah;

from the descendants of Elizaphan,^q

Shimri and Jeiel;

from the descendants of Asaph,^r

Zechariah and Mattaniah;

from the descendants of Heman,

Jehiel and Shimei;

from the descendants of Jeduthun,

Shemaiah and Uzziel.

When they had assembled their fellow Levites and consecrated themselves, they went in to purify^s the temple of the Lord, as the king had ordered, following the word of the Lord. The priests went into the sanctuary of the Lord to purify it. They brought out to the courtyard of the Lord’s temple everything unclean that they found in the temple of the Lord. The Levites took it and carried it out to the Kidron Valley.^t They began the consecration on the first day of the first month, and by the eighth day of the month they reached the portico of the Lord. For eight more days they consecrated the temple of the Lord itself, finishing on the sixteenth day of the first month.

Then they went in to King Hezekiah and reported: “We have purified the entire temple of the Lord, the altar of burnt offering with all its utensils, and the table for setting out the consecrated bread, with all its articles. We have prepared and consecrated all the articles^u that King Ahaz removed in his unfaithfulness while he was king. They are now in front of the Lord’s altar.”

Early the next morning King Hezekiah gathered the city officials together and went up to the temple of the Lord. They brought seven bulls, seven rams, seven male lambs and seven male goats^v as a sin offering^w for the kingdom, for the sanctuary and for Judah. The king commanded the priests, the descendants of Aaron, to offer these on the altar of the Lord. So they slaughtered the bulls, and the priests took the blood and splashed it against the altar; next they slaughtered the rams and splashed their blood against the altar; then they slaughtered the lambs and splashed their blood^x against the altar. The goats^y for the sin offering were brought before the king and the assembly, and they laid their hands^z on them. The priests then slaughtered the goats and presented their blood on the altar for a sin offering to atone^a for all Israel, because the king had ordered the burnt offering and the sin offering for all Israel.^b

He stationed the Levites in the temple of the Lord with cymbals, harps and lyres in the way prescribed by David^c and Gad^d the king’s seer and Nathan the prophet; this was commanded by the Lord through his prophets. So the Levites stood ready with David’s instruments,^e and the priests with their trumpets.^f

Hezekiah gave the order to sacrifice the burnt offering on the altar. As the offering began, singing to the Lord began also, accompanied by trumpets and the instruments^g of David king of Israel. The whole assembly bowed in worship, while the musicians played and the trumpets sounded. All this continued until the sacrifice of the burnt offering^h was completed.

When the offerings were finished, the king and everyone present with him knelt down and worshiped.ⁱ King Hezekiah and his officials ordered the Levites to praise the Lord with the words of David and of Asaph the seer. So they sang praises with gladness and bowed down and worshiped.

Then Hezekiah said, “You have now dedicated yourselves to the Lord. Come and bring sacrifices^j and thank offerings to the temple of the Lord.” So the assembly brought sacrifices and thank offerings, and all whose hearts were willing^k brought burnt offerings.

The number of burnt offerings^l the assembly brought was seventy bulls, a hundred rams and two hundred male lambs—all of them for burnt offerings to the Lord. The animals consecrated as sacrifices amounted to six hundred bulls and three thousand sheep and goats. The priests, however, were too few to skin all the burnt offerings;^m so their relatives the Levites helped them until the task was finished and until other priests had been consecrated,ⁿ for the Levites had been more conscientious in consecrating themselves than the priests had been. There were burnt offerings in abundance, together with the fat^o of the fellowship offerings^p and the drink offerings^q that accompanied the burnt offerings.

So the service of the temple of the Lord was reestablished. Hezekiah and all the people rejoiced at what God had brought about for his people, because it was done so quickly.^r

Hezekiah Celebrates the Passover

Hezekiah sent word to all Israel^a and Judah and also wrote letters to Ephraim and Manasseh,^b inviting them to come to the temple of the Lord in Jerusalem and celebrate the Passover^c to the Lord, the God of Israel. The king and his officials and the whole assembly in Jerusalem decided to celebrate^d the Passover in the second month. They had not been able to celebrate it at the regular time because not enough priests had consecrated^e themselves and the people had not assembled in Jerusalem. The plan seemed right both to the king and to the whole assembly. They decided to send a proclamation throughout Israel, from Beersheba to Dan,^f calling the people to come to Jerusalem and celebrate the Passover to the Lord, the God of Israel. It had not been celebrated in large numbers according to what was written.

At the king’s command, couriers went throughout Israel and Judah with letters from the king and from his officials, which read:

“People of Israel, return to the Lord, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, that he may return to you who are left, who have escaped from the hand of the kings of Assyria. Do not be like your parents^g and your fellow Israelites, who were unfaithful^h to the Lord, the God of their ancestors, so that he made them an object of horror,ⁱ as you see. Do not be stiff-necked,^j as your parents were; submit to the Lord. Come to his sanctuary, which he has consecrated forever. Serve the Lord your God, so that his fierce anger^k will turn away from you. If you return^l to the Lord, then your fellow Israelites and your children will be shown compassion^m by their captors and will return to this land, for the Lord your God is gracious and compassionate.ⁿ He will not turn his face from you if you return to him.”

The couriers went from town to town in Ephraim and Manasseh, as far as Zebulun, but people scorned and ridiculed^o them. Nevertheless, some from Asher, Manasseh and Zebulun humbled^p themselves and went to Jerusalem.^q Also in Judah the hand of God was on the people to give them unity^r of mind to carry out what the king and his officials had ordered, following the word of the Lord.

A very large crowd of people assembled in Jerusalem to celebrate the Festival of Unleavened Bread^s in the second month. They removed the altars^t in Jerusalem and cleared away the incense altars and threw them into the Kidron Valley.^u

They slaughtered the Passover lamb on the fourteenth day of the second month. The priests and the Levites were ashamed and consecrated^v themselves and brought burnt offerings to the temple of the Lord. Then they took up their regular positions^w as prescribed in the Law of Moses the man of God. The priests splashed against the altar the blood handed to them by the Levites. Since many in the crowd had not consecrated themselves, the Levites had to kill^x the Passover lambs for all those who were not ceremonially clean and could not consecrate ^⌈their lambs^⌈ to the Lord. Although most of the many people who came from Ephraim, Manasseh, Issachar and Zebulun had not purified themselves,^y yet they ate the Passover, contrary to what was written. But Hezekiah prayed for them, saying, “May the Lord, who is good, pardon everyone who sets their heart on seeking God—the Lord, the God of their ancestors—even if they are not clean according to the rules of the sanctuary.” And the Lord heard^z Hezekiah and healed^a the people.^b

The Israelites who were present in Jerusalem celebrated the Festival of Unleavened Bread^c for seven days with great rejoicing, while the Levites and priests praised the Lord every day with resounding instruments dedicated to the Lord.

Hezekiah spoke encouragingly to all the Levites, who showed good understanding of the service of the Lord. For the seven days they ate their assigned portion and offered fellowship offerings and praised the Lord, the God of their ancestors.

The whole assembly then agreed to celebrate^d the festival…