Hezekiah Reigns in Judah
1 Hezekiahbecame kingwhenhewastwenty-five years old, and he reigned twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. His mother’s namewasAbijah the daughter of Zechariah.
2 And he didwhatwasright in the sight of theLord, according to all that his father David had done.
Hezekiah Cleanses the Temple
3 In the first year of his reign, in the first month, heopened the doors of the house of theLordand repaired them.
4 Then he brought in the priests and the Levites, and gathered them in the East Square,
5 and said to them: “Hear me, Levites! Now sanctify yourselves,sanctify the house of theLordGod of your fathers, and carry out the rubbish from the holyplace.
6 For our fathers have trespassed and done evil in the eyes of theLordour God; they have forsaken Him, haveturned their faces away from the dwelling place of theLord, and turnedtheirbacksonHim.
7 They have also shut up the doors of the vestibule, put out the lamps, and have not burned incense or offered burnt offerings in the holyplaceto the God of Israel.
8 Therefore thewrath of theLordfell upon Judah and Jerusalem, and He hasgiven them up to trouble, to desolation, and tojeering, as you see with youreyes.
9 For indeed, because of thisour fathers have fallen by the sword; and our sons, our daughters, and our wivesarein captivity.
10 “Nowitisin my heart to makea covenant with theLordGod of Israel, that His fierce wrath may turn away from us.
11 My sons, do not be negligent now, for theLordhaschosen you to stand before Him, to serve Him, and that you should minister to Him and burn incense.”
12 Then these Levites arose:Mahath the son of Amasai and Joel the son of Azariah, of the sons of theKohathites; of the sons of Merari, Kish the son of Abdi and Azariah the son of Jehallelel; of the Gershonites, Joah the son of Zimmah and Eden the son of Joah;
13 of the sons of Elizaphan, Shimri and Jeiel; of the sons of Asaph, Zechariah and Mattaniah;
14 of the sons of Heman, Jehiel and Shimei; and of the sons of Jeduthun, Shemaiah and Uzziel.
15 And they gathered their brethren,sanctified themselves, and went according to the commandment of the king, at the words of theLord,to cleanse the house of theLord.
16 Then the priests went into the inner part of the house of theLordto cleanseit,and brought out all the debris that they found in the temple of theLordto the court of the house of theLord. And the Levites tookitout and carrieditto the BrookKidron.
17 Now they began to sanctify on the firstdayof the first month, and on the eighth day of the month they came to the vestibule of theLord. So they sanctified the house of theLordin eight days, and on the sixteenth day of the first month they finished.
18 Then they went in to King Hezekiah and said, “We have cleansed all the house of theLord, the altar of burnt offerings with all its articles, and the table of the showbread with all its articles.
19 Moreover all the articles which King Ahaz in his reign hadcast aside in his transgression we have prepared and sanctified; and there theyare,before the altar of theLord.”
Hezekiah Restores Temple Worship
20 Then King Hezekiah rose early, gathered the rulers of the city, and went up to the house of theLord.
21 And they brought seven bulls, seven rams, seven lambs, and seven male goats for asin offering for the kingdom, for the sanctuary, and for Judah. Then he commanded the priests, the sons of Aaron, to offerthemon the altar of theLord.
22 So they killed the bulls, and the priests received the blood andsprinklediton the altar. Likewise they killed the rams and sprinkled the blood on the altar. They also killed the lambs and sprinkled the blood on the altar.
23 Then they brought out the male goatsforthe sin offering before the king and the assembly, and they laid theirhands on them.
24 And the priests killed them; and they presented their blood on the altar as a sin offeringto make an atonement for all Israel, for the king commandedthatthe burnt offering and the sin offeringbemadefor all Israel.
25 And he stationed the Levites in the house of theLordwith cymbals, with stringed instruments, and with harps,according to the commandment of David, ofGad the king’s seer, and of Nathan the prophet;for thuswasthe commandment of theLordby His prophets.
26 The Levites stood with the instrumentsof David, and the priests withthe trumpets.
27 Then Hezekiah commandedthemto offer the burnt offering on the altar. And when the burnt offering began,the song of theLordalsobegan, with the trumpets and with the instruments of David king of Israel.
28 So all the assembly worshiped, the singers sang, and the trumpeters sounded; allthiscontinueduntil the burnt offering was finished.
29 And when they had finished offering,the king and all who were present with him bowed and worshiped.
30 Moreover King Hezekiah and the leaders commanded the Levites to sing praise to theLordwith the words of David and of Asaph the seer. So they sang praises with gladness, and they bowed their heads and worshiped.
31 Then Hezekiah answered and said, “Nowthatyou have consecrated yourselves to theLord, come near, and bring sacrifices andthank offerings into the house of theLord.” So the assembly brought in sacrifices and thank offerings, and as many as were of awilling heartbroughtburnt offerings.
32 And the number of the burnt offerings which the assembly brought was seventy bulls, one hundred rams,andtwo hundred lambs; all thesewerefor a burnt offering to theLord.
33 The consecrated thingsweresix hundred bulls and three thousand sheep.
34 But the priests were too few, so that they could not skin all the burnt offerings; thereforetheir brethren the Levites helped them until the work was ended and until theotherpriests had sanctified themselves,for the Levites weremore diligent insanctifying themselves than the priests.
35 Also the burnt offeringswerein abundance, withthe fat of the peace offerings andwiththe drink offerings foreveryburnt offering.
So the service of the house of theLordwas set in order.
36 Then Hezekiah and all the people rejoiced that God had prepared the people, since the events took place so suddenly.